Top 5 Oddities

Does anyone watch this channel?

Uhuuu, the semester is over! And it was great to finish that with the exams at… the gym! Yeah, at the gym! It sounds weird for our Brazilian friends, but here in the University is normal. The instructors book the gym and run the exams right there. It means, it is possible to calculate the return on initial investments of a particular project right on the goal line… 

For sure that was one of the weirdest things we have experienced in Canada. But there were others and we would like to share with you the top five so far. Number one, as we already wrote: exams at the gym!
Number two: educative cartoons. We know that children should watch educative cartoons and series. In Brazil we have good ones. However, in Canada we saw the most intellectual children targeted TV series ever: “Dino Dan”, a series combining cartoon and live action. “Dino Dan” follows the adventures of a ten years old palaeontologist-in-training... This little guy does not spend his childhood playing hockey in the streets or playing with his friends. He spends his time talking to his friends about dinosaurs… Ok, nice, but… but our son will watch Spongebob.

Number three is about Canadian customs. Why there is nobody in the streets at 5 PM during the Fall? OK, it is dark and cold, but strange. It is also interesting to notice that the restaurants usually are crowded this time. Our stomachs are still getting accustomed with this. In Brazil: we used to have lunch at 1PM, 2PM. Our dinner? Between 9:30PM and 10PM! 

Number four is about a Nanaimo-ite tradition running over the summer. Every single day, during the summer, some guys wearing 1920’s clothes and moustaches prepare cannon and shot it. At noon. Why? No idea… 

Back to the TV “shows”. Number five. By far, the weirdest thing we have seen here in Canada and in our lives. I do not know if you readers will believe, but here we go: there is a TV channel called The Frame (# 165) that has only one show. We can describe to you the "show" called  Shaw Firelog. It is an active fireplace. Yes, that is it: some wood burning in a fireplace. Sometimes it appears a man putting more wood in to burn. What else? That is it. All days, all evenings, all the time! Unbelievable! We laughed so hard when we saw that! This is the top five so far. If we find out some new thing, for sure we will let you know!

Oh, and for those readers who are writing their final exams this week: make sure you are taking care of you! Study hard, but have lunch, have dinner, sleep well, have a chat with your friends… Have some fun watching the Fireplace Channel!