We are Canada – We Are Winter – Explaining Canada to Americans

~ Amusives

Many places in Canada have more than 80 days a year when the temperature never rises above freezing – day after day after day. Here at the Red House in Alberta, the coldest month of 2013 was December. We had an average daily low temperature of -17°C (1.4°F). It is no wonder, then, that Canada kicked off their 2014 Olympics campaign with this video called ‘We are Winter’!

It has been a very successful Olympics for Canada. When the ‘snow’ cleared, we were third in gold medals and fourth in total medals. The most hyped  event was Hockey, and Canada won both the Women’s and Men’s events.

Then there is Curling. For many Canadians (like me) the Olympics didn’t really start until we were parked in front of the TV with our red Maple Leaf mitts on, watching the first stones thrown down the curling rink. To our utter delight, the Canadian rinks of Jennifer Jones and Brad Jacobs took both the Women’s and Men’s Gold in this quirky sport.

The best story of the Sochi Olympics, however, was this: The Russian cross-country skier, Anton Gafarov, was an early medal favourite in the men’s cross-country skiing, but he crashed after one of his skis broke. He tried to limp  into the grandstands with his damaged ski. Suddenly, Canadian cross-country skiing head coach Justin Wadsworth rushed up onto the course with one of his team’s spare skis. Justin quickly removed the Russian’s broken ski and slid the new ski into place. Anton was then able to finish the race.

Helping others get through winter – it is how Anton and Justin and all the rest of us survive cold weather – We are all Winter.

All sounds are sharper in winter; the air transmits better. At night I hear more distinctly the steady roar of the North Mountain. In summer it is a sort of complacent purr, as the breezes stroke down its sides; but in winter always the same low, sullen growl.
– John Burroughs, “The Snow-Walkers,” 1866 –

Tom Brokaw explains Canada to Americans during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada:

18 thoughts on “We are Canada – We Are Winter – Explaining Canada to Americans”

  2. It’s been bitterly cold here in Southern Ontario, too. Fine for snowboarders and skiers and those ‘hardy’ folks who enjoy ‘walking in a winter wonderland’; not so much for the beach bunnies and sun seekers (like me!) Hopefully spring really is just around the corner!

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  3. We had a third cold alert when the temperature will be -15 to -20 degrees with wind chill factor. Brrrrr.

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  4. I really missed hearing and seeing the games this year. I am not a sports fan, but LOVE the winter Olympics. Thanks to blog posts, news articles and friends back home I stay connected via the internet as much as I could. Sunday night we found a restaurant owned by a Canadian and watched the hockey live. It was like being home…. in the last minute our table broke into Oh Canada and the entire place joined in. What a cool experience how even in China Canada came together. I posted about the game night and being an expat during the Olympics over at CTB if you want to check it out.

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    1. I read your post about game night and Olympic watching in your part of the world. Quite a different experience than being on home turf!

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      1. Oh but it felt like home turf… 😉 The majority of people there were Candian. There were also some Americans and very few local Chinese. The only thing missing was everyone spilling out on the street cheering and honking horns.

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  5. When I first saw the picture of the Canadian coach helping the Russian skier, I just about burst with pride for Canada and it’s wonderful people. 🙂

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  6. I’m very proud to be Canadian. We are a class act. I’m kind of on the fence about our Canadian winters though. I like the cold. I’d rather have -30C than +30C, but please… ENOUGH SNOW. I’ll take a crisp, cold, sunny day in winter over the heat and humidity of summer anytime. ~~ducking the snowballs the sun worshippers are throwing at me, LOL~~

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  8. Well, as a New Hampshire guy, I’ve enjoyed grousing about this terrible winter, and bragging to all and sundry how tough we are. Clearly, I’ll hafta stop now. Rats.

    I heard that wonderful story about the Canadian coach’s magnanimous gesture of sportsmanship. Every so often, someone rather miraculously appears to help redeem the spirit of athletic competition. Well done! Give that chap a pair of Maple Leaf mitts, and a Maple Leaf hot water bottle– he earned ’em!! : )

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    1. From what I have seen on the news, many places in the United States can say they are Winter too – lots of snow, often in places that don’t normally see it!

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