Comparing & Contrasting United States vs. Canada

  Bordered by each other, the United States and Canada are twins from Mother North America. People in both countries speak English as an official language. However, even twins may have some kind of differences that enable others to distinguish between them. So do the United States and Canada. While the United States and Canada share similarities in geographical conditions to attract immigrants, the variety of cuisine they eat, and the access to health care, they differ in geographical climates, native foods, and efficiency of health care.

It is not difficult to discover the similarities in geography between the United States and Canada because they are both located in North America. The sizes of these two countries are nearly identical: the United States has a total area of 3,794,083 square miles, and Canada has a total area of 3,855,103 square miles. The eastern boundary of both countries is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. Both the United States and Canada were first settled by Europeans and were once colonies of the British Empire during the Age of Colonization. Due to the similarities in their geographical condition, both countries consist of populations that come primarily from European immigrants and have instituted policies which allow emigration to increase their population.

            Although the styles of cooking and serving might be different, the types of food Americans and Canadians eat are quite similar. The most representative example is chain restaurants which have penetrated into cities of both the United States and Canada. Popular chain restaurants, such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, serve hamburgers, sandwiches, and fried chickens, which are the common food that people eat in both countries. The United States and Canada not only have similar fast food, but they also share the diversity in the variety of cuisine they have. Since their population consists of immigrants from all over the world, immigrants brought over a variety of food that was unique and distinctive to their own culture. Whether you are at Times Square of New York or Toronto Eaton Centre, you will always be able to find Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Jewish, and Caribbean food.

            Despite so many people favor the Canadian health care system over the American one because Canada offers Free Health Care Program, both the United States and Canada, in fact, have problems regarding the access to health care. According to studies, statistics showed that 40% of Americans do not have health insurance, and in Canada, approximately 5% of Canadians have not been able to find a regular doctor. A cross-country study showed that there was a correlation between immigrant status and access to health care in both the United States and Canada. The study found that in both countries, immigrants had worse access to health care than non-immigrants. Immigrants in the United States were less likely to have a regular medical doctor and annual physical examination compared with native-born Americans; immigrants in Canada were less likely to have Pap tests compared with native-born Canadians.

            Although the geographies of the United States and Canada have similarities, they also have vast differences. One difference is that different places in the United States are called "states" and different places in Canada are called "provinces". The climate of the United States is more varied, with nine different climate types, whereas the climate of Canada is divided to temperate in the South and subarctic or arctic in the North. The United States also has more natural disasters than Canada. The United States has tsunamis, forest fires, mudslides, flooding, deathly hurricanes, and tornadoes. Canada, on the other hand, has permafrost in the North and a lot of cyclonic storms by mountainous regions.

            The United States and Canada have very different cuisines. Cuisine in the United States is infiltrated in great depths by various cultures. Almost every meal the average person eats has at least one thing that is from a different culture. Canada eats a lot it's own native food such as butter tarts, which is a tart with butter, sugar and eggs. They also eat Beaver tails. The "regular" American bacon is just fried strips, whereas the Canadian form of bacon is round pieces that are more like ham.

            Through examining the geographies in the United States and Canada, we discovered the similar reason for the coming of immigrants and the varying climates and natural disasters. By discussing the food people eat in the United States and Canada, we found that although they share the diversity in food cultures, Canadians tend to eat more of their native food. After comparing and contrasting of health care systems in both countries, we found the similarity regarding the access to healthcare and the difference in efficiency of the health care systems in the United States and Canada.

Event follow up

Schmitt's Family Farm holds fall activities every year. They are located in Melville, New York. There are daytime activities that include pumpkin picking, a corn maze, hay rides, a hay pyramid (which is the largest in Long Island), farm animals, and many more. They also have night time activities. There is a haunted house and a haunted corn maze.

The Haunted House and Corn Maze open up on October 1st and stay open throughout the whole month of October. They close the day after Halloween, November 1st. It costs seventeen dollars for the Haunted House and eleven dollars for the Haunted Corn Maze. One could also opt to do both for a combined price of twenty-three dollars. On their website they offer a coupon that subtracts three dollars from the price of the combo ticket. They are open Fridays and Saturdays from seven at night until twelve in the morning and on Sundays from seven at night until eleven at night.

I attended this event on October 7th, 2011. I chose to do both the Haunted House and the Haunted Corn Maze. The lines were relatively short. This was a plus because it was a very cold night. I first waited on line for the Haunted House. While on line, people dressed in scary costumes came up to the anxious people waiting and scared them. The scariest person I saw was covered in grass and he really scared me because I turned around and he was staring at me. I asked him if he liked working at Schmitt's Family Farm. His reply was "Yes, because its very fun to get a reaction out of people. You never know what they are going to do or say. I actually had a teenage boy in tears earlier in the night. He definitely had one of the most entertaining reactions out of my four years working here." When I entered the Haunted House, there were strobe lights and as soon as I walked in a woman dressed as a zombie bride popped out at me. Then, I walked through a room of clowns. The next room was a room full of heads hanging from chains that you had to push through. The next room was a very tight space where you had to squeeze through. It was very funny because everyone was trying to get through at once because a man dressed as the grim reaper was chasing you. I actually wound up falling because I was so scared. In every room you walked into there were people popping out at you. The whole Haunted House took about fifteen minutes altogether to complete. On both the fun and scary scale I would rate it a 10/10. After exiting the Haunted House I asked one of the ticket collectors why it was not that crowded. His reply was "The farm gets much more crowded as we get closer to Halloween because more and more people are in the spirit. The workers are even more in the spirit. I would definitely say its better to come towards the end of October because people get much more into it."

After the Haunted House, I got on line for the Haunted Corn Maze. The line was also very short. While waiting on line, I was also scared by workers in costumes. The same grass man from the Haunted House line scared me. However, another person dressed as a dead clown scared me even more than the grass man. This is because I am terrified of clowns. After getting over the initial fright, I asked him what made him take this job. His reply was, "I always loved scaring people when I was a kid. Halloween was my favorite holiday because it is the national holiday of being scared. I figured, why not do what I love and get paid for it, too". I then asked him how they decide which costumes they wear. He said "There is a big room full of costumes and you get to pick which one you want. You are also welcomed to buy your own costume, as long as it is scary. It also must be approved by the moderators of the farm". I asked him also if there was any cons to the job. He said "The only thing I dislike a little bit about this job is that it can get very cold. Even with this huge costume on, I am freezing. What all the workers like to do is start a big bon fire and sit by it. It keeps us warmer while we are not in the House or Maze". When entering the maze, there was another room with strobe lights. After that, you walk out and you are in a real corn maze. There is actually real corn that can be picked. However, this is against the rules of the Corn Maze. there are people hiding inside the corn that pop out at you. There are also people with real chain saws that chase you. There is a bridge that is over water that you must walk through. It was very wobbly and a scary experience. The whole corn maze was also around fifteen minutes. It was much scarier than the house in my opinion because of the chainsaws. You also had to run a lot more. At the end of the maze, somebody chased me for around thirty feet with a chainsaw. I asked him if the chainsaws were real and he said "Yes but no one has ever gotten hurt from one". I also asked if anyone ever fell off the bridge and into the water. He said, "It has never happened before, but, if they did, it would not be that bad because the water is very shallow. The worst thing about it is they would be really cold and dirty".

I would suggest this event to anyone who loves getting scared. It was not expensive at all and was an all around great time. It is a good idea to dress warmly so you can fully enjoy yourself without being agitated about the cold. Their parking lot is closely convenient to the event so there is not a long distance to walk. Food and drinks are offered. They also have souvenirs you can buy to remember your time at Schmitt's Family Farm. A number of porter potties are right outside the premises so you can relieve yourself quickly if needed. This event was a good time and I would go again. 

Compare and Contrast - Inner Beauty and Outer Beauty

Beauty can be defined as the qualities of a person that gives pleasure to ones senses. The day we are born, we are all considered to be beautiful, inside and outside. As we grow, each of us develops our own unique personality. This is the point at which the inner beauty and the outer beauty either become one or part ways. Inner beauty and outer beauty are subjective.

Inner beauty can be seen through the eyes of those who love us always. Everyone’s mother tells her child “You have the most beautiful inner personality, it is what makes you shine”. Having heard this so many times, I wonder if it is just because of the deep love a mother feels, and if she changes her opinion as the child grows older. and their personality develops. Possessing true inner beauty is rarely something a person who possesses it can hide from the world because of the nature of what it means to have this trait. A person with inner beauty is number one, selfless, caring of others, and believes in all the good in the world.

Usually, you can spot a person who has a deep inner beauty by the bright shine coming from their eyes. It is always said about a person with inner beauty that they have a sparkling genuineness about them that draws people to them. They are usually truthful people, without being arrogant or rude.  A person with inner beauty is always happy to help when needed. Many times you can find people with inner beauty in industries of service; social workers, out reach programs, nurses, and other such people who are caregivers.

Physical beauty is different for everyone. I say this because of the old adage “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. However, it is hard to dismiss the obvious beauty when you see a striking person, with perfect eyes, hair, nose, smile, and body proportions. Sometimes we are born with physical beauty and it just carries on into adulthood. Other times, people must cultivate their physical beauty.  But, again physical beauty is subjective. One person can look at someone with red hair and be repulsed, whereas the next person walking by could be drawn to that person like a moth to a light bulb.

Physical beauty is based on just your outside traits and nothing else. It is the first thing that people notice about you. This is why when some people say “It was love at first site”, you wonder; was it really love, or just physical attraction? People who have above average beauty are usually also always well dressed, well quaffed, and very fastidious in their appearance. These traits can also be true of a person who possesses inner beauty. 

Inner beauty and outer beauty are the same in that they both draw people to us. However, these are for different reasons. Inner and outer beauty is what we are made up of. It just depends on what shines through the most. Comparing and contrasting inner and physical beauty is very hard to do without bringing specific people into mind. So, I will speak from my own personal experience about what comes to my mind when I think about inner beauty, physical beauty, someone who possesses either one or the other, or nothing at all. There are people I have met who from the moment you meet them, you cannot take your eyes off them. Everyone wants to look and be like them because they have such physical beauty. Then, the person opens their mouth, and they are very rude and ignorant. They sound as if they were raised in a barn. You then say to yourself “Great package, but, nothing going on upstairs”. Secondly, you meet a person of average looks; maybe they even have something that sticks out about them, like a big nose. They could be a little unkempt. Then they sit down, open up their mouth, and they light up the room with their personality. Suddenly, that person becomes beautiful. In another scenario, you meet a person who seems to be beautiful on the outside and then you talk to them and discover that they possess just as much beauty on the inside. Lastly, there is the curmudgeon, who possesses neither inner beauty nor physical beauty. He is not pleasing to look at or listen to. He seems to be unhappy and lacking in the social graces. This is a hard person to love, but, I guess somewhere, there is his mother.

My final thoughts on the subject of inner and physical beauty really go back to my first thoughts about inner beauty and outer beauty. They are both subjective and each trait is relative to everything about that person and to everything about the person who is looking at them. This is proven in the examples I gave of people who I have encountered in life who possess physical beauty, inner beauty, both inner and physical beauty, or neither. 

New York Post -New York Times Compare & Contrast

In reading the New York Times article "Wall Street's Job Losses 
Shocking NY" and the New York Post article "Painful Job Cuts Coming To 
Wall Street", there are slot of similarities. There are also a few 
differences. The differences are probably due to the nature of the two 
newspapers. The New York Times is a more conservative paper, whereas 
the New York Post is more of a liberal paper.

They are alike because both articles state numbers. Both articles say 
that ten thousand more ones will be cut in the near future. They also 
talk about past wages from the 1980s and 1990s. Both articles state 
that 2010 was the best year on record in Wall Street. The 2008 crisis 
in Wall Steet is also disussed in both articles.

The articles are different because the New York Post goes into a lot 
more detail. The article in the New York Post is longer and has a lot 
more facts overall. It states specific wage figures for all of the 
years discussed. It also talks about how from January 2010 to April 
2011, nine thousand nine hundred jobs were added. It then states that 
 from April 2011 to August 2011, four thousand one hundred jobs were 
lost. These two facts were not mentioned in the New York Times article 
at all. The figures for the finance payrolls are also slightly 
different. The New York Times states tha the payroll has been trimmed 
by twelve percent, whereas the New York Post says seventeen percent.

Overall, both articles give the same facts. If you want more specific 
details about the job cuts I'm Wall Steeet, then you should read the 
New York Post. However, if a summary is all you are interested in, then 
the New York Times is a better choice because the New York Times article is 
much more condensed.

Haunted House Event Advance

Schmitt's Family Farm holds fall activities every year. They are located in Melville, New York. There are daytime activities that include pumpkin picking, a corn maze, hay rides, a hay pyramid (which is the largest in Long Island), farm animals, and many more. They also have night time activities. There is a haunted house and a haunted corn maze.

The Haunted House and Corn Maze open up on October 1st and stay open throughout the whole month of October. They close the day after Halloween, November 1st. It costs seventeen dollars for the Haunted House and eleven dollars for the Haunted Corn Maze. One could also opt to do both for a combined price of twenty-three dollars. On their website they offer a coupon that subtracts three dollars from the price of the combo ticket. They are open Fridays and Saturdays from seven at night until twelve in the morning and on Sundays from seven at night until eleven at night.

You can expect to be very scared at the Haunted House and the Haunted Corn Maze. In the Haunted House, there are people popping out at you, you need to squeeze through walls, a room with clowns hanging that you have to push through, and many more frightening things. In the Haunted Corn Maze, people chase you with chain saws, you need to walk over a wobbling bridge that is over water, people pop out of the corn, and a lot more. For people who choose to not take part in the haunted activities, they have food and drink stands. They also have a Schmitt's Farm tee shirt you may buy. The lines are very long so you should dress warm if it is cold out. The parking lot is conveniently close so you can sit in the car and wait for the people you are with to be done. 

NOT A REAL OBITUARY - SCHOOL PROJECT

Carla Artopiades, the woman who discovered the cure for cancer, died in her sleep peacefully on Tuesday morning in her sleep. She was 107 years old.

Carla was in outstanding health and exercised daily. She was also very big on vitamins. After a long productive life, her heart simply gave out.

"She was the smartest person I ever met," said her neighbor, Thomas Mandolia. "She never gave ip and had a mind like a steel trap. I will never forget the day she gave my wife the injection that cured her of cancer. What a great woman."

Carla Artopiades was born into a Catholic family and was raised in Whitestone, Queens. She went to Saint Francis Preparatory School and went on to Saint John's University to get her degree in Radiology and Pharmacy.

Carla Artopiades spent many years of her life trying to find a cure for cancer. At the same time, she had a husband and raised three kids, and had a regular life. Finally, at the age of sixty in 2053, she put together a cure for cancer made out of a mixture of many vitamins, herbal supplements, and an element she invented called Carlium.


"She has saved millions of lives in less than fifty years. Without her, a lot of people would be dead," says long time business partner, Nicole Catalanello. Artopiades is survived by three children, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. Her husband died ten years ago, a couple of months after they celebrated their seventieth wedding anniversary.

Services will be held at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, the church Carla was baptized in and attended her whole life.

Advertisement Dissection and Analysis

This advertisement is for Snackwell's 130 Calorie Packs. The ad says "Be Bad, Snack Well" and has a picture of a girl standing on top of a guy. This ad is taking place in the present. The girl is wearing a short shirt and her underwear and the guy is wearing underwear. However, he is covered by lettering so he could potentially not even be wearing underwear. They look as if they are having a really fun time. In this advertisement, there is a bed, pillows, and a window overlooking apartment buildings, suggesting that they are living in a loft in a city. They are both smiling and laughing. These facial expressions suggest that the 130 calorie packs will keep you happy and in good shape. It seems that the young couple may be boyfriend and girlfriend or maybe just friends with benefits. The thing most interesting about this advertisement is that although it is supposed to be selling a healthy snack, the people in the picture are not even eating the 130 calorie packs. It seems like the picture is more at a modeling photo shoot.

English Assignment #1

I always wanted a dog since I was a little girl. Every year on my Christmas and 
birthday list, a dog would be on the top of the list. We could never get one 
because my mom had cancer and her doctor said her immune system was too weak and 
they did not want her to catch something from a dog.

At the end of my freshman year of high school, my friend gave me a cold which 
turned into bronchitis which I passed on to my mother.  We were both at the 
doctor and afterwards we went into the dog store. We always would go in to look 
but never got one. For some reason, my mom asked to hold a little white puppy. 
The woman took the dog out of his pen and the dog went crazy and ran around the 
whole store, happy to be taken out. After about five minutes of running around, 
he got tired and stopped. My mom picked him up and he fell asleep right in her 
arms. At this moment, my mother felt an instant connection.

I, however, was not crazy about this dog because I had always wanted a Yorkshire 
Terrier because I thought they were the cutest dogs. The next day we went back 
and I got to see him and hold him for myself and I realized what a special dog 
he was. He let me hold him like he was a human baby. A day later, we took him 
home. He helped me through a very hard time in my life and became the one thing 
that could make me happy when I was feeling the worst.