Pan America

By Kathleen Adams, Amanda Bower, Val Castronovo, Randy Hartwell, Ellin Martens, Sora Song, Chris Taylor and Josh Tyrangiel

OH, CANADA After much wrangling, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien last week became the first foreign leader to visit President Bush. But Bush has chosen Mexico for his first foreign visit. Is it really any wonder?

CANADA

CLIMATE Cold, cold, oh, so cold

LANGUAGE English/French, both of which occasionally trip up Bush

DISTANCE 1,300 miles from Texas

FOOD EXPORT Maple syrup, sticky

NOTABLE NATIVE ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, member of the media

LEADER, AND HIS ATTRIBUTES Prime Minister Jean Chretien, oxford-wearing, Gore-supporting liberal lawyer with hard-to-pronounce name

MEXICO

[CLIMATE] Sunny and warm, just like Texas

[LANGUAGE] Spanish, just like in Texas

[DISTANCE] Just across the border from Texas

[FOOD EXPORT] Tex-Mex, Bush's favorite

[NOTABLE NATIVE] Sister-in-law Columba, member of the Bush family

[LEADER, AND HIS ATTRIBUTES] President Vicente Fox, cowboy-boot-wearing conservative businessman with easy-to-pronounce name