From The Land Beyond Beyond: Life After America

Eventually every cast member of Sesame Street sang, “One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong …” And for the last month or so it’s been my theme song too.

The myriad differences between The United States and Canada, most small, some huge, culminate in an odd sort of “culture shock” that resonates throughout the day. And with each noted difference … a mini-Twilight Zone episode.

At first glance the usual scattered change on my bedside table; nickels, dimes, and pennies, look like the loose coins that have always cluttered the nightstand. But look closer … on the penny the image of a dead president has been replaced by a living queen. We’ve slipped into another dimension, an alternative universe. That's the signpost up ahead your next stop, the CanadianZone. But unlike the unease simmering under each Rod Serling story, the differences here are … pleasant.

More