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Cultural differences
Nov. 12th, 2015 12:13 amNovember 11 is one of those things that superficially seems the same in Canada and the US but really isn't
In Canada, it's called Remembrance Day, and the focus is about remembering the horrors of war, thinking about peace, and honouring those who have sacrificed their lives as well as our living veterans, although in a very somber way. Honestly, for most of my public school days the focus was 2nd world war because we could invite living veterans to come and talk. (My grandfather, slightly too young for ww2 service but a veteran of the cold war, used to go to local schools too; I presume someone else has taken up that torch.)
In the US, November 11 is Veteran's Day, so it's less about the dead and more about the living in some hard to describe way. It's definitely not about remembering the way it is in Canada. Which means work was trying to break a world record in most number of people doing pushups in an event with a hashtag and a line about "give 'em 20."
Just another small moment of culture shock in the neverending sea of them.
I do wish the US actually celebrated peace, 'cause I miss that part of Canada's pomp and circumstance, and I find the US attitude towards its military very hard to wrap my head around. But I do like work's reminder that veterans are our colleagues and that there's life after military service, even if asking a bunch of nerds to do pushups seems like an odd event choice.
In Canada, it's called Remembrance Day, and the focus is about remembering the horrors of war, thinking about peace, and honouring those who have sacrificed their lives as well as our living veterans, although in a very somber way. Honestly, for most of my public school days the focus was 2nd world war because we could invite living veterans to come and talk. (My grandfather, slightly too young for ww2 service but a veteran of the cold war, used to go to local schools too; I presume someone else has taken up that torch.)
In the US, November 11 is Veteran's Day, so it's less about the dead and more about the living in some hard to describe way. It's definitely not about remembering the way it is in Canada. Which means work was trying to break a world record in most number of people doing pushups in an event with a hashtag and a line about "give 'em 20."
Just another small moment of culture shock in the neverending sea of them.
I do wish the US actually celebrated peace, 'cause I miss that part of Canada's pomp and circumstance, and I find the US attitude towards its military very hard to wrap my head around. But I do like work's reminder that veterans are our colleagues and that there's life after military service, even if asking a bunch of nerds to do pushups seems like an odd event choice.