With glowing hearts we see thee rise.

Often seen in the same way Scotland is to England, Canada is essentially America's annoying and colder little brother. It is a frequent victim of ridicule from many sitcoms and comedians, and due to my tendency of being a silly sheep and agreeing with everything my telly box and laptop tells me, I laugh. It could also be partly due to the fact my mother's boyfriend who I childishly despised for a few years in my adolescence lived there for a while but who knows..

So of course when the South Park characters belt out their ridiculously catchy 'Blame Canada', I can't help but sing along. When the How I Met Your Mother group of friends mock Robin Scherbatsky for her nationality and constantly ask her if she's afraid of the dark, I'll giggle along. Even when I indulged in the guilty pleasure of Hannah Montana, I would smile when Lilly Truscott feigned an origin from the country, "where the moose are!" It's not until recently that I've begun to question my attitude toward the place. I mean with bountiful amounts of snow, maple syrup, and the ability to boast of being the birthplace of so many talented celebrities, what's not to love about it? I've also taken my good friend Reece's advice and introduced myself to the musical stylings of Valerie Poxleitner, the Canadian singer/songwriter/guitarist/keytarist/perfect human more commonly known as Lights. The tiny beauty specialises in synthpop and a smidge of dubstep. Wouldn't have been my thing as little as a year ago, but now I'm completely hooked. If she isn't a glimmering example of why living in her hometown would be magnificent, I don't what is.

Except perhaps this. Another Canadian export I've found myself enamoured with, is the online cooking show aptly titled Epic Meal Time. If the name isn't already an obvious clue as the nature of these videos, the foodstuffs created in the following example will definitely show the lengths these guys go to produce some pretty extraordinary feasts. Along with plenty of liquor and curse words along the way. This particular video even features the previously mentioned Lights (oh yeah, I plan these things out) making a cameo and leaving us all baffled as to how she could maintain her tiny figure after consuming so much food. Enjoy. Or vomit, whatever your opinions on greasy mountains of meat are..