Quote:
Originally Posted by rousseau
Oh, come on, this is starting to get ridiculous. Just for starters, the people in Calgary have the same accent as you do, but as soon as you cross the border into Washington they sound very different.
If you were in a third country working with American and Canadian expats you'd feel more of a socio-cultural affinity with the Canadians from Calgary before you would with the Americans from Seattle. Not talking about choosing friends here, just shared culture and various others kinds of expectations shaped by social commonalities.
I think you're talking more about geography here, i.e. about being next to the mountains and the ocean in Vancouver, by contrast with Calgary, where that isn't true. But in terms of people? Like it or not, and you seem clearly not to, we really do have certain fundamental things in common that define us. The only real outlier is Quebec. I'm not even so sure about Newfoundland, all endless protestations on this forum to the contrary. I've met tons of Newfoundlanders here and abroad, seen them around Irish and British expats, and I've always experienced an unspoken acknowledgement of the socio-cultural affinity we share as citizens of the same country.
Consider this: is there another internet forum out there populated mainly by Americans living directly to the south of you where you can comfortably talk about Canadian issues and concerns the way you can here? Is Signalhillhiker talking about the issues he raises here on an Irish online forum?
I wouldn't even know where to begin looking for online discussion forums full of Western New Yorkers or Detroiters, but the very idea seems preposterous to me anyway. Where, for example, on the internet or in the real world, do you see forums or places for people in Eastern Michigan and southern Ontario southwest of London to meet and chat about their shared concerns?
Do they even exist? Why would they? Someone in Flint is going to have kids playing football against Saginaw, and there's a very real likelihood that said someone barely even knows London Ontario exists, much less would they ever decide one day that they would like to go to London Ontario. Because they'd have no reason to.
I'm blathering on at length here in this thread, I know. Apologies for this.
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What? Actually I noticed an accent difference in Calgary, not Seattle.
No one even knew I was Canadian in Seattle until I actually mentioned it or tried to give it away.
Someone would ask, "what part of town are you from, or " where are you from"
I'd say Vancouver and they'd say something akin to "ah near portland?"
That surprised me. But regardless sorry to state this but culturally and politically BC and Washington are EXTREMELY similar. I didn't find Calgary familiar culturally or politically at all yet I could walk around Seattle and feel at home very easily.