My overnight standard transmission instructor, said, “It’s easy. You’ll get the hang of it.”

Eleven days after July 1, 1968, Canada Day, I turned 19. I had legally been driving a car in the province for three years. And either by sheer worry or good luck, I had a perfect driving record. My true baptism of fire came that July, however, when I got a summer job as a copy boy at the then Toronto Telegram daily newspaper. A few weeks into my day shifts, the head copy boy told me they were moving me to the night shift, which involved driving the Tely station wagon.

“You know how to drive a standard, right?” the guy asked rhetorically.

“Ah, sure,” I said, lying through my teeth.

I spent the next couple of days searching for a friend who could teach me how to drive anything with a three-speed standard transmission. (more…)

Günter Kiel in full flight telling us about his favourite place – Dresden.

We were meeting for the very first time. I wanted to give my new acquaintance a gift that reflected where I came from and made a friendly first impression. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a souvenir. It was a lapel pin with the Canadian flag on it.

“Here,” I said, “please have a symbol of Canada – our flag pin.”

My acquaintance, one of the guides on our recent tour to Eastern Europe, looked back at me and said, “But I’m German,” meaning, “Why would I wear a pin that doesn’t represent who I am?”

I had to admit that Günter Kieb, our guide in Dresden, Germany, was absolutely correct. Why would a middle-aged German wear the emblem of Canada? Some hours later, however, when I was thanking Mr. Kieb for his service to us that day, I reminded him (and our touring group) that he had seemed perplexed by my Canada flag pin. “Not a problem,” I said. “But how about this?” And I pulled a small flask-shaped bottle from my backpack and gave it to him.

Günter’s eyes widened with delight. “Canadian whisky?” he asked.

“No. Better,” I laughed. “It’s maple syrup!” (more…)

Ted Barris

author | journalist

Posts with the Rolling Stones tag

My summer standard

A taste of Canada