Blame Canada

I have a student I named "Susie" after my childhood doll. She's precious. I sent home progress reports and she came to me asking, "Teacher, what does 'amazing' mean?" One of the Korean teachers at my school had also questioned the word, "Is 'amazing' good or bad?" I explained how 'amazing' describes something which amazes you. Can be good or bad. Well I've met a lot of amazing people here in South Korea. Most Korean citizens amaze me with their kindness. But most foreign teachers I've come across are complete WACK JOBS! Most foreign teachers in this country are Canadian. You do the math.
I'm baffled over the animosity I've witnessed from our neighbors up north. What did America ever do to their country? I could understand a loathing for President Bush, he's a dolt, but to call all Americans ignorant is .... well that's just ignorant! Sure, I'm not educated on Canada - I know Quebec wants to be it's own country, that French is the official language for a high percentage of Canadians, that hockey's big there, & that the beautiful side of Niagra Falls falls on the Canadian side of the border .... lucky for them, 'cause it brings in a lot of our American money, eh?
Well the popular claim here seems to be that Koreans prefer Canadians over Americans. That's why my school is called "Little America" and people I meet every day tell me they LOVE America and want to go there. I've yet to hear anyone say they want to move to Canada. It's too damn cold! I sure as hell don't, and therefore don't feel the need to educate myself on Canada.
Why is it that Koreans don't like us? (according to Canadians) Because we're "boastful". Actually, I've never mentioned anything about the U.S. being wonderful or expressed the slightest ethnocentrism. But now that they're mentioning it, we ARE the #1 Nation in the WORLD. Not bad, eh? I've never been proud or ashamed of the decisions of my government. Politicians make the decisions, not I. And they don't give us great options to vote from. But I am happy that I was born in a land that's got so much to offer. "The land of opportunity" has given me a great deal and I appreciate it. Wish we didn't live in a world with wars and hatred, but we do and I'm fortunate to be protected by the strongest military out there. Most importantly, it's democracy they're fighting for and if it weren't for us stupid Americans, women everywhere may be walking around in Burkas (women's dress in Islamic culture). I'm sure the benefits of oil trade provoke our intervention more than human rights, but there are a lot of people who are very grateful for our "butting in". People want us to mind our business, until they need our help. I'm sure if anyone ever felt like invading Canada, they'd be happy we're their neighbors. But I don't foresee that happening any time soon. The only thing they've got to offer is spring water and trees. Yeah, I did a little research on Canada... in attempts to de-ignorantize myself... and found that Canada is the "origin of bottled water" and has a rich ecosystem. That's nice.
So I can honestly say, until recently, I was never "proud to be an American". But ya know what, Canadians? YOU MAKE ME PROUD!