Up, Down, Over, Out....

The Saint John River Outside my house. In the winter if freezes but water continues to move under the ice, pushing the ice up on top of itself and causing ice dams in the river (and eventually flooding upriver). 

In my last post I talked about the similarities that exist between Florenceville (Rural) and Halifax (City). I am the type of person who can adapt and survive (and sometimes even thrive) nearly anywhere so seeing the similarities is pretty normal for me. As one who can adapt anywhere I try my best to quickly pick up on local cultural norms and adapt to them as well as I can (A good ministry trick that I learned through Dr. Peed and my Cultural Anthropology class).


Where do you live?

One of the first things one must do to 'fit in' is adjust dialect and so I set out to learn and the biggest adjustment (that didn't take all that long to adapt to) was directions. Nobody cares (or knows) what your house number is. What matters is how many telephone poles after the sharp turn or how many driveways before the bridge you are. What will work even better is if you know who lived in your house before you, people will immediately know where you live then (and it's even better if you were the only one to build a house on  your road in the past 10 years... like me).



You are somebody's child.... 

I grew up in the country and something I did NOT miss was introducing myself and having the question come back as "And whose son are  you now?"
Well... I am back in the country and I have heard that question multiple times, but not directed at me (Since people know I'm not from here). But when I am talking about someone (A new kid at youth group, a funny thing someone said, etc.) the first question I will get is "Now, whose child is that"

I DON'T KNOW! I didn't ask for a complete family history, physical, and report card the first time I met them. But, if I am talking to the right person it won't matter if I don't know the answer- they will fill me in (even through they are just spewing names of people I have never met or never will meet).




Directions... 

Finally, the easiest dialect change to make is geographical because it is all based on where you are and where you are heading in relation to the river.

Heading north? You're going "Up River"
South? "Down River"
Pretty much anything East is "Out Back"* 
Heading to Fredericton? Nope... you are "Goin' to the city"
Thinking about going to Maine to do some shopping? You are "Goin' over 'cross"

*"Out Back" is also used to refer to any place that is obscure and not well known. Example: "Coldstream is out back 'a Hartland"  or  "Ashland is out back 'a Coldstream"


I love it. Reminds me of home, reminds me of dad. I feel comfortable and I am sure that as we continue to work in the community we will discover more local dialect that makes this community and area so unique. (I am sure we will learn lots as Valerie works closely with farmers and tractor salesmen.... yes, tractor salesmen are a thing).

Where?

My last blog update was titled 'A place I never thought I'd be' and it was written a year ago- I feel like I could use that title all over again today. So where am I?

Florenceville-Bristol, NB.

Never heard of it? Don't worry- most people haven't.

*Note: I did not take this photo- I found it and don't know who did.

It is much different than my previous living accommodations of Halifax, Nova Scotia and it most certainly is a place I never thought that I would be. When I first started telling friend and family where I was moving most were very underwhelmed and after the initial "Where?" they began asking about what was there and how different it would be from living in the 'big city.'

Although there are differences there are also many similarities:

1. There are two bridges
Halifax has two bridges- the Old Bridge and the New Bridge (Or the MacDonald and the McKay for those of you not from the city). When talking to people about going from Dartmouth to Halifax or vice versa you are always asked which bridge you use and you plan your route depending on the bridge and the time of day.
Florenceville-Bristol also has two bridges. I have been calling them the Old Bridge and the New Bridge- but locals call them the Little Bridge and the Big Bridge. The little bridge is an old covered bridge that JUST BARELY allows two cars to squeeze by going 20km/h (Seriously, if you drive a truck you avoid the little bridge). The Big Bridge is part of the old TransCanada Highway and is larger, higher, stronger, and built for the load of trucks.

I used to hold my breath as a kid when we would cross the bridges in Halifax- when I moved to Florenceville-Bristol I would hold my breath when I passed another car on the little bridge. Then I would check my side mirror-- just to make sure it was still there.


2. The Airport is on the outskirts of the 'Municipality' 
That's right... Florenceville-Bristol has an airport.
What you may not know about Flroenceville-Bristol is that it is the home of the McCain Food's empire. (seriously, go to your freezer, pick up a McCain package and look at the address on it....)
Being a global business there is an airport to transport executives, farmers, and other employees to major cities for business adventures. I promise- it was quite a shock on my first day here when I saw an airplane going down into what looked like another potato field up on the hill.... turns out it was supposed to go there.


3. Avoid Main Street(s) at 5:00pm.
Seriously. In Halifax I would try leaving work early, staying late, or find side streets as much as possible. In Florenceville-Bristol there aren't any side streets so I just avoid the 'Rush Hour' time. Driving through 'town' when all the businesses (especially McCain employees) are trying to get out of their driveway's onto the main street is CRAZY. The two biggest differences between Florenceville-Bristol and Halifax is that in F-B rush hour really only lasts 15 minutes and there is no side streets to avoid the rush.

*Another similarity that is connected to this one is that many people commute from outlying communities to work in the 'city centre' 

OH! And don't be fooled at ANY point you can get held up in a traffic jam. In Halifax all it would take is one car accident. In Florenceville-Bristol all it takes is a tractor moving from one potato field to another.


4. Finally, it takes 20 minutes to get anywhere. 
In Halifax my wife and I had a joke that we lived in the perfect spot because every time somebody outside the city asked how far it took us to get from home to _________ (pick a place) we would always answer '20 minutes'.... always.
Since moving to Florenceville we discovered that it takes 20 minutes (well... 15) to get anywhere. The difference is that in Halifax you passed 6 coffee shops before you got to the one you wanted. Here you get one option and 5 minutes of your 15 minute drive is waiting to get to the drivethru speaker, or talking to someone you know that you ran into in the parking lot.

---
Yep, they may be very different geographically and population-wise (1,600 vs. 375,000)but Florenceville-Bristol and Halifax have a lot more in common than you may think.
Don't believe me? Come visit- I'll give you the tour, but warning: It takes a while... since everything is 15 minutes away.