Who Ownes Ya?

I am a CFA and I will probably always be a CFA.  It is not a bad thing, it is just what I am.  "Come From Away" is the term now and days... the old term (and still used) is Mainlander. To make matters worse, I am a Mainlander from Toronto.

I have learnt that is now part of my introduction.  I am no longer Kim.  I am Kim from the Mainland.  The Newfoundland expression "who ownes ya?" has been asked of me on a regular basis.  I have to give a mini family tree to establish my roots and my right to be here.  Just saying my last name lets them know that my family can be traced to the Southern Shore and goes back many generations.  My Mom's side is out by Trinity Bay and again the connection to the family and community is there.

Now, I want to be clear.  I have experience the best hospitality here.  No-one has every discriminated against me but there is always that little bit distance and even a bit of pity that appears when I start to talk and there is no accent.

I didn't realize there was  such a fuss regarding this until I came across an article from the Canada.com.  The Liberals want to legislate people to stop using the term.  I can see both sides but it depends on how the term is used.  It can be cruel and distancing or acknowledging and welcoming.  The article does make a good point... you cannot legislate people to forgo their everyday speech.

So call me a Mainlander, a CFA, and a Torontonian...but never, ever call me late for supper...

Everywhere is within walking distance... if you have the time.

I don't know if you have seen the Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism advertisement regarding time, but it is worth the watch.  Newfoundland has its own time zone, a minimum of a half hour ahead of the rest of Canada.  We are the first to see the sun rise, the first to exercise our right to vote and the first province to start our New Year resolutions (and probably the first to break them).

I am born, raised and worked all my life in Ontario and like most people, I commute.  The time varied depending on the job but it averaged about an hour.  I have gotten used to automatically adding an hour or more to every trip I make to account for accidents, road work and just plain traffic congestion .  This is not a good plan here in Newfoundland.

I find myself sitting outside the hospital where I work at 6:00 am - I start work at 7:00am.  Friends are telling me that we will meet for supper at 6:30pm so when I show up at 5:45pm, I am still early (but not by too much) for the supper they had planned for 6:00pm.

I need to slow down and accept the fact that I can get from one end of St. John's to the other in 15 min...so everywhere I would need to go on a day to day basis does not need an hour buffer.  The whole atmosphere here is different.  In Toronto, it is about what you can accomplish, how many things "got done" today.  Here, it is about the journey, the people you meet along the way and the way you feel at the end of the day...with only a little time added to watch for the moose.

I guess this is what I was looking for... the journey, not the destination.  It is just going to take some time for this 40 year old body to change its ways....

Part I of the Journey

Did ya miss me?  I know that I have been away too long but it has been a busy couple of months.  The first part of my journey is over.  I have moved from Ontario to Newfoundland, bought a house and started my new job.  Now the next part... unpacking, getting settled and starting a new life here in St. John's.

I have so much to tell you and some wonderful stories from my journey and there are new and wonderful things happening all the time.  So, with that in mind, I will be writing again.  Some of my blogs will be from the here and now and some will be from a couple months back.   Enjoy!

The reason today was the day to get back on the blog wagon was two-fold.  Firstly, I had to do my WHMIS this morning so my mind had a chance to wander about all the things I would rather be doing and it also gave me the afternoon off.  Secondly, I am sick of unpacking...really, really sick of it so I am going to sit at the computer at type (no guilt since I am actually doing something).

I have probably said this before, probably while packing, that I HAVE WAY TOO MUCH CRAP.  I am living quite comfortably with the small amount that I have unpacked and I look at a basement full of boxes and wonder why do I need so much stuff.

I have these grand ideas of purging and having a slick minimalist style of home... but then again...

Stuff makes us feel safe, it makes us feel wealthy but I think that most of all it makes us feel "home".  I have my house and like I said, I have enough unpacked to make my meals, get dressed, watch TV and do the grooming thing but it doesn't feel like home yet.  As I unpack my pictures, my books, those little trinkets and all those other little things, this house is starting to feel like I belong here.  Maybe that is the whole point of stuff; a connection, someplace that is uniquely yours, someplace to call your own.