I’m at a bit of a loss for what to write this week but I think it might be a nice opportunity to revisit a memory I haven’t given much thought to lately... My memory of how Edmonton appeared when I first visited the city and when I moved here.
My father got a job here in Edmonton in 2003 and he came to live here while my sister, mother and I remained in Manitoba where we had been living for ten years. We all drove to come see him and I distinctly remember disliking Edmonton when I got my first impression of it. Maybe I sub-consciously saw that my parents were eventually going to move the family here despite the protests of my sister and I or maybe it was the fact that my dad was living in one of the shadier parts of town (can’t recall the name now) and I allowed the slummy nature of his apartment and the dirtiness of his street to influence me a little too much.
Well the move came quickly after that and I tried to keep an open mind as we moved to Alberta (St. Albert to be exact). It’s interesting that after St. Albert became my home, Edmonton became a place I went to for fun, relaxation and an escape. School, work and family were all in St. Albert which meant all my stresses remained there while I was able to acquaint myself with Edmonton and realize that it may not all be perfect and modern but it certainly has its charms.
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That's funny, becuase I live in St. Albert too. But I don't really hang out at all in St. Albert (except maybe at Starbucks or something) Edmonton is where I got for fun. Although there are about 3 spots in Edmonton I go to regularly, other than that I don't go around very much. But I would definetly rather live in St. Albert than Edmonton. It's so clean, with lots of parks and trees..very family friendly. Maybe I'm just an old soul...
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that I think the opposite for the satellite cities of Edmonton because I grew up there. My friends and I love driving around the smaller towns around the city because there are so many fun things to do that are not in Edmonton (like Leduc's super-cheap movie theatre). Going to another town is a real mental escape from the city we think of as work and school… even though we are not physically that far away at all. Being in St. Albert is certainly much closer to my house geographically than being on campus, but it feels like a whole different area to the mind.
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