Today is Canada Day, which I know only because I work with Northerners. I headed to the party at the Maple Leaf around 7:00. Actually, the celebration started at 11:00 in the morning; by the time I arrived, it was drunk people with lipstick maple leaves on their faces stuffing the street for a block around the most Canadian bar in London.
As usual, drinking wasn’t getting drunk but instead a learning experience. America’s northern neighbors take credit for the first heart transplant, dominance in the sport most likely to cause tooth lost, invention of the telephone and, most enviably, not having Dubya as their president. I’m defenseless anytime somebody mentions Bush, mumbling “well, he’s just a big mistake” before changing the subject. I also learned the argumentative way that lack of “eh” usage isn’t a valid reason to accuse someone of Canadian imitation. All told, a fun celebration but definitely nothing more than a 4th of July warm-up.