Just because I'm living in a different country, it doesn't mean I'm not going to celebrate Canada Day. So on Friday, July 1, my brother, AC, and MC went to The Brass Monkey to celebrate Canada Day, where they held an event in honour of our country's birthday.

Ben sported his "Canada Kicks Ass" t-shirt, me my Roots Canadian Olympics sleeveless, AC had a Canadian flag (well, it was mine, really) and for having a maple leaf on us, we each got a free Canadian beer (Blanche de Chambly from Quebec). As usual, when I'm at the Monkey, I got a few games of foosball, and was surprised to see some competitive players! I teamed up with a Newfie and took two games before losing to one guy who played alone. He was good, but we should have had him. Unfortunately, my partner couldn't help himself and kept throwing the ball straight into the opponent's player and getting stuffed.

And then there were the boatraces. I wasn't sure how many teams there started with, but BC was represented, as was Ontario. And then there was a team of New Zealanders as well. A boatrace, for those unfamiliar, is where you sit in a line with your team and from the front to the back, each person must finish a cup of beer. The team to finish first wins. The finals were between Ontario and New Zealand, and I think Ontario won.

It was nice to sing the Canadian national anthem -- especially away from home. Also nice to see some Canucks shirts (as seen in the photos). The night was capped by us briefly meeting the husky fellow in the second photo. This burly man saw Ben's shirt and very very slowly read the "Canada Kicks Ass" as he ran his finger across Ben's chest -- clearly heavily intoxicated. Then he unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt to unveil his Canadian pride. He and I then chatted as he told me his wife is Taiwanese and they have a daughter. And he continued about how his niece who was studying in the States came to Taiwan during her break and they were out at some place, him, his wife, and his niece. While they were playing some dice game, he went to use the washroom; and on his way to the washroom, some guy grabs him from behind and asked him "How much did you pay for those girls?" Of course, that question infuriated this man who was standing in front of me slurring his words. He grabbed the guy and threw him across the room. Now... as he was telling me this, he was reliving the moment in his obvious stupor. And as he raised his voice and said "That fvckin' guy was talking about my baby!!", his face grew into the kind that is usually followed by a fit of violence. I actually thought he might try to throw ME across the room. Well, perhaps it was one of those you-had-to-have-been-there kind of moments. Soon after, he calmed down, his wife appeared, and he introduced me to his wife and said I was a very nice man.

Happy Canada Day!! (on Friday)