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I don't think popularity of sports is going to cause any serious culture shock to be honest.
The political landscape might come off as pretty shocking to you but it all depends how you lean politically and how tolerant you are of others beliefs.
Religion isn't really big here, people who are religious don't really make a big deal about it.
Its very outdoorsy here and everyone gets out as much as they can during the summer months, plenty of lakes, rivers, state parks right in the metro and people also go up to the northwoods of WI and MN.
I am American from a rather typical state and lived in Montreal for some time. It isn't just another American city. I am not only reading about Montreal, but sharing my first-hand experiences as an American living there. Montreal is very different, and not nearly as similar as some here are making it out to be.
It isn't hard to find someone with an opinion on the NBA, and perhaps you can find a PF Changs if you really need to, but these things are hardly on the level that they are in the US. In American cities it isn't a matter of finding someone interested in NBA news, it's part of the culture. If Montreal was that into American sports, there would be an NFL team, an NBA team, and a MLB team there, but there aren't any of these. That one of the largest metros on the continent only has one professional sports team is a big indicator. For example, I was in Denver last week, and there they have four professional teams (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL) despite being far smaller than Montreal. Montreal doesn't have these things because culturally speaking the Quebecois are rather indifferent towards Football, Baseball and Basketball, all sports that are American staples. All of the "American" things in Montreal are obvious imitations, and the most "Americans" things there are leftovers from the British/English Canadian "Anglo" population which has become less and less relevant in Montreal.
Well Montreal had an MLB team for a long time...I think there are a lot of reasons why there's only 1 Big 4 sport here, and I think that having revenue in CAD and expenses in USD is something that shouldn't be overlooked.
But it's complicated and probably belongs in its own thread.
Yeah, I can just see a government worker in the US or English Canada jokingly insinuating to a divorced woman she shouldn't have taken her husband's name, or never got married! Happens all the time! Many times a day!
Sure guys, Montreal and Quebec are exactly the same as the rest of Canada-USA except for the language!
Yeah, I can just see a government worker in the US or English Canada jokingly insinuating to a divorced woman she shouldn't have taken her husband's name, or never got married! Happens all the time! Many times a day!
Sure guys, Montreal and Quebec are exactly the same as the rest of Canada-USA except for the language!
You got me thinking, though -- the SAAQ woman (French) and I (English) are both Quebec women. I was happy to take my (American) husband's name when we got married. So now I'm thinking that it's an Anglophone vs. Francophone issue. All of my female friends -- English -- loved that I was able to take my husband's name. (They hyphenated, but that was just for "show." It wasn't legal -- all their ID remained in their maiden name.)
You got me thinking, though -- the SAAQ woman (French) and I (English) are both Quebec women. I was happy to take my (American) husband's name when we got married. So now I'm thinking that it's an Anglophone vs. Francophone issue. All of my female friends -- English -- loved that I was able to take my husband's name. (They hyphenated, but that was just for "show." It wasn't legal -- all their ID remained in their maiden name.)
All very true.
Given that there are more francophones than anglophones, though, the francophone ethos tends to dominate and laws and other things tend to reflect.
Yet another thing that proves that Montreal isn't simply Toronto or Philadelphia with a bit of French words thrown into the mix...
Sure there's a bit more of a difference in Montreal then most other cities in North America, but there's not nearly as much as a difference from the rest of North-American culture that people on this thread are making it out to be. Most shouldn't just assume cultural differences and a European vibe just simply because french is the majority language, if anything Montreal has it's own unique brand of culture that is not necessarily "European" or all that different from other major cities on the continent.Montreal is a city with a HUGE diversity of lifestyles so this mostly depends on not only how anyone defines significant cultural differences but how anyone subjectively perceives it from their anecdotal experiences.
This is especially true in most of the suburbs. There is not much to distinguish Pointe-Claire,Brossard,Laval or even Boucherville from other North-American suburbs aside from language and perhaps some different retail chains.
Culture shock will come in the form of Americas total obsession with their politics where your political leanings will determine your social circles or even the area you live in,while you may see a small glimpse of the madness in our P&C section its really nothing compared to when the hate venom and vitriol is in your face and you have to deal with RWNJs on a daily basis where all they talk about is politics, usually when i'm in the USA and some one tries to bait me into a political hate rant i usually disarm the situation by saying Obama?Whats an Obama? ....i'm from Canada eh!..
Then theres Americas obsession with guns, they are everywhere and almost every one has one,heads up, dont engage any one down there with any anti gun opinions. .
Culture shock will come in the form of Americas total obsession with their politics where your political leanings will determine your social circles or even the area you live in,while you may see a small glimpse of the madness in our P&C section its really nothing compared to when the hate venom and vitriol is in your face and you have to deal with RWNJs on a daily basis where all they talk about is politics, usually when i'm in the USA and some one tries to bait me into a political hate rant i usually disarm the situation by saying Obama?Whats an Obama? ....i'm from Canada eh!..
Then theres Americas obsession with guns, they are everywhere and almost every one has one,heads up, dont engage any one down there with any anti gun opinions. .
Then again, Minneapolis isn't the most politically polarized city with a major research university in the US... if the actual district within Minneapolis is a factor, Prospect Park.
But wouldn't political leanings also correlate (not perfectly, I know) with socioeconomic status? How often would a city have two different districts with similar socioeconomic status but whose political leanings are starkly different one another?
Culture shock will come in the form of Americas total obsession with their politics where your political leanings will determine your social circles or even the area you live in,while you may see a small glimpse of the madness in our P&C section its really nothing compared to when the hate venom and vitriol is in your face and you have to deal with RWNJs on a daily basis where all they talk about is politics, usually when i'm in the USA and some one tries to bait me into a political hate rant i usually disarm the situation by saying Obama?Whats an Obama? ....i'm from Canada eh!..
Then theres Americas obsession with guns, they are everywhere and almost every one has one,heads up, dont engage any one down there with any anti gun opinions. .
Quebec not being different (except for the language) certainly fits the agenda of you and some others on here who are strongly opposed to certain Quebec policies.
I mean, if there's nothing to be lost by having the place transition over to English eventually, what's the point, eh?
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