"Sitting here at the Hortons, so you know this is important" Posted by João on 2:06 pm

The title of this entry is a line from the song 'Vancouver Divorce', a track off of Gordon Downie's (aka singer of the legendary Tragically Hip) first solo album Coke Machine Glow. As a songwriter that often reverts to the Canadian cultural landscape to get his point across in his songs, in this case Downie's reference to the 'The Hortons', if you haven't guessed it, refers to that all-Canadian house of coffee and donuts and other gastronomical treats known as Tim Hortons. My favourite among those treats, by the way, is the chili, served up with some of that country fresh bread which you can then dip into the chili ... oh that's tasty!

But anyway, in Canada, it's pretty well know that Tim Hortons is an important gathering location for many; a place of conviviality where friends and acquaintances come together to sit around and discuss, gossip, reminisce, etc. As Downie points out, if it's being debated at 'the Hortons' it's got to be 'important'. Now I highly doubt Downie was thinking of the Portuguese when he was putting those lyrics together, however, if there's an ethnic group that loves to gather at 'the Hortons', it's the Portuguese. I first witnessed this when I used to live in Prince George, B.C., among the local Portuguese community there. At first I thought that this was perhaps a local phenomenon, after all the older members of the community had to meet somewhere. Recently, however, during trips to Toronto and Montreal, I discovered that the same phenomenon occurs in these cities as well. In Montreal I was especially amazed by the large concentration of Portuguese at one Tim Hortons, but more then the large concentration, was the male/female division with men sitting around one table, women around another. If the men were to break out a game of sueca (the card game), it would almost be like being at a Portuguese association clubhouse.

So it seems that Tim Hortons has conquered the Portuguese emigrant market in Canada as far as fast food is concerned. The question that remains, however, is: are the Tim Hortons people aware of the market potential when it comes to the Portuguese? Perhaps they would consider this suggestion as a donut substitute?

Canada at the Fête de la Francophonie / Francophone Festival Posted by João on 6:45 pm

Taking place next week, from the 14th-20th, various cities through out Portugal will be host to Fête de la Francophonie (aka Francophone Festival). See the program here: http://www.fetedelafrancophonie.com/.

Canada's contribution to the event comes in two forms:

1. Showing of the film De Pêre en Flic by Quebecois director Émile Gaudreault in two cities:

Caldas da Rainha - Tuesday, the 15th @ 10:30 and again at 21:00 at the Centro Cultural e de Congressos - admission: 2.50 euros;

Lisbon - Thursday, the 17th @ 19:00 at the Institut Français du Portugal - admission: free.

2. Conference with Haitian born, Quebec resident poet/novelist/storyteller Marie-Célie Agnant. Organised by the Canadian Embassy in Lisbon, in collaboration with the Centro de Estudos das Migrações e Relações Interculturais (CEMRI) http://www.univ-ab.pt/cemri/, Agnant will be giving a talk entitled: Immigration, integration et condition féminine: perspectives canado-haitiennes on Friday the 18th @ 17:00. Admission is free.

We urge all to come out and support Canadian culture in Portugal.

Conference Sons/Daughters of Portuguese Emigration/Immigration Posted by João on 6:24 pm

This Thursday, the 24th of February of 2011, the Conference Sons/Daughters of Portuguese Emigration/Immigration co-coordinated by yours truly (João Sardinha) will take place at the French Institute of Portugal (former Instituto Franco-Português) from 14:30 till 19:00. If these issues are of interest to you, entrance is free of charge.

Besides my co-coordinating duties, I will also present the paper: 'In this Country, being Portuguese is also being Canadian': the Identity Negotiations of Luso-Canadians in Multicultural Canada'.

For more information on this event you can look here:

www.univ-ab.pt/cemri/detailnew.php?new=30

More on dogs and cheese Posted by João on 10:08 pm

Ok, last week I gave you fine Serra da Estrela cheese and ever-so-cute Serra da Estrela dogs, two symbolic as well as socio-cultural centre pieces of this mountain region known as ... yes, you guest it, Serra da Estrela.

Although no mountain range in Canada is synonymous with cheese and dogs, this does not mean that Canada itself is not synonymous with cheese and dogs. In fact, one of the most beloved breed of dog here in Portugal is Canadian - the labrador. Straight out of 19th century Newfoundland to the upper class suburbs of Lisbon, is it just me or does it seem that the labrador is the prefered dog of the 'well-off' here? Whatever the case, the Saint John's Water Dog (its former name before they started shipping them to England where they were then named after the region they came from in Canada) is certainly capable drawing a lot of 'awe, how cute!' comments, am I right?

Now concerning cheese, well ... as if I have to tell you. Does anybody know where we can get a fine cheddar here? This is the cheese we're raised on in Canada. Canadian kids are basically given cheddar cheese singles at birth. Ok, but now your thinking to yourself: "This guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Cheddar cheese is not even Canadian, it's British". Yes ... true ... but in Canada cheddar cheese is Canadian cheddar cheese like this classic Black Diamond:

But beyond cheddar cheese, perhaps even more Canadian when it comes to cheeses, is that of marble cheddar cheese. How they were able to bring together this delightful combination of orange and white cheese curd was one of the biggest mysteries to me growing up. Beyond the mystery though, there was also the challenge - that of trying to get only orange cheddar out of one bite and then white chedder from a second bite, this as a way of trying to tell the flavour of the two apart. Growing up Portuguese in Canada, I remember it would often get placed on the table along side chouriço and tremoços. The creation of a true multicultural table. Such is Canada.

Marble cheese, if we are to think about it, it's what Canada's all about - a coming together of colours, textures and tastes you just can't separate. I could go for Saskatchewan and Manitoba right now.

Serra da Estrela Posted by João on 12:28 pm

Do you like to ski? If you do, and you live here in Portugal, you probably miss "serious skiing", as in "serious hills", that is unless you get the opportunity to wisk away to Switzerland or Andorra or something like that every once in awhile.

Now in Portugal, this is what skiing looks likes:

Yes it's Serra da Estrela, the only place you can slalom your heart away in the 'land of Camões'.

Ok, it looks treeless, it does have a chair lift and buildings with round-shaped tops. Those are known as The Towers - old military observatories. In 2008 the Portuguese Ministry of Defense had wanted to put them up for sale. Unsure of how that turned out - if the listing ever went ahead, and if so, if it's still up for sale. Here's a closer look.

So maybe Serra da Estrela may not offer up the best skiing, nothing like what we may get at Grouse Mountain, if you're from Vancouver ...

... or Mont Tremblant if you're from Quebec.

However, does any ski resort or mountain range in Canada produce a cheese as delicious as this Serra da Estrela cheese?

Or a breed of dog as cute as the Serra da Estrela shephard dog?

I thought not.

Hey, skiing isn't everything.

Crisis? Maybe ... but we're still far from becoming Greece Posted by João on 9:57 pm

My father, who still lives back in Prince George, British Columbia, listens to a lot of Portuguese radio while he works. When we talk on the phone he always starts talking about the economic crisis Portugal is going through. He tells me about phone-in shows on Radio Renascença and how everybody that phones in speaks of how the country is going from bad to worse and how the lives of the Portuguese is following suit.

From the perspective of someone like my dad, Portugal is in deap dire straits - we're all in deap suffering and there's no way out of it any time soon. Of course in our day-to-day lives here we don't really see this - the cafés are still full, the cars on the streets are newer and newer and, lets face it, everything still looks the same. From the passivism of the people here, even if unemployment is at 10%, it looks like we're still a long way from turning into Greece.

I am, however, fascinated with how the foreign press sees what is going on in Portugal, economically speaking. On the 23rd of January a story in the (Canadian) Globe and Mail stated: "the (Portuguese) government has enacted deeply unpopular austerity measures amid fears that the financial crisis spells economic crisis for Portugal". Well surely any austerity measure is bound to be unpopular, theoretically speaking, but how did the Global and Mail reach the conclusion that it was "deeply unpopular"? Is it the daily protest marches? The sit-ins? The vandalising of storefront windows? Besides a day-long strike and the half-day ones in certain labour sectors, I don't see any deep displeasure with what's going on.

Much has been written about the IMF bail out and how, even though Portugal claims that it won't be necessary, the country (and above all P.M. José Sócrates) sits in denial. A January 12th Reuters news piece entitled 'Bailout Would Hurt Portuguese Pride, Again' pointed out that: "Wounded pride (caused by the coming of the IMF) could give away to another Portuguese trait, a tradition of resignation to a sad fate summed up in its fado music". Yes, so true - denial, leading to reality sinking in, turned to 'we're used to it; it's in our blood'.

So is it so bad, this crisis? Maybe, but we're trying not to look it in the eyes. We're all just sitting back waiting on 'the super powers', and only when they come will the mighty evil crisis be overthrown. It might get messy but the capes await us.

Portuguese presidential elections Posted by João on 11:11 pm

So have you seen any of the six men you see here on the right in your town? They've been adding up the kilometres travelling up and down and across this country trying to convince you to vote for them (if you're eligible that is, or in other words, if you're Portuguese).

This Sunday, January 23rd, Portugal will go to the polls to pick out its President of the Republic. Now many of you may ask: why a President of the Republic if there's a Prime Minister already?

Well the President of the Republic, theoretically, has grand powers - to guarantee unity of the State and regulate the functionality of democracy in Portugal. What does this mean? It means that s/he has the power to dissolve government when s/he sees fit. Since the 25 de Abril, only once has this happened (Jorge Sampaio did away with the government of Pedro Santana Lopes in 2004). Sounds like a great job doesn't it? I bet s/he gets the best pair of scissors in the country though. Ribbon cuttings anyone?

So how does one go about convincing the people that 'if I wanted to, I could dissolve a government better then the others'? From my experience today, in two word: free giveaways. Pens, pocket calendars, ballons for the kids... Well I guess that's not that bad, after all there was the one guy up north who offered up refrigerators in exchange for votes (that's Valentim Loureiro mayor of the municipality of Gondomar by the way).

And so now I sit questioning myself: should I vote for the guy whose campaign people provided me with a free pocket calendar today? Will he be the right guy for government dissolving when government dissolving is needed? Will he even know when the situation requires some government dissolving?

Oh decisions! Such are the pains of democracy.

The CBC logo: as simple as we are ... and we're keeping it that way Posted by João on 12:00 pm

Do you recognise the above logo? Of course you do. It's the CBC logo. It's been a mainstay of Canadian culture for ages - simple and never changing.

Pernonally, I'm a fan of CBC3 radio. I often listen to it online while I'm working. Recently though, Gene Simmons the money grubbing bass player of the rock n'roll industry that is the band KISS, made an appearance on CBC3 and while on the radio show hosted by CBC3 radio man Grant Lawrence, stated:

"It (the CBC logo) means nothing to anyone outside this country (Canada). I want brands that mean something to everyone all over the world. It needs something like a lit fuse..."

End result:

Gene Simmons, the man who frequently advertises himself as a symbol of the American dream, reverts to a bomb as a selling point to the CBC. The American dream: sell everything at any cost. Wow, that's cool! Makes you want to run to go listen to the CBC! And you wonder why people think Canadians are so nice and Americans ... well insert your judgement here.

This is not the Canadian way of being cool. No guns, no bombs, no hand grenades needed. The CBC logo is a reflection of Canadian society - true to what it is: simple, peaceful, respectful and traditional, with no obligation to be anything other then that, even when the marketing geniuses south of the border come up with 'explosive' ideas to sell what is Canadian.

I mean lets face it, the CBC, just like Canada, is closer to these two images then to any exploding bomb:

We're talking about the country where you're kindly asked to stop at an intersection and where the moose greet you with a smile.

Favourite Canadian Albums of 2010 Posted by João on 1:52 am

I'm of the opinion that Canada has some of the best music in the world. The following are my fav. 20 Canadian albums from 2010 made by some of Canada's best musical artists. For those of you expecting Michael Bublé or Justin Bieber, sorry this list just isn't for you.

So here they are from 1 to 20 along with my fav. compilation and live album by Canadian acts. If you want to have a listen, I've included links to myspaces, etc.

1. Wintersleep - New Inheritors
http://www.myspace.com/wintersleep




2. New Pornographers - Together http://www.myspace.com/thenewpornographers
3. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs http://www.myspace.com/arcadefireofficial
4. Wolf Parade - Expo 86 http://www.myspace.com/wolfparade
5. Zeus - Say Us http://www.myspace.com/themusicofzeus
6. The Mohawk Lodge - Crimes http://www.myspace.com/mohawklodge
7. Tokyo Police Club - Champ http://www.myspace.com/tokyopoliceclub
8. Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles - The Grand Bounce http://www.gorddownie.com/mp/index.html
9. Apollo Ghosts - Mount Benson http://www.myspace.com/adrianteacher
10. Yukon Blonde - Yukon Blonde http://www.myspace.com/yukonblondeband
11. The Sadies - Darker Circles http://www.myspace.com/thesadies
12. The Golden Dogs - Coat of Arms http://www.thegoldendogs.com/parts/stream/
13. Jason Collett - Rat a Tat Tat http://www.myspace.com/jasoncollett
14. Hooded Fang - Hooded Fang www.myspace.com/hoodedfang
15. Ketcher Harbour Wolves - Anachronisms www.myspace.com/ketchharbourwolves
16. Boxer the Horse - Would You Please www.myspace.com/boxerthehorse
17. Born Ruffians - Say It www.myspace.com/bornruffians
18. The Acorn - No Ghosts www.myspace.com/theacorn
19. Ghostkeeper - Ghostkeeper www.myspace.com/childrenofthegreatnorthernmuskeg
20. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record www.myspace.com/brokensocialscene

Top compilation: Thrush Hermit - The Complete Recordings Box Set http://www.myspace.com/thrushhermit

Top live album: The Weakerthans - Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre http://www.myspace.com/theweakerthans

So there you go. Would love to hear what you think.

All the best in 2011 for everyone!

Portuguese Ball Hockey Association is looking for players Posted by João on 1:06 pm

We here at canadianinportugal.com like to help out the community whenever we can. We recently received an e-mail from the Toronto-based Portuguese Ball Hockey Association (PBHA) asking us if we'd be so kind as to help them out in their search for players.

The reason they are searching as far away as Portugal is due to the fact that they are in need of players with Portuguese nationality. Although most of the players on the PBHA roster are of Portuguese descendents, most do not possess Portuguese citizenship and thus can not represent Portugal on the National Team and in international play.

So if you think you've got what it takes (and we know there's some of you out there) to wear the Portuguese colours (check them out below), you can get in contact with Fernando de Menezes at fernando_demenezes@rogers.com.

You can also visit the PBHA website at http://www.portugueseballhockey.com/, or check them out on facebook here http://www.facebook.com/The.PBHA.

Exchanging your Driver's license in Portugal Posted by Gabriel on 10:43 pm

As you may know, if you’re visiting Portugal, you are legally entitled to use your Canadian driver's license to drive.

The famous high-security Ontario Driver's License

However, if you're planning on staying in Portugal for longer than 185 days, you should exchange your Canadian driver's license for a Portuguese driver's license, within the first 185 days of your arrival. Having a Portuguese driver's license has many benefits. For example, many MacDonald's in continental Portugal super-size your menu for free if you have a valid Portuguese driver's license (*please note, this may not be true).

How'd this get here? I am not good with computer

After this brilliant exposé, you're probably itching to exchange your old, tacky Canadian driver's license for a hip, trendy Portuguese driver's license. However, there are a few requirements you must meet before you can apply to exchange your driver’s license:

• You must be of the minimum legal age to drive, according to Portuguese law (18)

• Posses physical and mental aptitude (a tough requirement, I had to cheat on this one)

• Have legal residence in Portugal

• Not serving any probation, inhibition, or any other sentence that interdicts you from having a drivers license.

If you meet all the above requirements, and still want to exchange your Canadian driver’s license for a Portuguese one, it’s actually quite easy.

     • First, you have to fill out a specific form, that can be found at this link.You can find instructions on how to fill it out at this link.  It’s a standard editable PDF, and you must fill it in electronically. It also has to be printed out in high quality since the Institution for Mobility and Terrestrial Transport (the Portuguese equivalent of the Minsitry of Transportation) uses high tech, state of the art digital recognition software to read it.

     • A photocopy of your ID card. The original must be shown when all the documentation is presented.

     • Your original Canadian driver’s license.

     • Two (2) colour passport photos

     • A medical exam, done by the health authority of your residence.

     • A psychological exam if you are planning to drive an ambulance, fire truck, or bus.

     • A declaration from the Canadian authorities that proves the authenticity of your Canadian driver's license, including, date of emission, validity, categories of vehicles that you can drive and any applicable restrictions.

     • Pay the administrative fee of 30€

Once you have all this, you’ll have to take it to the nearest IMTT, which you can find using the tool at this link.

Once there, they'll probably tell you that you've filled in something incorrectly, forgot some important document, or that they don't deal with these sorts of things; in other words, the normal Portuguese bureaucracy typical of public service. Be polite, insist, and they'll end up helping you out.

They'll give you a fancy sheet of paper that is to be used as a temporary driver's license until the real one arrives in the mail. The application can take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks to be processed, so don't give up hope it doesn't arrive right away.

You too can be the proud owner of one of these beauties!

For more detailed information, please consult the following link:

http://www.imtt.pt/sites/IMTT/Portugues/Condutores/TrocaCartaConducao/OutrasSituacoes/Paginas/OutrasSituacoes.aspx

As always, if you need anything else, feel free to shoot us an email.

Canadians in Portugal is a year old! Posted by João on 2:04 pm

I was looking over previous entries from this blog yesterday and noticed that on December 10th of last year, Gabe put up the first post on canadiansinportugal.com.

For those of you who may follow this blog, you may know that up until about six months ago, Gabe was the man behind this project. From what I gather, Gabe had intended to make this blog a bit more of a personal endeavour, recounting his own experiences in Portugal. However, just as identities are never stagnant, so has the face of this blog taken other shapes. In fact, after Gabe's invitation to have me join him on here, that face became two (sort of speak).

Thus far, the blog has been a lot of fun and a great experience for us, and I think we've contributed somewhat in helping to bring a little bit of Canada to Portugal and to Canadians in Portugal. Certainly we're going to keep on doing this and hopefully keep on growing. In fact, we'd love to hear from people out there if you have suggestions, ideas, etc. It would be great to do more in 2011.

Lastly, we want to wish everyone out there A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!