Land of the Maple Leaf

Awesome pics of Toronto to start us off;

When I think about being in Canada it feels like the moment I realised last week; that I have been walking the long route and consequentially showing up late to one class all semester, only to discover on the second last class that there's actually a short cut that saves me 7 minutes walking time. In a roundabout way it's sort of the same with Canada...I had always thought that crossing the Canadian border would be breaching my  US visa requirements and the government would lock me out forever, but upon realising that it was actually an ok thing to do my heart was instantly lighter. And hence the trip commenced. Upon reflection, that's actually a terrible analogy so forget that about the classes, cause that was more a mix of annoying and grateful. Or something like that. Moving swiftly on....to iceskating!

After NYC, I dominated like a boss, again, but I was no match for the Great Danish Vikings Nicolai and Andreas. 

That's my 'oh my I'm about to fall' face.

She's used for more than just moral support.

My sneaky tactical move to get around the rink quickly

Whilst I have a deep yearning for my home in Boston and the US in general, being away from it has given me time to breathe. So whilst in the Land of the glorious Maple Leaf,  I just wanted to comment briefly on the stupidity of their American neighours. Let's start off by saying that I honestly don't know where the stereotype comes from. American's simply aren't inherently stupid. The country has the largest economy, very wealthy people, the best universities, research facilities, the leading peeps for technological and medical and scientific advances and heaps of Nobel Prize winners. When did Australia last win a Nobel Prize? 

Okay, 2011, if you're asking, it was for physics but it explicitly states 'Born in the United States" in bold under the kid's name. Brian, Schmidt, in case you're wondering. Good on 'im.

But still. We've had 13. The US has had 350. Taking into account population sizes, the US almost doubles our record per person per prize. Or something like. I actually don't even know how I calculated that. Whatever. Don't question the math or Google it, just trust me. So they're a clever bunch! Kudos to them. But just being in the mere presence of them sometimes makes you want to cry. An American friend of mine asked me where Denmark was. She had assumed it was in Australia, a town or something, let alone another country. Mareike's college professor told the class proudly that The Netherlands is the capital of Denmark. Mareike said; 'No, I'm Dutch" and the professor went on to call her Danish. 

Torbz.

The gang.

Miss Alabama a few years back, when asked the question; "Would you want to live forever?" replied with;

"I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever which is why I would not live forever."

Thanks for that insightful answer.

Actress Brooke Shields told an interviewer; (without any help from grown-ups)
"Smoking kills. And if you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life."

*clap clap clap*

I convinced Americans that in Australia we speak Chinese, because we are so closely situated to Asia we have such a high Asian population these days that English isn't my first language. They said that I sounded like a native speaker. I thanked them and bowed, explaining that that means 'thank you' where 'I'm from'.

Canadian whiskey in the coffee before heading out again

Breakfasting

And perhaps the best one;
A robber in Texas went to rob a store, pulled a balaclava over his head, but forgot to take off his clip-on ID that stated his full name, photograph and place of employment. And all 12 witnesses managed, amazingly, to take note of it

NOPE. I told a lie. Here's the best one;
George W Bush

And for a rainy day...there are too many good ones I'd end up linking them all instead of showing you more important things, like awesome photos of me plus less significant others on our road trip of a lifetime.

Silly George W Bush quotes