On July 27th it was a long day of traveling which stretched over about 24 hours from my step cousins house in Sheffield to my parents house in Saskatoon with stops in both the Manchester and Calgary airports. Stepping off the plane in Canada we were given a very warm welcome from smiling seniors in cowboy dress driving golf carts to greet and assist visitors on their way to the passport control. I thought it was a nice example of customer service whereas my sister thought it was to show off the Calgarian love of cars. The long part of the trip was the eight-hour wait for the connecting flight to Saskatoon, however the Space Center was fun to play and when I finally got to Saskatoon there was an amazing prairie sunset to greet me.
It’s interesting having a sense of perspective on your own culture. One of the first things I noticed as I quietly fingered the ‘ new’ Canadian coins to buy a card was that things seem to be more expensive. I got that impression because of the lower value of the currency and then because of the ‘ surprise’ tax that was added on at the end. I also noticed that people smiled a lot and were very friendly.
Back in Saskatoon right now it is as if I had never left, that I had never traveled and that all the other countries and cities I have been to sort of feel like a part of my imagination. It’s ten years this year since I graduated from high school and it seems now people have grown further and further apart. In some ways I felt I was ‘successful’ with my grades when we graduated, but now the mark of ‘success’ seems to be being married, having kids and a house and I don’t really fit in. I generally do things to try to be different, but sometimes it seems like it would be easier to be more the same. Right now everything is a little confusing and I don’t like people asking me about my plans for the future because I don’t have a very good answer yet. Poco a poco or little by little, I have to remember.
1 comment:
Hi Katie:
Nice as always to read your thoughts. Thank you for doing this.
I have always felt that travelling to other countries was a great way to open one's eyes to Canada. And the longer you are away, the greater the differences you see.
I'm surprised that you find Canada expensive.
Any time I've been to Europe in the last 10 years, the watchword is "take money, lots of it". I have found that things in Europe cost, in Euros or pounds, what they do in Canada, in dollars. And the Euro generally has cost $2 Cdn, give or take.
It's not a surprise if you find that people drift away and you no longer fit in. It isn't you; it isn't them. People change, and the things you once had in common can quickly become yesterday's news.
People go through fairly predictable stages in their lives. But not everyone goes the same way at the same time. And some get stuck in some stage along the way.
Ever met someone still stuck in teenage rebellion long after high school grad? Seems like a lot of them end up in the pop music industry.
And some go their own way, where it can be lonely.
One good thing about geezers is that we have been through or have seen people go through most stages.
Your friends, seem, predictably, to be going into family and career. It would be astonishing if most of them didn't. This is a long stage, and will consume them for about 20 years or more.
Biological forces are very strongly pushing people towards family and children.
You'll be able to recognise this stage when your friends' conversations consist, always, of endless detail about little Bobby and little Mary -- every moment of their lives.
Rational parents realize that jobs provide the money to raise kids, and that a house is a good way to shelter the family.
With jobs comes money, too, and a chance to start buying all that stuff -- cars, trucks, SUVs, furniture, a beach in every winter, a cellphone in every ear, an iPod in every hand, a tattoo on every ankle and a TV in every room. Insidiously, our culture is drenched with messages that make wallowing in our consumer culture a moral imperative, despite the growing evidence of just how destructive this culture really is. Certainly, for many, it is a fundamental principle, essentially unchallengable dogma, that we work our brains out all week, then spend the weekend buying crap as our reward.
You'll know these people by their endless discussions of which product has the required features.
In fact, our society is built on the premise that we must consume vast amounts of resources -- so its no wonder that our media (propaganda engines of the wealthy) push this lifestyle to the hilt.
The next stages are mid-life crisis, empty-nest and retirement.
Lucky you if you see things differently. Not everyone is right for membership in the herd. And self-knowledge is the key to finding your own way. For some, joining the herd is easy and comfortable, given the forces that push them there. But for others, the herd is a straitjacket, and brings them nothing but unhappiness.
Ken.
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