Stop that snickering. It’s full of helpful advice for immigrants to Canada.
Excerpts: All was new, strange, and distasteful to us; we shrank from the rude, coarse familiarity of the uneducated people among whom we were thrown; and they in return viewed us as innovators, who wished to curtail their independence by expecting from them the kindly civilities and gentle courtesies of a more refined community…
The utter want of that common courtesy with which a well-brought-up European addresses the poorest of his brethren, is severely felt at first by settlers in Canada. At the period of which I am now speaking, the titles of “sir” or “madam” were very rarely applied by inferiors. They entered your house without knocking; and while boasting of their freedom, violated one of its dearest laws, which considers even the cottage of the poorest labourer his castle, and his privacy sacred…
They are naturally a fine people, and possess capabilities and talents, which when improved by cultivation will render them second to no people in the world; and that period is not far distant. Idiots and mad people are so seldom met with among natives of the colony, that not one of this description of unfortunates has ever come under my own immediate observation…
Well, the Whistler trips were separate from Vancouver…skiing, and Pemberton should really be with Whistler. Victoria, Quebec (both summer and winter), Montreal and Toronto was with a friend. However, the other eleven trips were with my husband while he was working, so it’s kind of a cheat? But I don’t care. I love Canada.
They were actually pretty nice and there were no discussions about Québécois separation. (We stayed at B&B on Île d’Orléans-just outside of Sainte-Pétronille-which was owned by a university professor and his wife.)
Bingo! We have a winner!
The phrase comes from a 1972 CBC Radio contest to find a national simile. The winner (and this is absolutely true), submitted by 17-year-old Heather Scott, was
As Canadian as possible under the circumstances.
@nemomen, your application for permanent residency is in the mail.
To @monkeyoh, @IronEdithKidd, @SteampunkBanana, and all others who expressed an interest, when you have fully incorporated this concept into your view of the world and yourself, you are prepared to become Canadian.
I lived in Halifax, NS for a couple years. Canada’s the best, I’d happily move back, though my kids are starting college, so alas, I’m stuck in the US for a little while longer.
One day I shall return to my spiritual homeland to the North where butter tarts are easy to find, “South of the Border” means the US, milk is correctly packaged in bags, and Glenn Gould is rightly cherished as a national icon.
I’d rather be cold than hot, and I like winter clothes. You get a few good pairs of thermals and some nice LL Bean things and it’s not hard to manage (also Halifax has a Caribbean current that dumped into the harbor moderating things, so it was typically warmer than Boston).
The only part that I disliked was when the snow would melt then freeze again before I could get to it so I had to use a breaker bar to clear ice off the sidewalk. That and the freezing rain. And when the car got covered in thick ice. But you learn to adapt. I’d prefer it Austin when it hits 105 F (40.5 C) and it’s humid out and you drip sweat while you burn your hands on the car door handles and the steering wheel is painful to grip.
Plus, the birding in Canada is sublime. So many warblers. And there’s snowy owls, and great grey owls, and bald eagles, and other amazing wildlife.
Oh, there are some amazing birding sites in the Caribbean too, though I think I’d rather just visit than live there. Too far from my spiritual homeland.
(We stayed at B&B on Île d’Orléans-just outside of Sainte-Pétronille-which was owned by a university professor and his wife.)
