I will confess off the bat to having committed what I have discovered to a big faux pax here: namely, thinking that a move to Canada would be essentially like moving back to the United States. No, no, no! I have discovered a world of unexpected difference, and of much pride in having a distinct identity to that of the flashy neighbors down South.
An American friend of mine, also recently moved to Canada, put it like this: “Canada is like a weird, parallel universe version of the States”. She started out with the strange pronunciations of street names: “Bloor” doesn’t rhyme with “floor”, Spadina does rhyme with…..
But there we have it – if I could sum up the difference, it is of a world not seen through the lens of irony or things to get worked up over. And I get struck daily by this lack, which seems a remarkably innocent and unguarded way for adults to live together. So if a street name’s pronunciation rhymes with a female reproductive body part, well, that’s just an interesting coincidence. I have to think back to a joke I heard growing up that never struck me as funny until now: “How do you get Canadians to leave the swimming pool?” “You say: ‘Everyone get out of the swimming pool.'”
I have to admit, to my American ears, I keep waiting to hear some layer of irony or edge to that punch line, not to mention to people’s welcome of me, my husband and our son here. I stay in suspense…
We are spending my sabbatical year from the Concertgebouw Orchestra in the ultimate “parallel universe” city of Toronto, known even here as “Canada’s New York City”. It is, after New York City, the most culturally mixed place that I have ever encountered. It seemed the perfect place to continue to pick the thread up again to my search for the world’s folk music as being played and listened to today. My plan is to ask people I encounter from different cultural backgrounds to share some sample of music from their homeland. I hope you will enjoy following these encounters with me, hearing what “home” sounds like to people around the world.