05-03-12 Love Expats Weekly Showcase
Sleeping in the heavens…
There’s an odd Canadian trend my husband and I first noticed when we came over to find somewhere to rent. We trailed around fifty or so houses, and quickly got used to the layout of your average Canadian home – the laundry room, the family den separate from the “good” sitting room, the walk-in closets and open-plan design. We soon knew what to expect when we read “split-level” or “reverse pie lot” on the particulars. All measurements were imperial instead of metric and there were things like California Shutters and window screens to get our heads around.
This was our first insight into Canadian family life so the whole experience was undertaken in much the same way you’d watch a David Attenborough documentary – to learn as much as possible about this new species, Homo Canadiens. We explored the territory and tried to make inferences about its inhabitants that could be applied to the entire population – similar to how many Canucks believe all Brits have bad teeth and live in pokey houses. “They sure do love their breakfast bars…”, “they have a preference for dark wooden furniture…”, or “they love to barbecue.” We saw basements galore, from the unfinished ones used as junk storage or kids play-areas, to the finished ones with bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms. There was one that was so obviously the “MEN ONLY” area of the house; with its own solid wood, fully stocked corner bar, big squishy black leather sofas, HUGE flat-screen TV and walls adorned with posters of women who’d mislaid most of their clothes. Hmmmm, too much insight there…
But the one thing that we couldn’t figure out was the Canadian penchant for sleeping in the heavens. Many of the beds in the master bedrooms had this extra layer, as thick as the mattress, which raised the sleeping level by almost a foot, so that even an adults legs dangled over the side of the bed like a child’s. The realtor didn’t have an explanation for it when we asked her.
Since the arrival of our new bed last week, K & I have experienced this for ourselves. K was unconvinced, citing a fear of heights and the onset of altitude sickness, but I quite like it. It feels very regal! I expect it’s the bed equivalent of driving an SUV among saloons and station wagons – the height gives you a sense of ascendancy, or perhaps that’s just the rarefied air!
If anyone can give me an explanation for this strange cult, please leave a comment because I’m puzzled… you can find me in my ivory tower bed… or of course the usual places on Twitter and Facebook. If you enjoyed reading this take a look at my blog Expatlogue where you’ll find more quirky observations from Canadian life. For now though, please cast your eye over the entries below to see what other gems we can learn from our friends in exotic outposts!
Heather Goes to Deutschland – Expat moments
There aren’t a tremendous number of things I miss from the U.S., but I do miss relaxing on the couch on a Sunday afternoon with a fridge full of football treats (guacamole or bean dip, Snyder’s pretzels, normal pizza, etc.). Huddling around a laptop like a hobo is just not the same. (Do hobos have laptops?) Not to mention staying up late because football games start here anywhere from 7pm to 2am. Gah. But German beer complements American football just fine.
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Pint-Sized Rants – Ten things I love about France
2. The Language. It’s beautiful. Nuff said.
6. The weather. Seasons. Remember those? Where I live in the east we have four of them. Hot summers, glorious autumns, fresh springs and freakingly cold winters. Yes, we also get lots of rain, but I like rain. The earth needs more of it
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