Although I have spent most of my 13 years outside Canada since finishing high school I am beginning to feel more of a stranger in this strange land. Unlike Canada I find that in Japan and China that food is taken very seriously. People really know what to eat and they take the time to prepare their meal in order to stay healthy. In Canada eating is more something that needs to be done and takes time therefore is trouble; therefore, people have the tendency to not want to spend a lot of time with food because they seem to be more preoccupied with their work.

When people eat in Canada it is more of a formal setting. I have noticed just myself – one person wanting to eat - walking into a restaurant I am asked to wait to be seated and a menu is handed to me. In Canada it seems to be a more wait for your food. In Japan or China, this is true in some places but most places I am not directed to a seat I am not handed a menu. What is the point of these formalities? I think about what is there to eat in Canada or let me ask the question. What is there to eat in Canada? I find that there is a very limited variety of food in Canada. I notice from the availability of food in the grocery stores that people either do not have much to eat or they eat the same stuff day after day. Walking through the market in Japan there are many more varieties of vegetables, fruits, meat and fish and even more in China!

It would be interesting to do a worldwide survey just to see the number of vegetables, fruits, meat and fish people can name. Perhaps even more interesting would be which ones can they name. I am sure Canadians and Americans in general could not name very many. I would not blame climate but rather a primarily Anglo-Saxon culture. A future project for me.

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