OH canada

this may seem immature but i have had beef with canada since i was 5 years old.

picture this: a young and freckly brittney skiing down the whistler ski slopes. another picture: the rope tow of death dragging that same young and freckly brittney [by her hood] up to it's gears of death. last picture: brittney screaming to her french canadian instructor for help and him skiing in the opposite direction.

call me crazy but i am not able to let that go. every time i think of our northern neighbors, i think of a pompous ski instructor who almost let me ski to my very death. when a friend asked me if i wanted to go to the olympics last weekend, i couldn't help but think of my history with canada. i quickly asked myself: was it worth it? would any french canadians be involved--and in that case, any rope tows as well? i realized how ridiculous that was and agreed to a weekend vacation.




when we reached the border, i was unable to deny the fact that vancouver was a beautiful city. the city was big, the people were smiling and my history with canada seemed like a silly memory i could leave in the past. my group and i decided to plop down at a local bar and watch the hockey game. not even realizing that it was canada vs. usa until we got there, i wasn't prepared for the ridicule and rivalry we were about to face...as if the smart ass restaurant manager ("ha, i'd let you in but you're american) wasn't enough of a tip off. when the five of us entered the bar, we were booed by 70 of our most unloving fans. yes, mark probably shouldn't have been wearing an american flag as a cape but it wasn't any more obnoxious than what the canucks were rockin.



during a VERY intense game, i kept wondering what would be worse: losing and having an entire country gloat in our direction OR winning and probably dying in the country i resented so much. as most of you know, america lost by one (which is awfully embarrassing for a country that prides itself on creating hockey) and the gloating was like nothing i have ever seen. i was tempted to high tail it out of that cursed country but we decided to explore a little bit. when looking back, the gloating and aggressiveness wasn't as bad as i thought...and really, when will i see something like that again? probably never. BUT, i am now fully convinced that i will forever have issue with canada and if asked, i now have two cases against their integrity.



canada, you can try to make it up to me...BUT right now, it's not looking good.