Andra delen av intervjun:

10. Which are the most important traditions in Canada?

Vincent Mai (VM): Watching hockey games! We say here that hockey is a religion.

Then you have the Canadian Thanksgiving, but it’s mostly in the English speaking part. In Québec we are celebrating the national day, St-Jean Baptiste, on June 24^th. Everybody goes in the streets, we sing songs, drink beer, watch live concerts... If you want to celebrate Canada Day, you have to go in Ontario. Nothing is happening on July 1^st in Québec :D

Then there are festivals during summer, like Montréal Jazz fest (the biggest in the world), Festival  d’été de Québec (a lot of big bands), HeavyMtl (two days of heavy metal), Osheaga (two days of alternative rock) or Piknik Electronik (electronic music every Sunday on a huge island).

Farees Nathoo: (FN):  Thanksgiving is definitely a big one… mmm…. turkey….  Apart from that, Canada day is massive in Ottawa! There are over a million people drinking and partying in the streets while eating good food and listening to music, it’s definitely a crazy party!

Saturday Night hockey is a tradition for sure, you watch with your parents as a little kid, then as you grow you eventually start watching in pubs and if you’re lucky, at the arena! You’re likely to find most university students in a pub around 19:30 on Saturday nights!

11. What is typical Canadian food?

Vincent Mai (VM): Maple syrup. And poutine! Poutine... it’s the best. You take french fries, add some fresh cheese and pour with gravy sauce so it just starts melting when you eat it. If you’re a gourmet, you can add onions, bacon, bell peppers, tomatoes, sausages, or even go exotic and add guacamole and sour creme.  It’s just the best! (Oh, and, even if you can now find it all around Canada, it’s been invented... in Québec! Take that, Farees! ;) )

You also have in Québec a lot of traditionnal food from the «sugar house» where people make maple syrup. Usually, it’s a lot of potatoes, grounded meat and salted pork – everything accompanied by maple syrup. Enough calories to go cut wood all day at -30 degrees!

There is also a meal that has a lot of history in its name. It’s called pâté chinois (similar to a cottage pie). In French, it means Chinese pie. It’s not called like this because it’s been invented in China, no. But because it’s been invented by the Chinese workers who worked on building the railways all over Canada! It is basically made with mashed potatoes, grounded meat and corn.

Ha, now that I think bout it, corn also has a nice name in French Canadian. French from France would call it maïs, but we say blé d’Inde, which means Indian Wheat, as the first settlers coming here thought they were in India and it was the first time they saw corn!

We also have very good beers, with a lot of fantastic micro-breweries, awesome local beers as Unibroue’s La Fin Du Monde (personal favourite) and some worldwide brands like Molson.

Farees Nathoo: (FN): Beer! Particularly Quebecois beer, Vincent knows I’m partial to La Fin Du Monde as well.  

I think the food of Canada is the food of the world, everyone here is an immigrant at some point in their ancestry, and the food from their countries of origin is a big part of the food culture here.  There is a joke in Toronto that says that if someone asks where they can find food from a certain place, there’s probably a metro stop that has a big community from that country!

12. What is a typical family? How many kids? Are there a lot of divorces? Do people usually marry at a young age or when they’re a little bit older?

Vincent Mai (VM): I’d say it’s mostly like in all “advanced” countries. A lot of divorces, one or two kids, sometimes three (some exceptions: a friend of mine has 7 brothers...), marrying age already high and getting higher.

Farees Nathoo: (FN): The national average number of kids is 1.5, and the family unit is pretty much the same as most developed countries.  Marrying age is definitely getting higher and is probably now in the late 20s. 

13. When people hang out, do they usually do it at home or in restaurants/bars?

Vincent Mai (VM): Even if it’s not free, restaurants and bars are a lot cheaper than what I experienced in Sweden! So we usually hang out in restaurants/bars. Sometimes, we party at home, but I’d say I go to the restaurant or the bar 2 or 3 times a week.

Farees Nathoo: (FN): Good pubs and restaurants are definitely the places we spend most of our time.  Most of us have our favourite restos or pubs, and I’d say I’m out at one of those at least 3 times a week with some of my friends. 

14. At what age do you start school and when do you finish? What is the grade system like?

Vincent Mai (VM): Education is a provincial responsability (again!) and thus it depends in which province you live in. In Québec, most people start school at 5 years old. Then you get to high school around 12 and to college (it’s mandatory before going to University) around 17. If you had a “normal” cursus, you start University around 19.

At school, grades are often on 100. To pass, you need 50% or 60%. At university (mine at least), you are still graded on 100 at the exams but then they give you a mark between E (0) and A (4) depending on your position in the class. You usually need a D to pass but an average of C (2) to be able to continue your studies.

Farees Nathoo: (FN):  Postsecondary education begins around the age of 18 a bachelor degree typically takes 4 years.  The grading system at the University of Ottawa uses percentage to score assignments, which is then converted into a letter grade (A being the highest and N/A being a fail). 

Tredje delen av intervjun kommer inom sinom tid ;)

Efter lite skolkande lyckades jag iallafall se matchen på en bar igår. Vi var i kvarteret little Portugal passande nog.

Jag och Erik var de enda i gula Zlatan-tröjor och omgavs av gapande och skrålande portugiser.

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Vilken andra halvlek det ändå blev, vi slets mellan hopp och förtvivlan. Det var riktigt surt att behöva ha alla portugiser gapande runt sig när Ronaldo satte det sista målet. Fan!

Efter match pallade vi inte riktigt vara kvar utan gick till andra rummet där Frankrikes match sändes. Dom gick ju tillslut vidare till många fransmäns glädje. Kul för dom.