A further comprehensive study of the cultural and societal differences between Canada and Japan (see Part 1) during my eight months here so far:
| Canada | Japan | |
| A typical workweek: | 5 days | 7 days |
| Pizza: | A 20" costs $12 | A 12" costs $20 |
| "1,000,000" is: | one million | one hundred ten thousand |
| Number of syllables in "Christmas": | 2 | 5 |
| Mascots: | Bears, Lions, Horses, Dinosaurs, and Birds | Pumpkins, Feet, Flowers, Buildings, Circles, and algae balls with boners |
| Requirements to pass Junior High School: | Completion of assignments, tests and homework, high attendance rate, and a cumulative average above 50% | Enrollment |
| What you hear on a farm: | Moo, woof, meow, cock-a-doodle-doo, oink, neigh | Mou, wan, nyaa, kokekokko, buu, hihiin |
| If you board the bus at the front: | You pay the fare and sit down | You push against the passengers getting off and the driver thinks your retarded |
| Disputes are settled by: | Arguing, fighting, intervention, expensive court battles | Rock, paper, scissors |
| "See you at 8:00pm" means: | "I'll be there at 8:30pm because I'll be leaving my house by 8:00pm" | "I actually mean 7:45pm and you're late if you show up at 8:00pm" |
| At a restaurant: | You wait to be seated, wait to order, wait for the food, and wait to pay the bill | You sit at an empty table, say "sumimasen" to order, read manga while you wait, and pay the cashier when your done - or - buy your meal ticket from the vending machine |
| At the movies: | Tickets are $12, the movies are just released, popcorn is freshly popped, and everyone leaves once the credits start rolling | Tickets are $18, the movies are on DVD in North America, the popcorn magically appears from under a counter and everyone watches the entire movie.. including the credits |
| If you get sick at work: | You take medicine or go home | You tough it out |
| To end a phone call: | You say "Bye" or "See you" | You apologize profusely |
| "Isn't the weather nice?" translates as: | "Nice weather, eh?" | "Nice weather, ne?" |
| When you go into a convenience store: | You turn off the car and lock the doors | You leave the car running and the doors unlocked |
Canada
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