Life In Northern Canada (Part Deux)

[nos4a2no9]

Hi everyone!

I promised ages ago to write a follow-up post to my first workshop piece on Life In Northern Canada. sageness and a few other folks had specific questions they wanted me to address, hence the sequel. If you're looking for more general topics about northern Canada, such as landscape and geography, weather, the role of the RCMP, shopping and

Comments

[ignazwisdom]

This is freaking amazing and I adore you for writing it all up.

[anna_luna]

This was an awesome post, insightful and complete. I love how you addressed the many issues that make up real life in the north...

Am I really shallow if I say that my favorite part was the bit about the sex industry?

I could just picture RayK stockpiling condoms and magazines and videos and stuff in preparation to moving north and then arriving and finding they had it all there... with a discount. I can just hear him saying "Fraser..." and Fraser going "Yes, Ray, that was a sex shop, we have a lot of them in the North Western Territories, it's a growing industry, you should consider it as a career choice..."

[mlyn]

most white Canadians who live in southern cities are fairly content with the portrait of Canada as a peaceful, multicultural nation that respects difference and values diversity

I'm embarrassed to say I've bought into that idea, too. I've read dS fics and watched the episodes where First Nations people are portrayed as underprivileged, and certainly believed them, but at the same time I have this "la la la it's so much better than the US" idea. The grass is always greener, I guess.

Thanks for another illuminating and interesting post. :)

[dugrival]

This is great all over again! Though I do kind of miss Gus the Recruitment Mountie. : (

You talk about people from the North dealing with a lot of harassment in the cities, but what about the reverse? I know whenever I visit my family in "the sticks," they tease me plenty about being a city kid. If Ray - looking all Chicago hip and setting off gaydar at 200 yards - drives up to visit Fraser sometime, is anyone likely to, say... key the GTO? *cringe*

Maybe I've just seen Easy Rider too many times.

[claudieanne]

This was very interesting,especially to someone who hopes to soon emigrate to Canada. During my visit last Feb both my partner and myself experienced an uncomfortable brief exposure to racism that surprised us as it appeared to be so at odds with the rest of our experiences that trip.We stopped at a breakfast diner in Hundred Mile House and the lively restaurant went very quiet when a small group of native people came in, nothing was actually said, they were served but somehow without the same civility that we received although I couldn't actually pinpoint any discourtesy. A middle aged couple a few tables over leaned over and passed the communal coffee pot and broke the silence but they were the only ones being friendly, this was sadly so at odds with all our positive experiences as compared to my part of England Canada really does appear soo much more tolerant, polite and most of all clean!