The One Where I'm Obviously A Foreigner

Situation Número Uno

Setting: Montpetit 222, History of Religion in Canada.

People: Me, prof, Jenny and Christina.

What happened: firstly, Prof Anderson confirmed that there is no difference between the United States and Canada; this then caused Jenny and Christina to simultaneously turn to me and tell me not to get so smug and that there is a big difference. (Now I know there is a big difference, but it winds Canadians up something chronic if you say there isn't). Anderson also commented that Canada is a British Colony. Emphasis on the 'is'. Hannah 1; Jenny and Christina 0. Also I may have lost that point later that class. Christina finally brought me some food to class and I offered a hungry Jenny some of mine. Because I am an idiot who didn't think that pepperoni pizza from the University Caf might not be kosher. Oops...

This pizza is not kosher. 

Situation Número Dos

Setting: Morisset 2-something or other.

People: Me, Jenny and another prof.

What happened: a few weeks back, my History of the Jews in Canada prof effectively blamed the whole Israel-Palestine stuff on the British. To diffuse the tension because I'm not a huge fan of the old awkward moment, I stuck my hand up and said, "Yeah but we do feel bad about it now." Which the rest of the class found hilarious. It's the accent. Anyway, today the professor implied that Britain was to blame for World War Two. As soon as he mentioned the British, he looked right at me, panicked and said, "Er, I'm looking at you, but I'm not looking at you." He was so looking at me and looking at me. Anyway, as the class went on and people tried to justify Canadian anti-Semitism, I piped up with, "If I can just play the obnoxious foreigner card, why would Canada care about European Jews when they don't even care about the Natives living five minutes away?"

Oh yeah, I went there. If I could have found a way to bring up "free" Canadian health care, I would have.

What will I do next year when I speak up in class and no-one turns around to hear where the gorgeous accent came from?