Which is best province among the four?

nursemich · Apr 23, 2009

Im off to Ontario. I trust your point of view. Ive never been there so it will be much harder for a foreign like me. :uhoh21:

clay07 · Apr 23, 2009

I can understand your point of view janfrn:

I have been to a lot of major cities in the States and ended up choosing to go to Oklahoma (yes where the cowboys are) to study and live. Go figure. I love peace and quite. I love the strength a small town brings to the pot of stew, although its strength and existence is usually underminded/overlooked. That's why I chose London, I never heard of it before I applied to be assessed by CNO last year, then again I didn't know much about Canada, period. When I did, I started making plans around it (London, i.e.). I think it's about 2 & a 1/2 hrs outside of Toronto?! Toronto wasn't even an option for me. I smiled when you mentioned the traffic on the highway, I actually experienced that.

I love fresh air, country air...crisp and void of the hovering cloud of dust and pollution usually present in major cities. Maybe London isn't as "country"...I guess in time I'll find my way around.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 23, 2009

Clay07, London is a very nice small city. My son was a patient at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario for five months 20 years ago and that was my introduction to London. (One of my dearest friends now was one of my son's nurses then. She lives out here near us now.) London has much more of a small-town atmosphere than many other Ontario cities and it's close to cottage country so there's lots of fresh air! The Big Smoke and Detroit are far enough away that you can almost ignore them.

I actually was born in Ontario, in my dad's hometown. We lived there and in a couple of other Ontario communities when I was a kid. Most of my memories are pretty vague, pretty much of walking to the corner store in the summer with a wagon full of bottles to trade for penny candy. But I still won't be moving back there anytime soon.

Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Apr 23, 2009

Ok, I am from Prince Albert Saskatchewan, but now a RN student in the USA (graduate in 10 days!, he haww!) Not all of Saskatchewan is TREELESS ,lol Northern Saskatchewan has many trees and lakes. And yes it can get very cold and of course there is snow! People are super freindly,especially in the small communities! You wil lbe driving along, and people will wave to you, even though you have no clue who they are,lol! Same goes for smal town in Manitoba! Some of the friendliest people you wil meet are in small towns! I spent 15 yrs in the Canadian Armed Forces,lived in Victoria BC (very Nice), lots of tiem in halifax, was ok! East coasters are great people as well! Really everyone is ok,lol but it comes down to the lifestyle you want to live! Big cities probably have more to offer, but its rush rush. You goto a small rural community, it is much more relaxed, but maybe you only have a few small stores and a coffee shop, it could be very boring if you are not used to that. I have been to Manilla 3 times with the navy, very beautiful city. I myself would try to stay to some of the smaller cities in any province, I hate big cities, yet I live close to Washington DC,lol Saskatoon Sask. is very nice and th eprovince of Sask seems to be doing very well at this time. Ontario has the Maple leaf hockey team, and they are terrible do you really want to live in a province with such a terrible hockey team! No, you don't!! Sask does not have a hockey team, so you can pick a great team like Calgary to cheer for, it is a win win situation! Go flames go!

clay07 · Apr 23, 2009

Clay07, London is a very nice small city. My son was a patient at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario for five months 20 years ago and that was my introduction to London. (One of my dearest friends now was one of my son's nurses then. She lives out here near us now.) London has much more of a small-town atmosphere than many other Ontario cities and it's close to cottage country so there's lots of fresh air! The Big Smoke and Detroit are far enough away that you can almost ignore them.
I actually was born in Ontario, in my dad's hometown. We lived there and in a couple of other Ontario communities when I was a kid. Most of my memories are pretty vague, pretty much of walking to the corner store in the summer with a wagon full of bottles to trade for penny candy. But I still won't be moving back there anytime soon.

"...walking to the corner store with a wagon full of bottles to trade for penny candy."

Was about to pull my legs up and read some more:hotchocolate:. Sounds like good read. Oh well...maybe later you'll sit back and write some more.

But London sounds good, at least you made it sound that way. I barely had a chance to enjoy it as I only spent about 2 hours there for the interview at LHSC. I liked it. Intimate setting.

Look forward to reading more (if you care to share).:teapot:

Thanks for sharing.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 24, 2009

It's only just occurred to me that all of the memories I have of those childhood days in Ontario are all from summers! The 16 months that we lived in my dad's home town seem to have been all summer. I was 7 when we moved back there and for awhile we lived in a third-floor walk-up over a shoe store on the main street. My dad delivered milk for the local dairy, which was only a couple of blocks' walk, down by the boat launch. Mom used to take us down to the dock to swim. (She didn't learn to swim herself until a few years after that.) We'd walk out into the water next to the dock until we got up to our armpits and then we'd paddle around. One time I was sitting on the dock and saw my brother's hair drifting along just in front of me. Without even thinking about it I realized he was going to drown so I reached down and grabbed the fronds as he floated by. I pulled him up onto the dock next to me and saved his life (I think he owes me.) The next summer when I was 8, I convinced our young teenage babysitter that we should go down to the dock for a quick swim; we were caught in a really severe thunderstorm. My mother had come home while we were gone and was absolutely frantic! I was in deep sheep dip for a long time after that escapade.

The dairy sold the very best ice cream I have ever eaten. Sometimes on a Sunday we'd go down there and get cones for a treat. There was one of those old-fashioned pop machines where the bottles were kept cold in a chest full of cold water. To get the bottles out you lifted the neck into a track then dragged it through the slot all the way to a little shelf that had a leaf-spring sort of mechanism. When you put the money in, the spring would release and you could pull the bottle up and out. I loved to buy pop, although I never enjoyed drinking it (and still don't).

While we lived over the shoe store Mom did all our laundry at the laundromat. There were 5 of us altogether and there was always quite a lot. My dad borrowed my uncle's Volkswagen Beetle to transport the clothes and my mom would wait until he got back then walk over and do the washing. One rainy summer day we all went to the laundromat as a rare treat. Dad and the laundry went in the car and the rest of us walked. While we were playing tag around the folding tables, I started to get a headache. It quickly became almost unbearable. Dad took me out and made me crawl into the backseat of the Beetle. I must have slept for several hours because I can't remember going home. I do remember waking up the next day covered in chicken pox and being itchier than I knew was possible.

There are so many memories that are coming back to me now. Not all of them are good, and some are of bad things I did. My grandmother's house, a turn-of-the-century two-story duplex with a lovely veranda, is long gone, and so is she. The house was quite interesting. There was no sink in the bathroom but there was an old cast iron claw tub. She had a porch off the back of the house that she called the back kitchen - it was really more of a storage room where her wringer washer lived. The largest of the bedrooms was upstairs at the back of the house and you had to go down two steps to get into it. The ceiling was quite low and sloped on both sides. There was a very old garage full of mysterious things that we never got to see, and the basement had a dirt floor. The neighbours were two middle aged sisters who didn't work, always smelled like rye and frequently entertained gentlemen callers... See, my memory is just cranking them out now!

Sorry to all those posters who have found this incredibly self-indulgent and boring. We'll now return you to your regularly-scheduled thread...

nursemich · Apr 24, 2009

Interesting. It seems like im reading a book. You can be a writer. I admire your writing skills.:)

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 25, 2009

So. Not bored? Thank you for the compliment. I've been published a few times, mostly op ed pieces, and I wish I had more time so I could really write something with meaning. I guess I could give up AN...

clay07 · Apr 25, 2009

Loved it!!!!!!!!!!! I actually felt as though I was there. Good read. I don't think you strayed at all janfrn, you gave heart to the place so many of us are migrating to. Alot of us are leaving our comfort zone and travelling across the world to be amongst strangers; to somehow find our way and finally settle down. Your story and stories like yours bring a sense of warmth to this question mark and uncertainty that we are facing. Did I say- loved it???!!!!!!!!!!

Well I did. Thanks again. Sorry I didn't get my hot chocolate, but once I started reading I couldn't stop.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 25, 2009

I have a million stories I could tell, because I've had a lot of interesting experiences in my life. But I'd have to start my own website. Maybe I need a blog... hmmm....... Stay tuned.

linzz · Apr 25, 2009

Hey janfrn, I just read your post about your childhood memories and it was pretty interesting, a good read. I am also in agreement about Ontario, this province is going downhill, I will continue to press my spouse to go out in the Western direction, but not as far as BC. I had most of my childhood in Manitoba so I do remember the very cold winters.

Anyways, great post.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 25, 2009

Thanks linzz. Now that I'm on the memory train I've decided I don't wanna get off. I'm going to try to blog a new memory every day and see how long I can keep it up. My little sister will be fascinated since she's 14 years younger than me and will be learning all sorts of things about me she didn't know. Maybe I'll learn a few things about me I didn't know too.