Canadian TV doesn't suck as much as it usually does
I smell like I've been in bed all day. Probably because I have been. On the bright side, the chicken soup I ate for supper is staying down quite nicely, and maybe I've kicked this thing. And I really need to shower before I crawl back into bed for the night.
I've booked Colin's flight down here for March. It doesn't look like I'll be going to Calgary for spring break, mostly because he works nights that week, so it would be kind of pointless since I'd hardly see him anyway. He'll be down here for the full week before spring break, though, so at least we'll have a week together and he'll get the vacation time. I still have to keep an eye out for his flight back to Calgary, but at least he'll get down here, which is the important part, right? ;o) (You mean it wouldn't go over so well if I kidnapped him and kept him here? Too bad.)
I'm watching the first few episodes of Being Erica. Cute show. Someone in the Dragonfly (insanityjones, maybe?) said that it has sort of a Wonderfalls feel to it, which I can see. Doesn't hurt that Tyron Leitso is in it, but the similarities go beyond that. I'm remarkably impressed--maybe Canadian TV is finally catching up? (Oh, Canadian art, which is so far behind...) Also, Erin Karpluk kind of looks like Alyson Hannigan. I don't notice it so much in stills, but in motion, there are distinct similarities.
There are some distinctly Canadian phrases ("I was in my second year of university," in particular) that reminded me of a conversation I had before Christmas. I was talking to an American and a Brit, and the American commented that Brits and Canadians take out the "the" before certain words; for instance, "going to university" or "going to hospital."
The Brit agreed, but I had to protest, saying that any Canadian I know would never say, "Going to hospital;" like Americans, we'd say, "Going to the hospital." As for the use of "university"...
Americans refer to all post-secondary education as "college." Whether you're going to Harvard or Murray's House of Learning (thanks, Jackson), it's referred to as "going to college." There are, of course, the distinctions between junior college, two-year college, state school, private university, Ivy League, etc, but in general, the language used is that, when you're finished high school, you go to college.
In Canada, there's a distinction made between going to college and going to university. If you're going to, well, a university, you go to university after high school. If not, you go to college, which could refer to a technical school, a trade school, a Bible college, a community college, and so on. I have an accredited Bachelor's degree, but because my school wasn't specifically a university, I say that I went to college.
So, no, I wouldn't say that I'm "going to university" in the same way that someone might say that he's "going to hospital." If I was going to the physical location of the university, I'd say "the," just like I'd say "the" if I was going to the hospital (I'm going to the university to study; I'm going to the hospital to get my gallbladder removed). I'd also say, if I was, for instance, a student at the U of C, that I was a student at the University of Calgary. However, in the broad sense of going to university to get an education, there's no "the."
(Also, Canadians don't talk about our freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. We refer to our post-secondary years as the first year, second year, third year, and fourth year. Which, incidentally, CalArts kind of does, too. We're referred to as BFA1, BFA2, BFA3, BFA4, MFA1, MFA2, or MFA3s.)
(And also, in another scene, Erica talks about being in grade eleven, which is also quite Canadian, as opposed to saying "eleventh grade.")
Anyway. That was a kind of pointless diatribe.
Oh, when I booked Colin's flight, the confirmation screen (after I'd paid) showed a different total than the emailed receipt. I printed out the confirmation page and I have the receipt in my email, so I'll check the credit card in a couple of days to see how much it was charged for and contest it if I have to. Weird.
I've booked Colin's flight down here for March. It doesn't look like I'll be going to Calgary for spring break, mostly because he works nights that week, so it would be kind of pointless since I'd hardly see him anyway. He'll be down here for the full week before spring break, though, so at least we'll have a week together and he'll get the vacation time. I still have to keep an eye out for his flight back to Calgary, but at least he'll get down here, which is the important part, right? ;o) (You mean it wouldn't go over so well if I kidnapped him and kept him here? Too bad.)
I'm watching the first few episodes of Being Erica. Cute show. Someone in the Dragonfly (insanityjones, maybe?) said that it has sort of a Wonderfalls feel to it, which I can see. Doesn't hurt that Tyron Leitso is in it, but the similarities go beyond that. I'm remarkably impressed--maybe Canadian TV is finally catching up? (Oh, Canadian art, which is so far behind...) Also, Erin Karpluk kind of looks like Alyson Hannigan. I don't notice it so much in stills, but in motion, there are distinct similarities.
There are some distinctly Canadian phrases ("I was in my second year of university," in particular) that reminded me of a conversation I had before Christmas. I was talking to an American and a Brit, and the American commented that Brits and Canadians take out the "the" before certain words; for instance, "going to university" or "going to hospital."
The Brit agreed, but I had to protest, saying that any Canadian I know would never say, "Going to hospital;" like Americans, we'd say, "Going to the hospital." As for the use of "university"...
Americans refer to all post-secondary education as "college." Whether you're going to Harvard or Murray's House of Learning (thanks, Jackson), it's referred to as "going to college." There are, of course, the distinctions between junior college, two-year college, state school, private university, Ivy League, etc, but in general, the language used is that, when you're finished high school, you go to college.
In Canada, there's a distinction made between going to college and going to university. If you're going to, well, a university, you go to university after high school. If not, you go to college, which could refer to a technical school, a trade school, a Bible college, a community college, and so on. I have an accredited Bachelor's degree, but because my school wasn't specifically a university, I say that I went to college.
So, no, I wouldn't say that I'm "going to university" in the same way that someone might say that he's "going to hospital." If I was going to the physical location of the university, I'd say "the," just like I'd say "the" if I was going to the hospital (I'm going to the university to study; I'm going to the hospital to get my gallbladder removed). I'd also say, if I was, for instance, a student at the U of C, that I was a student at the University of Calgary. However, in the broad sense of going to university to get an education, there's no "the."
(Also, Canadians don't talk about our freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. We refer to our post-secondary years as the first year, second year, third year, and fourth year. Which, incidentally, CalArts kind of does, too. We're referred to as BFA1, BFA2, BFA3, BFA4, MFA1, MFA2, or MFA3s.)
(And also, in another scene, Erica talks about being in grade eleven, which is also quite Canadian, as opposed to saying "eleventh grade.")
Anyway. That was a kind of pointless diatribe.
Oh, when I booked Colin's flight, the confirmation screen (after I'd paid) showed a different total than the emailed receipt. I printed out the confirmation page and I have the receipt in my email, so I'll check the credit card in a couple of days to see how much it was charged for and contest it if I have to. Weird.