Relocation

26.02.06, 15:18
All of you here have relocated –for good, or for an extended period of time-
from one country to another, one culture/mentality/language to a different
one. Some of you have done so not for the first time in your lives.

How do you find the change? What toll does it take on different aspects of
your lives?

I, too, have lived in various places: from Poland (23yrs) and Greece (2yrs),
to Vancouver, BC (14yrs) and –lately- Montreal, QC (4 yrs).

Have to admit that my latest move has pretty much turned into nearly a disaster.

The general quality of life in Montreal proved to be a very looong way down
from that of Vancouver.
My stabs at local French render me pretty helpless and excluded- Montrealers
are pretty welcoming and tolerant towards holiday visitors, their attitude
changes dramatically though when the newcomer is an Anglo-Canadian with his
French a “work in progress” who’s trying to settle here permanently.

An American week-end visitor marveling at the fun-sides of Montreal will be
made feel more than welcome here, an Anglo-Canadian though, appalled by the
quality of life, of the roads, the filthy streets, the lack of respect for the
most basic rules of traffic and for one another, the incompetence of local
services (the police notably included) will be advised more than often to “go
back” wherever, that “Shakespeare (!) is not welcome here” (meaning English…wink,
and “va chier avec ton Anglais” etc.

(When you try communicating in your broken French, however, the locals will
instantaneously switch to English, thus creating catch 22…wink

Yes, I know… some cheese would do nicely, thank you smile


How about you?
    • usenetposts Re: Relocation 26.02.06, 15:37
      I am pretty much intending to stay based in Poland, at least until retirement,
      and maybe beyond.

      If you had more of a Polish accent, then the Monrealities wouldn't be treating
      you like an English speaking Canadian, I suppose?

      If you switched into Polish whenever they switched into English, that'd sort
      them out.
      • chris-joe Re: Relocation 26.02.06, 16:02
        A Serb aquaintance of mine with a verrry strrong Serbian accent gets the same
        treatment; since his French is very good though, he simply continues in French.
        (A luxury I can seldom afford)
        I have witnessed completely amused entire conversations he's had with the
        locals- he carrying on in French with strong Serbian accent, they consistently
        replying in heavily jual-accented English smile

        Worse yet- my French-from-France friends are routinely scoffed at as pretensious
        snobs by the virtue of their ridiculous accent... I tak zle i tak niedobrze.

        One of them after having confinded in me that she "can't take it any more!!!"
        moved all the way to Nouvelle Caledonie smile

        As for me, I'm plotting to move to Toronto or maybe even back to Vancouver.
        And beyond retirement- some place WARM, possibly Brazil smile
        • usenetposts Re: Relocation 26.02.06, 16:15
          That's about the worst linguistic arrogance I ever heard reported.

          People get a bee in their bonnet about the welsh speakers who don't like
          to "understand" people ordering their pints in English in their pubs, but I
          have to say that I found that these Welsh were only too happy to unbend to me
          for trying Welsh, even though I made a whole bunch of mistakes.

          They understood that I was trying to keep a link to the old ancestral language,
          by learning some of it, and using it. But these French Canadians, mocking the
          French of the old country, are even sawing away at the branch they are sitting
          on.
          • chris-joe Re: Relocation 26.02.06, 17:04
            The problem with the Quebecois, as I see it, is this mental/historic complex
            shared with some other perpetually "hurt" nations (yes, Poland comes to mind
            quite often- call it a "waldo syndrome")- they dislike English Canada for all
            true and imaginary injustices past, present and future (in spite of two fully
            democratic sovereignty referenda and another one in sight, most likely), they
            dislike France for "having abandoned" them ...nearly 300 yrs ago.

            In that respect I find the Quebecois the only European (in the "tribal" sense)
            nation in North America.
            Up here you can't take a piss without taking a political stand!
            Past is the tense of the local mind.
            • nasza_maggie Re: Relocation 27.02.06, 11:01
              Chris when will you visit Poland?smile
              • chris-joe Re: Relocation 27.02.06, 11:20
                Been there last Sept. Next holidays will be touring S.America again, it seems;
                so Poland's turn will come in a couple of yrs.
                Why?
                • nasza_maggie Re: Relocation 27.02.06, 11:51
                  just askingsmile no reason really.
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