Since taking this course and thinking about edmonton in a number of different conceptual ways, I get a kick out of quizzing my boyfriend's parents, becuase they grew up in edmonton and both attended the u of a in their early twenties, just like meeee and their son, my bf. His mother has a masters in english and his father a phd in education. Since starting their family theyve lived and worked in spruce grove. Last night, over dinner at earls tin palace on Jasper and 118th, i asked his mom, Joyce, how she views edmonton. and she came up with one word: reserved.
"reserved how so?"
"Calgary is much more flamboyant, they like to flaunt their wealth, but edmontonians are much more reserved, and those who do have money.. its a quiet wealth."
it went on, like this, she talked about how her and her husband were going to move to calgary becuase it seemed more "fun", but by the time they were starting their careers they werent looking for that type of fun anymore. She said calgary's flamboyance is most likely due to strong american influences. those dang flashy yankees! (i thought that last part, she didnt say it)
what i didn't say to her was, "how interesting that your outlook and views of edmonton are always in relation to calgary. "
I agree with her that there is a sort of reserved air about edmontonians. Like a quiet pride. or a sort of sophistication. i asked her if she thought edmonton was more cultured and she said "it's a different type of culture". which i also agreed with.
i had a pecan maple chicken spinach salad it was large and delicious and it's nice to have people that buy me nice dinners in edmonton, the city of reserved champions!
You're funny: clearly mastered The Art of Family Conversation. LOL
ReplyDeleteBut yes, underneath that you're totally right to question that binary perspective. And there is something to that sense of being reserved...
Very interesting. I've only spent 5 years in Edmonton and that too while being stuck in university. And Calgary is always said to be the more fun city. Do you think that it might just be jealousy because of the more dollars being spent there? When I lived in Ontario, Toronto was obviously way more fun - but people who didn't live in Toronto usually hated it passionately because it was too big. None of its fun - the clubs, theme parks, art galleries, and the like - really mattered because going into the city was like walking into a hell hole.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I always thought Calgary was super right-wing where as Edmonton was not. But the recent election of a Muslim-visible-minority mayor has really shattered that image I had of Calgary!