Canada is not a state of the USA ... RE: [Ailist] Examining mental models

[Sue Hammond]

Your post reminded me of my year behind the Iron Curtain. In 1975, I 
joined about 8 other American students to be the first ones in Poland 
trying to help the Poles learn the American English accent. I had been 
in Heidelberg Germany the year before and thought it would be really 
'neat' to live in Eastern Europe. I used to take the train into West 
Berlin to stock up on supplies  every so often. We went through the East 
Berlin train station where the guards with the dogs and guns would come 
on and search the train. We had to get an exit visa to leave Poland...
When the wall came down I realized I really had lived a portion of 
history. Those years abroad made me understand the idea of framing and 
assumptions which is what Esther asked to start this thread. I honestly 
think it inspired me to find my way into OD.
AND I grew up in Buffalo where we would go over the border to either buy 
beer or go to the beach. I would always buy a Cuban cigar to smoke on 
the beach in Canada. It all feels like several lifetimes ago. And I 
agree, it's all for the better
Thanks for the trip...may the world continue to become flatter.
sue hammond

Leif Josefsson wrote:
> Irresistable desire to continue the thread, but removing the sarcasm.
>
> The conversation makes me appreciate development in Europe where the
> expanded Schengen treaty from Jan 1 makes it possible to travel *from* the
> arctic cirlce in Finland *to* Cabo de Sao Vicente in Portugal passing
> Estonia, Latvia, Lithaunania, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France
> and Spain. (Check out
> here)<http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=sv&msa=0&om=1&msid=109997574159115725113.0004436a59445db272276&ll=55.279115,13.007813&spn=33.307177,81.738281&z=4>
>  * Without passport and any visible border control.  *Just an approved
> EU identity card.
> **
> Of course this is a distance that can be contained inside the US, but four
> of these contries were on the other side of the iron curtain just a little
> more than 15 years ago. And the last two countries where fascist
> dictatorships just some years earlier than that
> **
> The world is changing.  Mostly to the better.
>
> Hejdå from Leif J
>
>
>
> 2008/1/10, LMLiz0810 at cs.com <LMLiz0810 at cs.com>:
>   
>> Please excuse me for continuing this tangent, but I culdn't resist.
>>
>> You mean Canada's not just another northern state, (she typed with more
>> than
>> a hint of sarcasm in her fingers), I just go there all the time.  I've
>> lived
>> on the border my whole life - first in the metro Detroit area and now in
>> the
>> greater Buffalo area.  Things have changed some starting in late '99, I
>> take a
>> passport these days, but we really do just go to Canada -- for lunch or
>> dinner,
>> for a better view of the (Niagara) Falls, a winery tour, and as a
>> short-cut
>> to visit family and friends in Detroit.
>>
>> In the early 80s we went to buy gas in Windsor; until about 18 months ago
>> we
>> would go shopping in St. Catherines or Toronto - even though the prices
>> were
>> higher the exchange rate made up for it (and if you spent the night you
>> could
>> get your sales tax rebated) -- ah those were the good old days (again,
>> sarcasm
>> dripping from my fingers).
>>
>> Now Canadians just come here to shop.  The weakened US dollar has really
>> helped sales tax revenues in my county.  They also seem to be helping
>> local
>> charities.  It seems that these shoppers are leaving so many of their old
>> clothes
>> behind, wearing their new purchases to avoid the duty, the malls have put
>> in
>> bins so the old clothes can be donated to charities (instead of littering
>> the
>> parking lots).  The benefits of a weak US dollar!
>>
>> That's just life on the border.
>>
>> Again, I'm sorry for continuing this tangent.
>>
>> -Liz McGough
>>
>> In a message dated 1/9/2008 5:45:08 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>> lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au writes:
>>     
>>> I like Bobbi's idea a lot.  I will likely give it a try.
>>>
>>> On another matter, in the interest of preventing misinformation from
>>> becoming established fact - and being a Canadian by birth - I feel
>>>       
>> obliged to remind
>>     
>>> her about the Sovereign demarkation that distinguishes Canada from USA.
>>>       
>> That
>>     
>>> is, Canada is not a state of the USA (as is implied by the text below).
>>> That will be made clear if if you do try to "go to Canada" from the USA,
>>>       
>> as you
>>     
>>> need to go through customs to get there and again to get back to the
>>>       
>> USA.
>>     
>>> Of course I realise this confusion is simply a discursive slip and I am
>>>       
>> sure
>>     
>>> that you realise my sense of humour is at work again.
>>>
>>> We experienced the customs issue in 1980, when we left Toronto to attend
>>>       
>> an
>>     
>>> industrial engineering university conference in North Carolina State
>>> University.  We drove down in a pickup truck - 3 of us in the cab and 3
>>>       
>> others in the
>>     
>>> back asleep.  When we stopped in Washington for breakfast our Hong Kong
>>>       
>> born
>>     
>>> team member (who owned the pickup truck) remembered that he left his
>>> passport at home (at that time Canadians just needed to show their
>>>       
>> drivers licence).
>>     
>>>  So, two weeks later, after attending the conference and diverting to
>>>       
>> Fort
>>     
>>> Lauderdale for Spring Break, we put him in the back of the pickup under
>>> sleeping bags and dirty laundry and the Customs guard had one look
>>>       
>> (smell) as he
>>     
>>> opened the lid of the pickup and passed us through.  So, what does that
>>>       
>> make me
>>     
>>> ...?
>>>
>>> Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
>>> Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au
>>> Graduate School of Business
>>> What's up?: http://intergon.net/events.html
>>> The Sustainable Way: http://intergon.net/tsw
>>>       
>>>>>> "Bobbi Bilnoski ~ Concinnity" <bilnoski at swbell.net> 10/01/08 3:09 AM
>>>>>>             
>>> Hi everyone,
>>>
>>> Close your eyes and take 1 minute to imagine a map of the US, laid out
>>>       
>> in
>>     
>>> this room. Visualize the west coast, the east coast, the Canada and
>>>       
>> Mexico
>>     
>>> borders, how about Hawaii?
>>>
>>> Now, stand up. Got your mental map in mind? Everyone go stand on
>>>       
>> California,
>>     
>>> now go to Washington DC, now go to Canada, how about Texas, Idaho, etc ?
>>> (Pick any state you like)
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>>>       
>> _______________________________________________
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>>     
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