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Post by lieden on Sept 6, 2010 5:09:41 GMT 1
Hey, it's never too late for that, is it?
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Post by jklinders on Sept 6, 2010 13:31:19 GMT 1
Not really. Just a heck of a lot harder. Besides there are politics to consider too. I could speak french fluently but because I am not a natural born french speaker the government jobs would just be out of reach. It's a weird Canadian thing. You probably have to live here to get it. When you consider my accent when I do try is horrible...I just never could wrap my mind around it.
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Post by lieden on Sept 6, 2010 14:06:18 GMT 1
Hmm. That's weird. So there is a discrimination against non-native French speakers in Canada? That's weird. I have distant relatives and acquaintances who lived for many years in Vancouver, and they never mentioned that. Maybe that's less of an issue on the west coast?
I always found accents more fun than a barrel full of ferrets! I always try to pick up any new ones (in English) I come across. On the whole, if I spend about an hour talking to someone, I gradually shift to what they talk like. (That is, until I'm tired, which is when I switch back to my normal accent. People have found this confusing at times. :p)
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Post by jklinders on Sept 6, 2010 14:45:07 GMT 1
Well there is and there isn't. Ask your relatives what they think of Quebec separation. You'll probably get an earful. Short version is Canada was originally colonized by the french and the english conquered them. Most of the french population was in Quebec with smaller groups scattered across the country. In the 1960s Charles De Gualle ( the same one who screwed up the defense of France in WWII) demonstrated his friendship to Canada by giving a speech in Montreal "Viva la Quebec liberty". This filled their heads with the notion that the rest of Canada owes them a better deal.
This is what has happened since. We have language laws in Quebec that prohibit english on the signs being more prominent than french, not just government signs but all signs. For the last 40 years with a slight decline recently due to it's unpopularity Quebec has been threatening to separate, using the political capital it gained to get special perks and extra federal funding. Mind you they don't actually want to separate, they just like threaten it to get their way. And every time it looks like another province will get something that Quebec doesn't the whining is nearly unbearable.
Language politics are pretty touchy here. Dad was in the military and was exposed to it because even there it rules. Things are getting better but not nearly fast enough for me. It is the only real constitutional problem we have in an otherwise very stable happy prosperous country.
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Post by Mr. Glow on Sept 7, 2010 9:16:24 GMT 1
This looks like it belongs in some sort of steampunk story or something.
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Post by lieden on Sept 7, 2010 9:34:22 GMT 1
Now you have me looking up wikipedia on the history of Canada and the October crisis. :}
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Post by jklinders on Sept 7, 2010 14:48:49 GMT 1
Sorry for afflicting you with that. It's mostly pretty dry stuff.
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Post by lieden on Sept 7, 2010 16:10:42 GMT 1
No apologies! I actually find this kind of historical information very inspiring. (Also, Halifax is COLD. Eek. And I thought Edinburgh was too much...)
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Post by jklinders on Sept 7, 2010 18:40:54 GMT 1
If you are talking today's temperatures it is a little chillier than normal at the moment. See my recent posts under pet hates topic for what it was like last week. I probably should close my windows but it took so damn long for my apartment to cool down after the suffering I endured last week that I can't bring myself to do it yet. Compared to southern Greece I am quite positive it is positively arctic around here at any time of year.
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Post by lieden on Sept 7, 2010 18:51:47 GMT 1
I said that based on the year-round averages. :)
Greece has a very varied climate. In the north it's more or less Alpine, and temperatures of -20˚C are not unheard of in winter. But Athens is quite warm. Its summers are quite unbearable, to be honest, but after spending a year in Scotland my opinion of Athenian climate improved vastly. :p
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Post by jklinders on Sept 7, 2010 19:04:05 GMT 1
ha ha, Scotland would be a great place to visit...briefly...in summer. I'll keep my moderate Haligonian climate thank you.
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