How is Canada?

When you're new to a country, you tend to have the same conversations over and over again - about how long you've been here, about whether or not you like it, about the weather, and about your home country. A question we are frequently asked is, "How is Canada?" The first few times it caught us off guard. How do you sum up a country? Usually I just say, "it's big" or "it's cold" or "it's nice." (By the way, speaking of Canada, I just read about the serial killer who killed at least 26 women in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver - how sick!) Anyway, the whole "How is Canada?" question has made me think a lot about the question we all ask each other all of the time - "How are you?" How can you sum up how you're doing in a quick 30 second conversation (if, indeed, the person really does want to know how you're doing?) How are YOU?