victoria.
toronto.
ottawa.
halifax: look down..
boardwalk.
foggy day.
halifax: look up!
salt air.
on the road.
quebec city.
montreal part two.
montreal part one.
a typical canadian exchange
I hadn’t even arrived in Canada yet and already I experienced a heartwarming taste of Canadianness. Amidst all of the strangers boarding calmly and helping each other with awkward luggage, one particular interaction was especially impressive. Australia, take note.
On my Air Canada flight to Montreal, for some reason two passengers had the same seat number on their boarding passes. One, a folky-looking guy with long black/grey hair, a Newfoundland t-shirt and a fiddle case, was explaining that he had originally been in the back but that they had just moved him up.
I watched and listened curiously, expecting an escalation (“too bad mate, it’s my seat now,” etc.) but the folky man continued, “but nah, you stay there, I’ll go talk to them about mine…”. It was all very friendly and pleasant. And entirely in French.
twice now i’ve stepped into public bathrooms and been hit by a wall of colour - today at the national film and sound archive and a few years ago at daniel liebeskind’s westside shopping centre in berne, switzerland (my photo here). i was a bit stunned to have had such a similar experience in such contrasting places; liebeskind’s westside is a modern wonder, while the nsfa is housed in an art-deco heritage site.
i may have found another obsession…
