I know I’m late to the mark on this, but the only excuse I can give is the fact that yes, I am an American. I’ve heard of Canada Day[wiki], I know of its existance, but today is the first time that I have ever experienced this holiday while being in this country.
As I type this, I can hear the voices of people yelling, “Canada Day! Whooo!! Happy Canada Day!!!” as they walk down the street or pass by in vehicles.
Is this the Canadian version of the 4th of July? Not really, but close. It’s different, but sort of not. Are there parades and fireworks? Well, in Vancouver, no. In other parts of the province and country, there are such things. It just depends on where you are.
We didn’t have any real plans to celebrate the holiday today. We woke up to watch England lose to Portugal and head to the beach for a little while to enjoy the abundance of sun that we’ve been seeing a lot of the last few weeks, and Jen even came along when she showed up to work five hours earlier than she was supposed to.
Being a hot, sunny, holiday in July, our thoughts went to enjoying frosty, Canadian beverages. And let me tell you, if you ever plan to do such things in B.C., make sure to plan ahead. We searched the West End into Yaletown before we found some place that we could stock up. After lots of walking and sweating, success.
We couldn’t stop there though. Heading down towards Canada Place, we saw all sorts of people sporting the maple leaf on their shirts, on little flags sticking out of their caps, with face paint, and so on. That’s Canada Day. People just taking a moment to celebrate the country they live in.
Even now, I can still feel the celebration running through my veins. Pale ale will do that to you. It’s not often that I enjoy frosty beverages outside of a good Canucks game, but it’s hard to avoid the spirit of the day. I won’t have the 4th of July here like I did back in the states, but we did a lot to make the best of this holiday.
I think we’re ending today with a good movie at home, but it’s a three day weekend. That’s two more days that we have to play with.