I ask this only in jest, really, but before my trip to British Columbia last week, I had never really seen mountain scenery that approaches the beauty of the Alps. I drove around the Kootenay, Banff, Jasper, and Yoho National Parks for a few days, took a few hikes, explored a few glaciers, and took in some real mountain air. WOW. Do you guys who live in B.C. and Alberta find anything to impress you in that overpriced land of milk farmers who look down their Alpine mountainsides (and their noses) at everyone else in the world? Anyway, thanks to those who offered me their travel tips — I’ll be heading north again soon, I hope, to do some more exploring.

The one thing that really surprised me was how different Canadian English sounds from American English. It only takes one or two sentences, and the nationality is obvious. I’ve always thought Peter Jennings spoke "Canadian", but his accent is really tame compared with that of the people on the street in Canada. Besides the "ou" in "out", it sounds like there are lots of other vowel differences, and a kind of Irish-sounding intonation. Anyone else notice this, or know where I could find something written on Canadian English?