Canada can be a tricky place for the math-challenged American traveler.

I know this to be a fact because I am math-challenged, I am American, and I have traveled to Canada.

Canada adopted the metric system back in the 70s and just about every country except the US has adopted it by now.

But, because my home country has not adopted it, this means that when I cross the border the name of the game for me is "conversion."

As soon as I cross the border, I notice that the speed limit signs are in kilometers per hour instead of miles per hour.

I wonder how many American travelers have crossed the border and seen a sign reading "100" and said, "Woohoo! 100! I can really put the pedal to the metal here!"

I wonder how many of these folks learned the hard way about the metric system from an Ontario Provincial Police officer a few miles down the road…

Speed limit signs, well that’s just the beginning.

Distances from one town to the next are also marked in kilometers, and that can kind of throw a guy like me who instinctively thinks of "miles" when he sees a sign like this.

So when I see this type of sign, I immediately get a headache, cause I know it’s time to do another math problem in my head.

Okay, the sign says 87 kilometers to Guelph. Hmm. One kilometer equals .62 miles so I need to multiply 87 time .62 to figure out how many miles to Guelph. Hmm. 87 times .62… Carry the three… Add a zero here but subtract one there…

"Honey, you just missed your exit," my wife informs me.

So you can see how it’s a challenge for a guy like me.

Inevitably, the gasoline purchase conversion will rear its ugly head.

This particular problem involves what is, for me, some intense math to do without a calculator or piece of paper.

You see, they don’t sell gas here in gallons, they sell it in litres. So once you know how many litres you purchased, you have to convert it to gallons – but be careful not to convert it to Imperial gallons, which is what Canadians use – you must convert it to American gallons, which is entirely different. Once you have cleared that hurdle, you must tackle the currency conversion. Now that you know how much you have paid per (American) gallon in Canadian dollars, you need to figure out how much that is in American dollars (real money). So, you find out what the current value of a Canadian dollar is and begin to do more math. Right now a Canadian dollar is worth about 90 cents American, but it used to be less.

It’s about at this point that I generally give up.

And then there is the weather!

My father-in-law will stroll into the kitchen and announce, "It’s going to be a hot one today. It’s going to get up to 35!"

35? Hot? I know these northerners are accustomed to a different kind of climate, but what kind of Grizzly Adams thinks 35 is hot?

But then I feel stupid because I realize that he is talking about temperature in Celsius, which is completely different than the system we use at home.

My wife has no problems with any of this stuff.

She sees a metric distance and immediately knows how far it is.

She hears a Celsius weather report and she instantly knows whether or not to wear a sweater.

She can even figure out how much we are paying per American gallon in American dollars at the pump!

It’s like she’s bi-measurement-system-capable, or whatever you would call that life skill.

So whenever I get confused, I’ll just turn to her and say, "So… 35 here today…. What do you think I should wear?"