<p>Great job on the CA/US differences, here are a few additions, just of the top of my head, not nearly as well-considered as paying3</p>
<p>(These are stereotypes based on anecdotal evidence)</p>
<p>A} Church- all along the west coast, in the places I have lived in the US (in Canada you would say the "states"), "everybody" goes to church. Perhaps not every week, but even the holiday-only Catholics send their kids to catechism classes. Religion (in my personal experience, primarily Christianity) seemed to be a basic accepted folkway/more of life. It was not unusual to attend church, if a kid slept over on a Saturday night, there would not be any offence taken if you took that kid with you to church. It is just part of our nations culture, in many (not all, no flames please) places. </p>
<p>I was truly amazed that in most of the places in BC there was little or no church background. We had a group of 10+ girls over for an Easter weekend (no church background, but Easter Monday off!) and the blessing we said over the dinner was the first many of them had ever experienced.</p>
<p>B} I saw a great deal of the elephant/mouse issue- people in Canada are more fascinated and interested in OUR (US) politics than many US residents. But they tend to be so on the liberal side- the conservative party in BC is the "liberals" which shows where the starting point is!! What I did find interesting is that Canadians can attend many US schools on financial aid (Ivy's, Colgate, etc) yet they do not offer any financial aid and even limit enrolment to US kids, so that is the old chip on their shoulder again, a bit xenophobic toward Americans, as an adult, not so much in an overt way, but in simple policies like fin aid and limiting enrolment, thinking that is completely fair whilst they also think it is fair that the US treats Canadian kids to financial aid (not govt grants, but differently than other internationals)</p>
<p>It is an amazing experience for any American to see their country as seen through others eyes- my kids became more patriotic than they had before, that which was accepted as normal became appreciated as "our" country. It is also eye opening to experience an sort of discrimination when it has never happened before, I think it gave my kids a different level of sensitivity for all the ways one can experience discrimination</p>
<p>C} Definitely the US is the melting pot and Canada is a "mosaic"</p>
<p>D} Canadians do seem more polite, but there may be a quite seething under there. My kids experienced a great deal of harassment on a daily basis for being from the US- not anything serious, just the kind of junior high garbage a kid gets anyway, only this was all about being American. In most other circumstances the Canadians would be more polite, non-confrontational, etc., yet dising Americans was a prevalent hobby.</p>
<p>E} They do not seem to like George W :D</p>
<p>F} Tons of British-type accents all around BC, with intriguing histories & stories to tell. There is a bit of the British classism around, yet, when you think about it, any one who had it made in the UK would not have immigrated to Canada, so odd to see any snobbery! They do spell things the British way and have different pronunciations- after spending several years there, one can have some real confusion about which version of some words is "normal"</p>
<p>G} Alberta is the most similar in attitude to the US.</p>
<p>H} Whilst French is the second language and printed on everything, people in BC do not avidly pursue it and they tend to make fun of Quebec, when not making fun of the US :)</p>
<p>I} Hmm, my family all leave their shoes at the door- I guess we internalised that there, never thought about it being a Canadian thing!</p>
<p>J} People in the US are definitely more independent, more direct, more likely to say, "let's do this" "let's get it done" less negotiating, the American directness can come across as rude or pushy</p>
<p>K} They pay waay more taxes.</p>
<p>L} Day to day medical care coverage is cheap & reasonably convenient. If you live in the US near the border, go buy your prescriptions there! If you are a Canadian and have a cancer or heart thing, you may very well head to the US-if you can afford it- for both timely and cutting edge treatment. A dear friend determined the offered treatment in Canada was about 10 years behind what was going on in the US, he trekked to Cali/WA and is still alive 6 years later after a recurrence from 6 years before that...they feel that the initial treatment was not cutting edge and felt betrayed by their system when they researched on the 2nd occurrence.</p>
<p>M} Canadians are amazed at the guns & violence in the US, we went to a sporting goods store in the US with some Canadian friends & they were awestruck by the rifle display, they spent 20 minutes checking it all out, it was so foreign. They see us as violent. Whenever there is a warning of some one armed headed toward the border, the border will shut down as he guards are unarmed, I used to think they were afraid, but apparently it is aunion tactic as they want to be armed.</p>
<p>N} Canadians seem to travel more readily- they all want to seek the sun in the winter, I understand that, but we met so many people who were/did/had worked out of country as ex-pats in oil, business, mining, etc. I don't know if it is the tax structure or what, but I met many Canadians who sought that lifestyle- we have friends in Nigeria, Philippines, South America, Singapore, Middle East locations, etc. Perhaps knowing one, I met the group, but I never ran into any Americans who gave much consideration to working out of country...the same way Americans don't know as much about the rest of the world, we Americans are totally content in our bubble and don't think about what is outside of it. Also, they vacation in Cuba, just a matter of fact, whereas we don't even think about that as a place a person could/would want to go.....for them it is a cheap beach vacation with no Americans......perhaps the only Caribbean vacation without tons of New Yorkers :p</p>
<p>One idea for getting a better feel for the specific area, check out the radio stations there, especially a talk station, se if they have streaming audio, then listen to them for a sense of the area and the feel and the ads, you will, over time pick up lots of interesting info.</p>
<p>Of course, after several, years of getting all sorts of hassle for being American in Canada, my kids, now back in America, have a huge affection for Canada, tons of lifelong friends there and genuine affinity for the country and they all go back frequently for visiting. One even did a study "abroad" there, though she felt like she was going "home!"</p>