Thoughts on learning and on how life is

As our first anniversary in Newfoundland approaches, I find myself contemplating what I've learned during the year that has (almost) passed and how we are actually settling in here in Canada. This was especially the case today, as we had a rainy and dark evening for the first time in a while. It brought me right back to last November, when newly arrived from Denmark, I was put behind the wheel on the wet and dark streets of St. John's. Let's be clear here: St. John's is not a city made of blocks - it's a city made of uphills and downhills, streets that become other streets, and intersections, where six or seven different streets meet in the middle, causing a mix, where not even the locals seem to know how to drive. And that in bright daylight. 

Finding myself cruising home without a worry in my mind in the wet darkness of today, knowing exactly which lane to take, which lane not to take (RIGHT LANE MUST EXIT - those were my biggest nightmare last November), and where to avoid the biggest potholes and ruts, I realized that I've got to know this city pretty well in less than a year. 

A common sight on the streets of St. John's. Learning to avoid them is an essential survival skill for a newbie.

When we arrived here in November, the first stage of integration began. You get to know the basics first - which area to live in, where to find food (not to mention, which products are the ones you're supposed to buy when wanting to cook recipe XYZ from home), how to make phone calls, which radio station to listen to for good music, which bakery is the best one in town and the difficult ones: how to find a doctor and how to find a dentist.

Once these were done, the next part begins. How to find like-minded people? How to make friends? Where do the families go, as there's no one at the playground? What are the people really saying, when they say that it's "Sum nice weather today, b'y!"? You make your first acquintances, you find a daily routine, you create your everyday life around your family's needs, and every day, you get to know more and more about the people in the city, province and country you live in, and the lives they live. The learning curve is steep and difficult, as a lot of effort is needed to actually keep in all this new information your senses are collecting together, and to get to know new people, you will always need to give a part of yourself in the process too. How do I present myself, who am I (now that I'm not a busy consultant and I would also like to be something else than my daughter's mother), what are my interests and how to make myself seem interesting to other people, without trying too hard. 

We kept our eyes and ears open, my husband at work and I when I began volunteering after three months in the city. At the same time our little one started at her daycare and started learning English, making her the quickest one to fully integrate into our new lives. When we returned from a weekend trip to Toronto this August and landed back in St. John's, she exclaimed loud and clear in the plane: "I love my St. John's!!" It's clear who has made this place home.

Every week and month we've been busy exploring our surroundings. My husband's busy hiking the East Coast Trail during his free weekends and while I was not yet working, I would explore our surroundings during the weeks. We've had a few visitors, whom we've been able to show some places around the island and meanwhile also get to know others ourselves. However, my steepest learning curve into everything Newfoundland & Labrador and everything Canadian has been in the past two months. In the beginning of August I finally started working, something which has coincided with our trips to Toronto and to the Bonavista peninsula, which is a beautiful area about three hours away from St. John's.

At my work, I am soaked with information about Newfoundland and Labrador, its history, its people and its traditions. I learn about the difficulties of living in the small rural communities and outports, what happened to the province when cod was no longer king and the federal government's decision to restrict cod-fishing left 35,000 people (!!!) unemployed within the matter of days, how when that was done, oil and gas have become the province's "all eggs in one basket" curse and saviour and how, unfortunately, this is a province where statistics about health, weight issues, domestic violence and the like are at the bottom of the list compared to the rest of Canada. I have also learned about the warm hearts of the locals, about the hard work many here on the island have had to go through to survive and how that is often forgotten in the everyday lives of people, suddenly made rich with the arrival of oil, except in the music and traditions, which are now being collected and cherished with the Newfoundland and Labrador's heritage movement. 

An example of what an outport fishing settlement might have looked like in the 1800s. This one is the set where mini-series Random Passage, based on the book by Bernice Morgan was shot.

Trinity - an old merchant town made rich by its harbour and fishing. Now a popular tourist destination and place where Newfoundland heritage is preserved.

I've learned that people should definitely not be judged by their covers. Even though the person might be cursing and swearing of all their might, they might be the most intelligent and compassionate person you have ever met - it's just the way they learned to speak. I've also learned that as the resources here have been rare, people have began to compete for them and it seems difficult for them to cooperate to reach the same goals. 

The visit to Toronto also taught me a lot about Canada vs. Canada. People of Newfoundland often consider themselves as someone from Newfoundland, before they mention they're Canadians. Flying to Toronto and visiting the city for a few days did feel like being in a totally different country, and until 1949 it was. While Toronto is a multicultural metropolis, spearheading Canada's (traditionally) immigrant-friendly image, showcased in academic literature on integration, Newfoundland is in comparison very white, very English/Irish and small.

One of the interesting and culturally rich neighbourhoods of Toronto

Toronto skyline

 

A friend of mine (shout-out to Ms. PF) asked me recently - how is life in St. John's? What are the people of Newfoundland like? How are we settling in? And I realized that I have concentrated a lot on how the place looks like, instead of what it's like. I think that's part of the different steps of integration. First you learn where to drive (what the place looks like) and then how to drive (what it's like). I have a feeling I'm now learning how to drive my Newfoundland life and I'm liking it.