2 So, What Can You Take Into The U.S. Embassy in O(cid:425)awa? Sign on the sidewalk outside the US Embassy on Sussex Drive in O(cid:425)awa. Copy & Adver(cid:415)sing Deadline for the Next Edi(cid:415)on of The Mirror is September 10th The South Marysburgh Mirror How Do Americans Perceive Canada : An Example! By Doug McGregor When my wife and I were newly married we embarked on a move to Saskatoon. It felt like a brave thing to do at the (cid:415)me as neither of us had been to the prairies before. In par(cid:415)cular, we were concerned about how we would cope with the extremely cold winter. I remembered read- ing W.O. Mitchell's "Who Has Seen The Wind" in school and winter seemed like a lot to deal with. However as (cid:415)me went by we adapted, thanks to down parkas. Adap(cid:415)ng to the length of the winter was the real tough haul! The business I was employed by took off and within a couple of years the US market was exploding. It's hard to sell into the states from a Canadian prairie address so a second office was opened in Atlanta, Georgia. As with most expansions it was seeded with locals from HQ (Saskatoon) who then hired locals in Atlanta. This is where it started to become evident how li(cid:425)le the Americans knew about Canada or for that ma(cid:425)er Northern climes. Eventually the stories started to dri(cid:332) back from the Saskatoon crew about ge(cid:427)ng their Saskatoon cars ser- viced. The Atlanta mechanics were totally confused by all the electrical cords hanging out. I should explain to those that have never lived through Prairie winters that in order to get your car to start at -45 degrees you need a block heater (two of them if it was a large V8), and a ba(cid:425)ery blanket. Most cars also had an electric interior heater as well. It seems most of the Atlanta mechanics thought they must be looking at some kind of electric car. Those crazy Canucks, eh! But my favourite story from that (cid:415)me came about from a phone conversa(cid:415)on I overheard between two techs, one down the hall from me and the other, a new hire in Atlanta. I should add at this stage that the Saska- toon business was in a new business park and there was very li(cid:425)le around except wide open prairie. It was April and while the start of hot weather in Atlanta was just around the corner, Spring was s(cid:415)ll weeks (months?) away in Saskatchewan and there was s(cid:415)ll lots of snow every- where. As the conversa(cid:415)on went on, clearly the US guy was having difficulty ge(cid:427)ng his head around the differences so he asked his counterpart to look out the window and describe what he saw. As I heard this I glanced up as well to look. Just at that exact moment, as if it was meant to be, a snow sled with a team of huskies rushed by! This is a sight I had never seen before, or for that ma(cid:425)er since, but there it was and described to the American. To this day that American tech probably s(cid:415)ll believes we all live in igloos and dodge polar bears on the way to driving our snowmobiles to work. Hey, can you pass the seal blubber.