Bring on the Rest of the Questions
This morning when I turned on my computer and the Welcome page for AOL came up there it was, a test, a quiz actually. I just can't resist a test. It was 10 questions of the new American immigration questionaire. For those applying for citizenship learning the answers to such questions is part of the process. There are apparently 100 questions in all.
Well! I did the quiz and got 100%, ten out of ten, perfect!!!! (Does pride really come before the fall?) Any less and I would have been disappointed in myself as I have spent a lifetime interested in our southern neighbour.(What I felt was more like warm satisfaction than pride.)
Now I want to see the whole list of 100 questions! Do they really reveal the essence of America and American's knowledge of itself?
Probably not. One word answers to questions are by nature superficial.
I wonder how many Americans would do as well as I or most Canadians on a list of superficial questions about Canada, disappointing few as most Canadians know and often joke about. http://www.boingboing.net/2006/08/17/talking-to-americans.html
I believe we are slowly, as a country, learning to live with our lack of recognition, approval and appreciation by our southern cousins. We care less now than we did when I was younger. In my lifetime, Canada has matured as a country and culture and has little reason to feel envious of the Great Republic.
In the meantime, I am ready with the answers, just in case I get invited to become an American citizen, or get challenged to an American version of the game of Trivial Pursuit.!
posted by Tossing Pebbles in the Stream @ 6:53 a.m.
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5 Comments:
To be perfectly honest, I'm sure most Americans wouldn't be able to answer questions about our own country! Our educational system here isn't the greatest, I'm ashamed to say. :(
My 12-year old son is in the gifted program at school because of his his IQ. If it weren't for that, he would have quit several years ago. He just isn't challenged enough in a regular classroom. He taught himself to read at 4, so he could play the computer games. He started reading Tolkien at age 7. The school system didn't know how to handle a kid like that. They prefer kids to be pumped full of Ritilin and be good little zombies who do as they're told. SIGH.
No child left behind is a joke. They are losing the best and brightest because of the stupid policies.
I always like to joke that Canada's national motto is "leading the world in being just north of the US."
I do however understand that Canada is lovely and diverse country with much more to offer than proximity to us in the US, but I can't quit laughing when I tell that dumb joke.
I am sorry to say far too many U.S.citizens couldn't pass the test.
I am not sure that the educational system is so much to blame as general apathy. We are more interested in what Paris Hilton has done most recently (I am not, however) than we are in what is happening in Darfur. We pay attention to the inanities of O.J. Simpson, but can't say what is in our Bill of Rights.
And on and on it goes.
My Canadian cousin. I am a Cajun. Cajun is a derivative of Acadian, or simply Canadian. My mother spoke French until she was in the first grade. Even to this day, when my relatives get together, I can hardly understand most of what they are saying. Didn’t learn the language which is just as well, our French is like Ye Old English to yours and is somewhat broken by Native American words. For instance, my grandpa nicked named me Miube. It’s a Choctaw word meaning Bull of the Woods. I remember in my life time many villages and communities in AMERICA where French was the language of the day and if you couldn’t speak it, you were SOL. I was mostly SOL. So, from my perspective, having been evicted by the English from Canada through my ancestors, relegated to live in the swamps of Louisiana, I can say, I look up to Canada as the Bigger Brother. My great Uncle was the first Cajun musician recorded by the Library of Congress. Some of his songs have France origins, most are from Canada. Some Canadians I know have looked down on me because we are the swamp people. So, in my case, I’m that 1% exception.
I know as much about American history as I do about Canadian history. I also take an interest in our American cousins. Mary
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