Officially a Newfie (Honourary)

So Julie and I just got back from being screeched in...

Shooting the screech!

Official honourary Newfies! wOOt!

...but what’s more interesting, is that we just got back from a very deep conversation with a local named Amy. After our screeching in, Julie and I ordered a locally-brewed beer and sat at a booth to talk about the experience (and also to simply enjoy our first beer as official honourary Newfoundlanders). We were just discussing how shocked we were that Newfoundlanders weren’t as friendly as we’d been lead to believe, but that perhaps it was just because we were in a large city, when out of the blue, a blonde sat beside us. Not even introducing herself, she asked Julie where she bought her CBC bag (as Julie says…CBC brings Canadians together!). This simple question launched us into a very interesting conversation about cultural pride.

Being a journalist for the CBC, Amy asked very pointed questions. Julie and I were both under the impression that she was assessing us for a potential interview on the St. John’s CBC radio station. She asked normal questions such as “where are you guys from? What are you doing here? Is this your first time in St. John’s?” but she also asked other less common questions that strangers would not normally ask, such as “do you guys have boyfriends? What do they think about your trip? And what about your parents? Where are they from? What do they do?” etc.  This could just have been the journalist in Amy creeping out…

One thing Amy was very disappointed to discover was that we weren’t driving across Newfoundland, which lead to a discussion about pride, and the ability to understand a true cultural experience. Sure, Julie and I had both been screeched in, albeit, we kissed a puffin’s butt instead of kissing a cod (a disappointing discovery I must admit), but in no way could we understand the true Newfoundlander’s experience of life in this province – a province, we discovered, that was the be all and end all for Newfoundlanders such as Amy. “When I say I’m from Newfoundland,” Amy stated, “I mean I’m from Newfoundland. Not Canada.” This statement was a huge shock to me, leading me to realize how ignorant of my own country I really am. I never realized Newfoundlanders, or at least some of them, have such a strong pride in their province that they are akin to Quebecers in a lot of ways. As Amy explianed, she has visited many provinces, and lived in many places, but where she felt most at home was Quebec, because there, she could identify with others who had a deep pride in their culture, and a desire to help others understand it.

Black Horse, our first beer as Newfies!

Julie and I were intrigued by it. Only the day before we’d been discussing whether or not we felt ashamed of being Ontarians. I had never thought of being ashamed of being an Ontarian before, but it triggered some interesting thoughts on the subject. For some reason, I cannot point to any one thing in which Ontarians, as a province, take pride. Neither Julie nor I could think of a single thing that a) identified us solely as Ontarians, or b) made Ontarians proud to be from Ontario. Yet, people in places like Quebec and Newfoundland have such pride in their provinces that they make a point of announcing they are from their respective provinces. It’s really intriguing, and also very inspiring. If only our province felt the same way. 

Part of the purpose of this whole trip is to understand my own country before I embark on the exploration of others. Of course, it’s about self-discovery and witnessing the beauty and diversity of Canada as well, but one of the main things I wanted to get out of this trip was a better “understanding” of my own country as a whole, but also in different parts. I put the word understanding in quotations because the reality is, we can never truly understand someone or their situation due to the fact that everyone is different and often, as is the case with Julie and I, we have never experienced the same situations as those such as the Newfoundlanders living in the rural areas. As I mentioned to Amy, who was really passionate about making sure Julie and I understood that St. John’s was an anomaly to the rest of the province, even if Julie and I were to see what most people would call the poverty that exists in rural areas, we would have a better idea of what it looks like, but we would still never be able to understand it completely. As Julie mentioned, we would never know the need of having to go out and catch fish or hunt in order to be able to eat that evening, unless we were in a similar situation.

But one hope is that, by meeting people like Amy, Julie and I will at least be made aware of the situation, or brought closer to it in some way to it. Amy told us she'd try to find a way for us to visit a rural community tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, we'll be able to go. It would be great to see more than just St. John's. But if not, we will leave the province knowing that we will be back in the future, to experience everything Newfoundland has to offer.

-Nicole