Recently I was visited by a very good friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. 'Nothing in particular,' she replied. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.
How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter's sleep. I feel the delightful, velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me.
-Helen Keller, Three Days to See (1933)
NB: Helen Keller was deaf-blind.
Me: Are you married?
Anonymous Canadian diplomat: No. Are you?
Me: No. I'm only 20!
Anonymous Canadian diplomat: Yeah, some people -
Me: Yeah, I guess you're right.
And that's how you can tell if a Canadian has assimilated into a foreign culture.
---
Several people have asked me about this post so I decided I should probably provide a short explanation. It's simple (no offence to those who asked me about it): the U.S. is a much more religious country than Canada; marriage rates are 50% higher here and the average age at first marriage is much lower (26 here and 29 in Canada). So the bottom line is, it would be pretty weird to be 20 and married in Canada, but not so much in th U.S.
No comments:
Post a Comment