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[soleta_nf]

01. It is SUCH a beautiful day today! The weather has been crap for a solid week now, and any nice weather we've had in the last few months has stayed around for a few days at most and then run into hiding again. Which is infuriating to me, a summer lover. So after work I walked straight past my house and jaunted around for a good 30 minutes,

Comments

[devildoll]

Coffee Crisp, Smarties; I've been told Kit-Kat but I saw them in the U.S. last year, only the packaging is different

We do have Kit Kat here, several different varieties, actually (my dad is a big fan). Smarties here are a small round disc candy with fruit flavors.

Big Turk, Bridge Mixture, Cherry Blossom, Crispy Crunch, Eat-More, Glosette Raisins/Glosette Peanuts, Jersey Milk, Mackintosh Toffee, Pep, Roman Nougat, Sweet Marie, Wunderbar.

We do have a Bridge Mix here, it's various things covered in chocolate (nuts and fruits) and my grandma used to buy it. Roman Nougat is, as far as I know, not offered in an individual candy bar but is found in some box chocolate assortments, and is a favorite of mine.

I confess to not being a huge candy eater, though, so I'm not totally reliable.

[soleta_nf]

Smarties here are like M&Ms, small round candy-coated chocolate - though IMO M&Ms really are much better. Smarties and M&Ms here are like Coke and Pepsi - both very popular and ubiquitous.

Bridge Mixture is the same here - thanks! I won't pick that up.

The fact that you guys call them candy bars and not chocolate bars is really more honest - there's not much chocolate in most of them!

[newnumber6]

Wait, no Crispy Crunch? That's just... wrong. Those poor, deprived Americans!

Aside from jamaican beef patties (which probably wouldn't be too portable), the only other food I can recall mentioning and getting a 'huh?' from American friends was dill pickle chips. According to wiki bacon chips are also mainly Canadian, which just strikes me as odd. Bacon and chips go together naturally!

[soleta_nf]

I know! I will definitely pick up a Crispy Crunch for my friends. It's an iconic chocolate bar of my childhood, since I had TEH BIGGEST CRUSH EVAR on a guy named Chris P. from like grades 2-7. Hee hee, Chris P. Crunch.

I wish I could bring veggies to the U.S., because there are frozen fiddleheads here I could take (a New Brunswick vegetable). There's also McCain frozen poutine that I found here - not sure how good it would be, but I made my friends a pretty sad version of it last year (which they still liked!). I could probably get that into the U.S. but I'd have to wrap it up in a cooler and such. :S

I saw that about the chips, too, and yes it really does seem odd. They're both such popular chip flavours here. Maybe I'll pick up small bags of those, too. I love ketchup chips though, so that will be a big bag! We could eat them during our Canada Day party! Hmm, maybe I should bring a few bags... How big is my suitcase again? ;)

[newnumber6]

Oooh, what about those maple creme cookies? The ones shaped like a leaf? Those are good and, although I'm not certain they're not available in the states, still strike me as a bit of Canadiana - since they're shaped like our leaf!

Other President's Choice stuff in general might also be options since I think that's still Canadian.

[soleta_nf]

They ARE good, and I bet they aren't available in the U.S. Thanks!

I had a big discussion with one of my Houston friends last year about the President's Choice brand, and they actually have it in some stores there! It's not very common, but she recognized the packaging and everything! Amazing.

[hearts_n_roses]

I noticed when I was in Chicago a lot that they have very little Cadbury. They have the basic fruit and nut, and dairy milk but no caramilk, crunchie, wunderbar, crispy crunch, etc. I always took lots of treat sized ones for Terri when I went.

Also, they have some choc bars that are the same but have different names. Skor=heath, mars=milky way. They do have smarties but they are what we would call rockets.

This, of course, is all just my experience and could be completely regional.

[soleta_nf]

Thank you! From what I know, your experiences sound familiar to what I know, so I think this is probably true across the U.S.

[threnody]

The fruit and nut bars are recent to the States, at least as far as I know. I lived in the States for 12 years and only in the last year or so have fruit and nut bars been available. And I lived near the border, so there's loads of stuff there that you can't get further away (maple cookies, ketchup chips, etc

[soleta_nf]

Excellent info and suggestions, thank you! This is so fascinating. I love learning these kinds of cultural differences, even in countries where the "differences" aren't apparent to many people.

MMM, Zero bars! A family I babysat for used to have a ton of them in their freezer and I'd sneak one once in a while. HEAVEN. If I end up trying to transport frozen poutine, I might stick a Zero bar in there.

[threnody]

I know. Right now I'm trying to reconcile the whole Canadian/American thing, because I'm not used to admiting that I'm both. I miss Canada like mad when I'm down there, and when I'm here I get this inkling of missing the States. And I do miss it there sometimes. There are things about American culture that Canadians just don't get, and vice versa (much more the latter than the former, but still).

Also, they don't have Tandoori Doritos down there. More's the pity.

[soleta_nf]

I haven't tried either the Tandoori Doritos or the Curry Lays yet. :( I'm waiting to find them on sale, but soon I'll have to buckle. Are they buckle-worthy? I wonder why we have them and they don't.

Ooh, what don't Canadians get about American culture?

[aaronlisa]

tvismyfandom brings up some excellent points about GJ. One of the reasons why I keep straying from it is because a lot of times, people disappear, communities fall apart and the such. It is a younger base and more devoid of fandom. I think IJ is a much better solution to LJ because it's not already crowded (and I mean that in a nice way) with RPG's. There's not an expectation of what IJ is all about.

and thanks for the link to the essay on responsible fanfiction.

[soleta_nf]

You're welcome! Yeah, if I were to change my home journalling base, I'd be much more interested in IJ than GJ now.