My favorite part:

“As we’ve previously discussed, Canadians do not want to be considered Americans. They will do anything within their power to avoid being lumped into the same group as those from the United States. This is never more true than when outside of Canada.

Due to the many similarities between the two cultures, Canadians are frequently mistaken for Americans when they are in Europe or Asia or anywhere else abroad. This is something Canadians definitely do not want. They have spent their entire lives defining themselves as “Not American” and some guy in France is not going to screw this up for them!

So, to stop this from happening, Canadians make a bold statement. They go against all of their values. They sew Canadian flags on their backpacks.

But don’t worry, they aren’t going crazy here. It’s not like they sew large flags. No, Canadians would not want to upset anyone. They find the smallest flags they possibly can and they use those. It’s a very Canadian way of saying “I’m Canadian, but I’m not going to rub your face in it, and it’s cool that you’re not Canadian.”

Unfortunately, as always, spotting Canadians is not so simple. It’s not a cut-and-dry issue

Canadians enjoy such good reputations overseas that now many Americans have started sewing Canadian flags on their backpacks as well! This makes it quite difficult to distinguish between real Canadians and fake Canadians. In these cases you will need to use some of the other tips you have learned to separate the Canucks from the Faux-nucks."

Faux-nucks is a pretty funny word. I don’t think I’d go as far as sewing a Canadian flag on my backpack while traveling, but I have heard stories of Americans not being treated so well while visiting other countries. Perhaps with Obama’s election that has changed a bit.

Speaking of Canada, check out this stunningly awesome picture taken from the top of Cypress mountain near Vancouver about a week ago: