Culture Shock in Canada

Christmas this year took us all over the mid-West states, as usual. The last leg of our trip was staying at the Nelsons in Detroit overnight, then driving through Canada to get into NY. Brian made a comment as we were driving that made me LAUGH. "Everything is in KM and the gas is sold in liters...they don't have road signs to signal which exits offer gas and food. And there are no bill boards on the highway. It's like culture shock for me."

WHAT? hahahaha Because he was driving and he's deaf, I couldn't continue the conversation in the car, but I sat there thinking about culture shock.

These are some moments I consider to be "CULTURE SHOCK".

*Riding in taxi's with 12 people down roads with no signs, freely roaming animals everywhere. (Palestine)
*Eating "soup" with pigs feet in it. (Grenada)
*Passing by a rodeo in full swing (Mexico)
*Trying to buy a bar of deodorant that cost $12 because none of the locals wear it! (Gaza Strip)
*Seeing entire communities made of basically cardboard boxes (Palestine)
*Driving around Paris where the signs are all in French, driving on the opposite side of the road (France)
*Watching cruise ships in the port, then walking past the town's poverty, wondering at the inequality of finances (Grenada)
*Listening to Muslim call of worship 5 times a day (Gaza Strip)
*Boiling water every day to use for drinking (Mexico)
*McDonald's serving beer (Germany)
*More people riding bikes down the street than driving cars (Switzerland)
*"If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." (Israel)

I've got to get Brian out of Northern America to see what culture shock really means. To appreciate all that we take for granted: clean clothes, easy access and bountiful selection of food, running water, plenty of money for our basic needs.