New In Town (July 16, 92)
by James O'Regan
[HORROR] They came from Toronto. Yes, my family and I are new to Moncton.
When we arrived, my friend Aileen - she's 11 - asked me, "[WHINEY] Why are you moving to Mooonnctonnn? It's sooo smaaaall." I asked, "Aileen, have you ever heard of the Renaissance?" "No." "How about Michelangelo - and I don't mean the damn turtle." "Oh yeah." "And Leonardo Da Vinci?" "Mona Lisa?" "That's right. Well, those guys and a bunch of others were part of the Renaissance in the 14th century - it changed the whole course of western civilization. And it pretty well all happened in Florence. Now, do you know how many people lived in Florence during the Renaissance? About 90,000. Greater Moncton has about 120,000. You can get a lot done with a small population, if you want to."
Monctonians tend to ask "What brings you to Moncton?" Torontonians ask "What are you moving there for?"
My by-now pat answer is "It's bilingual. It's by the sea. You can buy a house." Three bi's mean bye-bye to The Evil Empire. Now don't be coy, you know where I'm talking about - two ladies passed the house the other evening and guessed Toronto without a moment's hesitation.
Moving anywhere is a complex affair - asking why you do it is like asking "Vy do you love me so, dahling?" Who knows! Or, more to the point, who can say in a nutshell? But here're some impressions:
I was in town last May. I made up a list of things to get done - ten items - in Toronto, this is a two day wish list - if everything is perfect in the universe - green lights right across town - you just might get it done but count on a third day, huh pal. See, Toronto is supposed to have everything you'll ever want in it BUT you've got to find it, you've got to get to it, you've got to pray it works the first time - fat chance, welcome to the world of "It takes three times before anything gets done right." Anyway, I started at 9am. [PAUSE} At 11am, I went into shock - I had nothing left to do - three days worth of running around vanished into two hours. Purayyse Him!
[OLD] Way back in 1981.... I was more or less bi-lingual. Within a month of living in Toronto, I could barely speak English let alone French. Moncton, Ottawa and maybe St Boniface are the only bilingual cities in the country. This city's great - our new baby has a fighting chance of growing up with two and hopefully more languages.
Monctonians are the friendliest people in the history of friendly people - imagine, you can actually cross a major street without taking out extra life insurance. And you can can actually say hello to passersby without getting hit on for buck for coffee - read bad Ontario table wine. AND, You-can-actually-make-a-left-hand-turn - this is a God send. Call me Mr Exuberant but I think it's worth its weight in gold.
Coming from one of the world's goofiest real estate markets where $600 bucks a month'll get you a broom closet; our new house - we're first time buyers - you need cab to get from the back door to the front - in fact, I often pack a lunch just in case I get lost.
I'm also a big fan of raw fish - Japanese style Sashimi or sushi. But you just can't get it FRESH in The Evil Empire. So now, I'm going to save $60 everytime I buy fish - I used to have it frozen and flown up from Moncton Fish Market - Air Canada's loss is my gain. And remember, Moncton's got the only fog free airport in Atlantic Canada - when you have to get out, you can.
Now, every silver lining has a cloud behind it, so one odd thing about Moncton stands out. And maybe you can help me out on this - is it just my plumbling or is all of Moncton's water supply kind of brownish? I'm going through one water filter a week - they're supposed to last three months. Go figure. Oh and by the way, did summer start last Thursday?
I'm James O'Regan for Information Morning.