Great Canadian Beach Thread - Page 35

Acajack · #**681** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 2:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

My apologies - obviously, I only visited. I didn’t realize it was still truly Icelandic.

As for generic Canadian, I meant visually - urban form, buildings, the breakwater, etc. It felt very different from Winnipeg Beach, and in ways that are common throughout Canada, at least in my experience. If it wasn’t a lake, you could easily convince me it was in PEI or NS or wherever else.

90 people out of 6,000 in Gimli have Icelandic as a mother tongue.

Whether in Canada or elsewhere, I highly doubt anywhere outside of Iceland is "truly Icelandic" to any appreciable degree.

SignalHillHiker · #**682** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 2:49 PM**

Oh I phrased that weird. I don’t think that’s what he was saying. He just meant, I assume, it’s the actual and experienced cultural background of a lot of people still. It’s not like Placentia, former French capital of NL, where all the O’Neils and Murphys celebrate that heritage.

esquire · #**683** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 2:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I'm in Kauai. The beaches are peerless.

Nice. I've been to a lot of beaches but the ones in Hawaii are best. Warm water, nice sand, beautiful surroundings and not too many sea creatures that sting, bite or otherwise make life unpleasant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

90 people out of 6,000 in Gimli have Icelandic as a mother tongue.

Whether in Canada or elsewhere, I highly doubt anywhere outside of Iceland is "truly Icelandic" to any appreciable degree.

Gimli sure isn't. Most of the Icelanders arrived 100-150 years ago, and there are probably just as many if not more people of central/eastern European descent as those waves of immigration arrived later.

There may still be a handful of old timers who speak the language but by and large Gimli is fully generic Canadian. The Icelandic festival is a nice way to celebrate that aspect of the town's heritage, but let's not pretend that Gimli is a little piece of Iceland or whatever the tourism office would have people believe. Although that sort of thing is kind of a Canadian fetish.

Acajack · #**684** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 3:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

Nice. I've been to a lot of beaches but the ones in Hawaii are best. Warm water, nice sand, beautiful surroundings and not too many sea creatures that sting, bite or otherwise make life unpleasant.

Gimli sure isn't. Most of the Icelanders arrived 100-150 years ago, and there are probably just as many if not more people of central/eastern European descent as those waves of immigration arrived later.

There may still be a handful of old timers who speak the language but by and large Gimli is fully generic Canadian. The Icelandic festival is a nice way to celebrate that aspect of the town's heritage, but let's not pretend that Gimli is a little piece of Iceland or whatever the tourism office would have people believe. Although that sort of thing is kind of a Canadian fetish.

I think Hecla (not too far from there?) is the main historic Icelandic community in both Manitoba and Canada, is it not?

esquire · #**685** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 3:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

I think Hecla (not too far from there?) is the main historic Icelandic community in both Manitoba and Canada, is it not?

Gimli is the hub. Hecla is interesting too, but it wasn't as big as Gimli. The families were pushed out in the 60s to make way for a provincial park and although some were eventually allowed to return, the critical mass is gone... there is no town there, just a bunch of houses along a road. The shore of Lake Winnipeg from roughly Gimli to Hecla is lined with settlements first populated by Icelanders. It also stretched inland too, there are places like Arborg (near where my dad is from) which was heavily Icelandic.

The funny thing about that area is that Icelanders were just one of the main ethnic groups that settled the area. There were also Ukrainians, Poles, Germans, Hungarians and British. But much how Newfoundland likes to single out the Irish aspect of its identity, the northern Interlake loves to wrap itself in the Icelandic flag.

SignalHillHiker · #**686** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 3:30 PM**

It’s strange how that happens. I believe we have always had a majority English population. Lots of the various accents around the island are more Devon than Waterford/Wexford, and some bays even still have glottal stops and the like. I remember one guy who pronounced “got” almost like he was making the sound effect for “glut” hahaha. But for all intents and purposes, Irish influence dominates.

Nouvellecosse · #**687** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 3:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

Congrats! *humblebrag* I've been to Oahu, Maui, Lanai, Kauai and Big Island. "The Garden Isle" is the prettiest by far, IMHO. We plan to go back. Did you stay in Kapaa? Nice and central. Hanalei bay and Kee beach were our favourite. Don't leave snacks out or the feral chickens will swipe em.

That's easily the best problem I've ever heard.

Hecate · #**688** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 4:58 PM**

There are roughly 30,000 people in Manitoba of Icelandic decent. With about 1000 identifying the language as their mother tongue. With probably another 1/4 speaking it as a second language. It’s actually a different dialect too that has evolved from the original settlers. The only other one in the world, so the language preservation is even more important now as the sea of English floods the world. Something I think francophones would easily understand. When you consider that there’s only about 380,000 Icelanders in Iceland the numbers in Manitoba are all that more important. The relationship between Iceland and new Iceland is strong enough for gimli to have an Icelandic consulate. I don’t know of too many other small towns that can claim that.

north 42 · #**689** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 9:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hecate

There are roughly 30,000 people in Manitoba of Icelandic decent. With about 1000 identifying the language as their mother tongue. With probably another 1/4 speaking it as a second language. It’s actually a different dialect too that has evolved from the original settlers. The only other one in the world, so the language preservation is even more important now as the sea of English floods the world. Something I think francophones would easily understand. When you consider that there’s only about 380,000 Icelanders in Iceland the numbers in Manitoba are all that more important. The relationship between Iceland and new Iceland is strong enough for gimli to have an Icelandic consulate. I don’t know of too many other small towns that can claim that.

Leamington Ontario has a Mexican consulate, but yeah, not very many small towns would have a consulate.

CivicBlues · #**690** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 9:34 PM**

An actual Icelandic Consulate or an Honorary Consul? Because the former takes some effort but pretty much anyone wth an affinity or connection to the country can be the latter and run a "consulate" out of their living room office nook.

esquire · #**691** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 10:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

An actual Icelandic Consulate or an Honorary Consul? Because the former takes some effort but pretty much anyone wth an affinity or connection to the country can be the latter and run a "consulate" out of their living room office nook.

The Icelandic Consulate General is actually in Winnipeg. It's one of 4 such Consulates that Iceland operates, in addition to its Embassies and Permanent Delegations/Missions.

https://www.government.is/diplomatic...e-information/

Hecate · #**692** Posted **Aug 5, 2022, 10:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

An actual Icelandic Consulate or an Honorary Consul? Because the former takes some effort but pretty much anyone wth an affinity or connection to the country can be the latter and run a "consulate" out of their living room office nook.

Its an actual consulate. located in an office in a commercial building called the waterfront centre, it’s a mixed use building that has residences, a museum, and other cultural institutions. It is a satellite office of the main consulate in Winnipeg, which is actually in a residence. Lol.

Coldrsx · #**693** Posted **Aug 6, 2022, 2:00 AM**

Nuclear dude! Radical.

My own

xzmattzx · #**694** Posted **Aug 23, 2022, 1:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

In Manitoba, Gimli (traditionally settled by Icelanders, and they play that up) and Winnipeg Beach were the popular ones when I was there. Gimli is a bit more... generic Canadian. Winnipeg Beach has something a bit more settled, confident, American. It's one main street, commercial buildings (lots of tourist stuff, like arcades, etc.) on one side, then a broad park, with trees and grass and picnic tables, and then the beach.

That makes sense for Manitoba. Those lakes are huge, and if Winnipeg is 90 minutes away, then it's an obvious choice.

Saskatchewan and Alberta are another matter, it seems. They are like Nebraska and Kansas and the Dakotas. Where do people go for a nice swim on a good summer day in those places? I know from driving around Wyoming last week that floating down the river is something they do in eastern Wyoming, so I guess that must be something they do in these other areas. But I know there are small lakes that people in other parts of a country don't know about, like Spirit Lake in Iowa as a beach destination, so I wonder if there are little (natural) lakes elsewhere.