Just remember that it was a Canadian who invented the Hawaiian pizza. So, sorry about that.

(for the record, I like Hawaiian pizza)

I think it has to do with an old saying.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick"

Generally we as Canadians on the international level speak softly, while the US speaks very loudly. It is of no shock to me that you only remember us when we have to bring out the stick because we aren't as "interesting" to watch as the US is.

We may have Cirque du Soleil but everyone knows the real circus is US politics, and it is hard to compete on the world stage with the best of the best. haha

Happy to hear you're thinking of us! I think the average Canadian thinks more about our country's international reputation than mindshare. Personally, it doesn't bother me hearing that someone in another country doesn't think about us very often, but it does make me happy to hear that when you do it's positively. Please do visit!

To be honest I never knew we shipped our flour that far. (I live in Manitoba)

I think for the most part we realize that we are not perfect by any stretch, and instead of bragging about what we do or don't have, many of us would prefer to just try our best to make our corner of the planet as nice as we can. We are, after all, made up of people from all over the world and I think that's one of our greatest strengths.

I don't think your experience is unique - I think because the U.S. has been so dominant economically, culturally, and certainly militarily, much of the world overlooks us. It's not in our national character to be boastful, we just get things done - but never mistake our quiet nature for meekness. We're fiercely proud of our country and our accomplishments - and of being very unlike our neighbors to the south.

You should definitely come visit if you get the chance, there's a lot to see, and a nation of friendly people to help you enjoy it. Ciao!

I preferred being out of sight out of mind actually, especially the lack of tourists. Hell is other people.

When I visited Scotland, I felt the city core of Edinburgh wasn't for the locals anymore and it turned me off tourist reliant locations entirely for context.

Pornhub, like poutine, is Québécois!

(Though I'm not sure why we'd be proud of that...)

Honestly we forget about Canada, in a way. Having the US so close geographically and culturally has made it hard to see anything else. I can think of three distinctly Canadian dishes, and two of them have only stayed Canadian because they involve ingredients Americans can't get.

The Anglo-Canadian identity is pretty much just "we're not American" and having an inferiority complex. It's been weirdly natural for people to switch to thinking of America as the enemy.

while I know about all the shitty pizzas the US made up in a century.

Yep, none of that was us. For sure. /s

Obviously not a scifi fan. So much filmed there most significantly various stargates.

We know we aren't flashy. The world kind of forgets about us sometimes because we are next to the loudest kid in the class. We are proud generally of the co-operation we have with other places and groups. Our medical advances raise waters that lift all ships , we have a space program that primarily assists other nations space exploration. We have a military but we are primarily devoted to UN peacekeeping.

The Canadians were a pivotal force tasked with the Italian Campaign in WWII which had some of the most brutal on the ground city fighting of the war. My Grandfather was there from the beginning to the end of the Campaign... Yet I have heard Americans on here ask "Did Canada storm the beaches of Normandy?" as some kind of "gotcha" to shame us because they don't know that we had our own beach operation but all they know is that Americans were there because Hollywood only shows American battles.

We are used to being kind of forgotten but we can be proud of ourselves for a job well done.

@biofaust Ok, the gig is up, which one of us Canadians wrote this. /s

As a second-generation Italian immigrant to Canada, Canada is pretty great. (Italy is pretty great too).

There are about 200-250 countries. I doubt most of us could name 1 fact about half of them.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_3166_country_codes

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states