Hi China. I'm not sure what you mean. Whatever you're doing in Quingdau, you must have absorbed a sense of the importance of history and tradition in China.
Because of its links with Britain (and France) Canada has far more in common with Europe than with the US, and has the potential to become a major modifying factor in US policy development in the next generation. Because the US is one big island, they have never had to compromise with their neighbours. (they wall out the Mexicans in the South and try to ignore the Canadians to the North) and that's why they act as if they're the only people on the planet. They don't have thousands of years of history, conflict, war and resolution like the people around the Mediterranean sea.
The monarchy doesn't have any power nowadays, but it acts as a constitutional source of authority and tradition that makes the government think twice if it wants to overstep boundaries. I'm ok with that.
Of course it would be more fun in the days of Robert the Bruce ...
