From: Andrew Jarrette
Message: 41423
Date: 2005-10-14
Amsterdam), and you can probably guess why :) The
large number of Asian immigrants actually troubles
people there too (!!??). I don't know how many times
I had to hear "This is Hongcouver, Japanada". Sigh.
Yep, after the high cost of living, bad education
system and liberal drug use, the racist insularity
really started to piss me off... so I personally
call it "Vanloser" >:(-- I hope "Hongcouver, Japanada" was meant humorously and not critically. I wonder whether the discomfort with the high number of Asian immigrants is due to the fact that Vancouver now has to cater to them in their own languages rather than in the official languages of Canada, what with all the Chinese automatic banking machines and signs that I have seen there. I know many people are uncomfortable with having two official languages (including myself, to a bit -- fluency in French has become absolutely mandatory in government and most office jobs and much retail here in Ottawa, unlike how it was when I was a child, and I had much trouble getting a decent job recently. I feel some resentment because bilingualism is forced rather than voluntary, yet Quebec won't allow you to go to English school unless your mother went, and no English signs or a hefty fine! Now many young people in Quebec speak practically no English, unlike the situation up to the seventies or eighties (and they can't learn any English until nine or ten years old at the earliest). Even here in Ottawa I encounter French people who speak no English, and live here. Whereas English people across Canada are racing to get their children in French immersion, so they will have the better jobs. I worry whether learning science, mathematics, history, etc. all in French properly prepares you to be able to go to university or have a career in English.)
But I digress :) ... I've now left the province of
B.C. forever (btw, BC = "Bring Cash"). I went back to
"Winterpeg", sought therapy and then chowed down
on the moussaka and fries from Niko's on Corydon that
I was deprived of for so long. Yum!
-- I know about the truth of "Bring Cash" for sure, as a result of my sister having lived there for about ten years. And I know also the accuracy of the title "Winterpeg" - it's sometimes a bit of a wonder to me that people choose to live there. I immigrated to Canada from Trinidad in November 1970, right at the beginning of Ottawa's snowiest ever winter, when drifts piled more than 10 feet high and over houses. That was our introduction to Canada coming from a tropical country! But I was three so of course the snow was lots of fun, and I mostly didn't mind the cold. I'm one of those people who actually looks forward to global warming, though. I like those mild winters we've had much of until fairly recently.I sincerely hope the other cybalist members don't resent too much how we share these personal anecdotes. They can easily be skipped over.
Andrew
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