I know I'm home when...

I'm home, i.e. in Canada, for a friend's wedding right now.

I often forget how different life in the U.S. is compared to what it's like back where I grew up. From the surface the two countries seem very similar but whenever I return home for a visit it never takes long before I'm be reminded of just how different the two countries are .

I'm not going to get all heavy on y'all but here are some of the lighter snapshots from my collection of recent "I know I'm home because..." moments:

1) The guy at the next car had "Superman's Dead" by Our Lady Peace playing on his car stereo. (It was a #1 hit when I was in high school.) Sure, it was probably the radio, but that makes it even more "I know I'm home because..." worthy.

2) My little brother had a hardcover book lying on his bedroom floor: "Winnipeg Jets: A celebration of professional hockey in Winnipeg."

3) It was 22 degrees today (that's, uh, 72 or so) but it might go down to -3 (26F) tomorrow night. Winnipeg is famous for 30 or 40-degree swings in temperature.

4) The street is dotted with recycling bins. Everyone recycles here, and recycling is picked up twice a week while trash only gets picked up once.

5) My mum asks if I'm hungry and assures me, "There are perogies in the fridge."

6) There's City Rye bread on the counter.

7) I walk into the house midway through the afternoon and TSN is on. And they're replaying last night's NHL playoff game.

8) TV commercials are more funny than they are annoying.

9) There's a Saturday morning cartoon show modeled after Bob and Doug MacKenzie a.k.a. the guys from "Strange Brew." Suddenly I have a reason to get up early on Saturday.

10) The tap water (literally) doesn't taste like crap.

11) The air smells like... air should.

12) The gas station sign reads $0.91 -- meaning per litre. (-re, not -er, people.) Sounds cheap but actually works out to $3.44 a gallon.

13) I catch myself talking funny, and not because I'm mispronouncing "out," "about," or "process," or saying "eh."

14) One of the speeches at the wedding I was at was interrupted so the person giving the speech could update the crowd with the latest NHL playoff scores.

15) On my way out of the hotel I passed two people. I knew one of them.

16) Someone asked my dad what his fax number is. He replied, "8674" and didn't need to provide any additional digits or dialing instructions.