Daisy and I are in a nice hotel room in Edmundston. We crossed into Atlantic time zone when we left Quebec, so it's an hour later now than back home in Durham. We're both tired and I have to get some laundry done before we get to PEI tomorrow, so no pics today.
However, I do have a few words about multiculturalism (which as many of you know is an area of interest for me). Canada is considered to be a very multicultural nation, and Canada is bilingual--French and English. I often use this as an example of what the US could/should do with English and Spanish. (There are of course many other languages spoken here, including those of many First nation tribes).
But there is one province in Canada that is monolingual: Quebec, and of course their language is French. Let me tell you, driving hundreds of kilometres through a place where there is no information in English is daunting. My French is rudimentary at best...for example, it was at least 5 construction zones before I figured out that the orange sign stating "travaux" meant there was a work zone ahead (think "travails" not "travel" as a sort of similar word).
I had to buy gas (at a whopping CAN$109/litre) and my credit card would not work at the pump. The very nice attendant inside spoke no English, but we managed to figure out that my US card would not work at the pump, although it worked inside. I breathed a sigh of relief when we got to New Brunswick and signs once again appeared in both languages.
Don't get me wrong--I respect that both French and English are official languages in Canada; I just think that shoudl apply to all provinces.
One more word on the diversity of Canada. I have now driven thru' parts of 3 provinces and already seen great dversity of countryside, industry, and architecture. Once I finally got out of the big cities (that is, today once I finally got northeast of Quebec) the countryside turned completely pastoral with beautifully kept fields, farm buildings, and homes. And everywhere I saw NO litter--it seems Canadians are far more caring of their lands than many Americans.
Tomorrow we drive across New Brunswick--I plan to make a couple of quick stops on the way to PEI, but I know everyone else is already there so I am trying to get there close to lunchtime. I do not know about interet availability there, so if I don't post for a few days, you'll know why. Lots of pictures to come as well!
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I have finally managed to check out your blog and enjoyed hearing about your trip with TWMSD (although I thought Abby was the proud holder of that title) and seeing your photos.
ReplyDeleteSafe travels!
Suzanne
I've read and reread this particular blog now several times and it raises a number of feelings in me. There are of course many good things to be said for diversity. The country side, the architecture, industry, and people all are part, as you have indicated, of what a country or area is about and I know how important learning about those sorts of things are to you and to myself. But, isn't there something to be said for the province of Quebec to declare and use only French as its language? Isn't that sort of like a states right sort of issue? If you travel in Quebec or any other "foreign" country are you not buying into the fact that you might be dealing with issues such as you found? Isn't that the same for Hispanics in this country? If I cross the border into Mexico, for instance, can I expect to find myself at some point having a need to understand and speak the native language? I CAN expect that and I found that certainly to be true in my travels while in the Navy. I also found out that the more I understood and tried to use the language of whatever country I was in the easier and more pleasant my experiences were while I was there. It was my choice and not something that was mandated by the Navy or the country I was in.
ReplyDeleteBottom line to me is that English should be the official language of our country. If information can be presented bilingually...English to Spanish, to German, to French, to Arabic, to Native American, to whatever then it is okay with me. But if you come into this country and your native tongue is not English then you should expect to have some issues arise because you don't understand the language.
I applaud your comment about the lack of litter in Canada and how we Americans have much to learn from the Canadian example...if only we would.