I can’t say I’ve pinpointed a vast amount of cultural differences slash language barriers between Americans and Canadians thus far. Granted, I’ve only been here nine months; maybe the big things will be revealed at the one year mark.

But I encountered my first ‘misunderstanding’ yesterday.

A friend had sent me an email inviting us over for ‘dessert and apples’ at a later date. As I read through the email I was perplexed. Dessert and apples seemed like a really odd combination to me. Is it a Canadian ‘thing’: to invite someone over for dessert and include some apples in case some of the guests are particularly health conscious?

It wasn’t the first time this had happened. We ‘d received a similar invitation last month, which has inclined me to believe ‘dessert and apples’ might be a Canadian thing. Another friend had sent me an email asking if we’d like to come to their house for the aforementioned delicacies. I gladly accepted her invitation, though I was puzzled about the apples bit. Then again, she hails from Michigan which is sort of ‘apple country’…right? Since we had a ton of apples in the house at the time, I almost asked if I should bring some over. But I didn’t, figuring maybe she’d gone to an orchard and recently picked apples off a tree. Extra delicious apples. Or something. 

We went to their house and had a fabulous time chatting and eating the tasty hors d’oeuvres and dessert she’d prepared. But no apples were served – a detail that didn’t even occur to me until several days later. It seemed strange to invite someone over for something particular (apples) and not serve them, at all. 

As I reread the most recent email invitation to record the proposed date, I saw I’d misread it slightly. She’d invited us for ‘dessert and appies’.

Appetizers?!  I presume, judging from the spread of snacks our Michigan friend had put before us.