Quote:
Originally Posted by PortaPetee
I confess right up into my early 20s I pictured Newfoundland as this sort of sub-Arctic place with no trees and St. John's as something you'd see in a period piece about a grungy Northern England industrial town.
|
That's a better stereotype than most. One aside this brings to mind: in my opinion, Newfoundlanders don't really have a comparable blind spot left anymore. It used to be Western Canada (when I moved to Winnipeg, family and friends were genuinely worried for me: you'll have to go back in the closet. They're practically Amish out there, colonies and everything!), but thanks to the oil patch, everyone here is at least aware of Calgary and Edmonton now, even if they have no idea the size/appearance of Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, etc. So there's not really anywhere left in Canada where a majority of locals have completely false expectations. That's progress, I suppose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PortaPetee
On accents, I don't sound like a Newfoundlander at all, but I guess I have enough Atlantic Canada in me that I did get asked once in Vancouver if I was from Ireland or Scotland!
|
That's one of the fun things about being in mainland Canada - it's easy for us to pick each other out and we never assume the other is Irish or Scottish. We usually just get and/or ask, "What part of Newfoundland are you from?" - sometimes the answer is Ireland, or Cape Breton, but most of the time you've found a compatriot.
It's always a lovely experience - and the conversation that follows is always so... hyperlocal. Standing in line at a grocery checkout in Kenora, Ontario, with some old woman asking if you're the Trout River Crockers or Georgetown ones? ("Are you Salvation Army, that's a Salvation Army name. Catholic? How's that?"; "Oh! Your aunt taught my two kids in school. Your cousin Greg who married the Cooper girl from Bauline East? That's my niece!" etc. lol)