Today we went to the movies. At 10 AM, that is. The Vancouver International Film Festival is this week (and next week, too). We saw two documentaries, back to back. The first was the extremely grim (and powerful)“The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror”, and the second was the sweet and quirky “Souvenir of Canada” by Douglas Coupland (based on his book of the same name). I really like like Coupland, for his light-hearted but sophisticated sense of humor, his knack of putting his finger on social movements and trends (he is the originator of the term ‘Generation X’), and of course in this case, the subject matter he’s been writing on lately (Canada). I also envy him; He and I are nearly the same age, and now he is living in Vancouver as someone returning home. As fond as I ever grow of this place, I fear that I will not feel completely ‘at home’ here for a long, long time. I always feel as if I’m walking on eggshells: Did I cut in line without realizing it? Did I say the right thing to the clerk at the register? Is my accent not native enough? Do I know enough about hockey, Terry Fox or Canadian politics? Do I know too much about American politics (actually, Canadians on the whole know more about American politics than the average American does!) I feel as if I’m often on my guard, trying not to stick out too much. The opener for conversations, which is that I’ve recently moved here from Boston is always good for a few exchanged sentences (that’s what a conversation piece is for, after all). After that, it seems to be difficult. People are anxious to understand the why of it, and then when I explain that, things can get quiet. Maybe people are just wary of those Americans who come up here and are nasty to them because they (the Americans) need to convince the Canadians that they’re wrong, etc.
All I know is that Douglas Coupland is a lucky guy. He gets to move back here, live in Vancouver, and (I assume) feel perfectly at home.
2 Replies to “Still Enjoying a Little Free Time”
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David you may not know this but most people you encounter in a day are not from Vancouver. Most of us are from somewhere else. I grew up here in the 50’s but was born in Whitehorse. That said, Canadians have this knack of not have many heros –two come to mind Terry Fox & Wayne Gretzky– and you might have a difficult time finding Canadians agreeing to more than these two. So we tend to find our neighbours to the south at times over emphazing the hero aspect as themsevles being first and best in most things. This creates most of our insecurity. We win the world hockey match and most of the press is about the lucky loonie at centre ice. You may never feel at home, most of us don’t, but it sure is a great neighbourhood and we really do like each other.
Hi Gene -
Yes, it’s true, I noticed that a lot of people from around here are from elsewhere.
I did find out from the Coupland documentary that Terry Fox was one of the few people that Canadians can agree on. I’ve been thinking how the memory of him might be different if he had actually made it to the Pacific coast (his quest wouldn’t have the tragic element to it).
There’s something about a place where the newcomers outnumber the natives. My wife and I spent a fair amount of time in the Mad River Valley of Vermont (just south of Montpelier, which is about 200 K due south of Montréal), where we actually had contemplated building a house (and went as far as getting some land there). They had the same situation — you rarely met a native Vermonter, yet they referred to all of us visitors as ‘Flatlanders’ (although I only saw the term in books and magazine articles). Maybe the fact that so many people are in my (and perhaps, years ago, your) situation, so we’re all just a bit more mindful, more careful about being rude. I like to think that, anyway. It sure is a great neighbourhood. Seems to be one of the best I’ve ever seen in many ways.