Oh! Canada

Kandahar, Afghanistan

There is a large Canadian contingency here in Kandahar.  If you didn't know better, you'd think they are the largest by far (the US is), based on the number of Canadian flags, the Tim Horton's on the boardwalk, and lately the cavalcade of Canadian icons and activities that have been coming our way.  A group of Canadian NHL all stars have been visiting and playing the various club teams here on base, on the no-ice hockey rink.  We had a contingent of Canadian Olympiads come through the hospital last week, followed by a brief visit by the Stanley Cup.  The XO, who is Canadian, commented that he found it ironic that the Taliban would get closer to the Stanley Cup than the Toronto Maple Leafs ever would.

There still is a "feel good" vibe that the Canadians have in the wake of the Olympics.  I can appreciate that.  From what I read they put on a great show in Vancouver.  After the gold medal win in hockey, there apparently was a huge parade here in Kandahar; this happened before I got here.

A few nights ago some Canadian big hair 80s bands did a decent job covering the classic rock spectrum out on the boardwalk.

I had lunch with a group of Canadians yesterday - very interesting to get their take on health care and such. We mutually agreed that each of our systems have significant flaws, though it is a fact that Canada has better health care outcomes as of 2010 (infant mortality, life expectancy, etc).  Funniest comment by their group: "Is Fox News a real news organization?" Hmmmm.

Also, I have recently learned that when the Canadian docs come to the end of their 2 months in-theater deployment (ours is 6 months), they go to Cyprus or Dubai to decompress, receiving a small stipend to go to a spa or what-have-you.  Wow.  We go back to Kuwait where the promise of a clean outdoor pool  awaits us (and a Starbucks).

One of the reasons the Canadians have a big entertainment footprint here is that Kandahar is their one true big base, whereas the US has several.  We do get USO tours every now and then, but it seems as though this has tailed off as the war has drawn on.  Think about it, we've been here nearly 9 years, twice as long as our involvement in WWII.  Nonetheless, we are getting a USO visit this week - Tony Soprano and Paulie Walnuts.  It's not the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders or Chris Rock, but we'll take it.  Paulie was always my favorite Soprano character.