 |
|
Saturday, September 09, 2006Throughout my first fortnight in Edmonton, Alberta I have noticed many different cultural changes in the way things are conducted in the West. The way the streetscapes are set up, pricing, and many aspects that one gets used to in their everyday lifestyle is far different when comparing "down East" as Albertans refer to Ontario & Quebec to Alberta. Following are a collection of these differences I have collected mentally whilst living out here. - a very high customer service ethic in stores and other outlets - cashiers, waiters and store representatives really take the time to give you the personalized undivided attention that one deserves (detailed stories to be posted)  - interior tree lined boulevards that shelter businesses, my college and residential districts off from main throughfare streets by having the second street alongside the buildings and houses, between them and the main road, a brilliant idea that is both eye appealing and much safer - crosswalks are often massive snaking contraptions, and the walk symbol that stays on very briefly, as one woman put it to my Mom and myself -------- "That damn hand goes up as soon as you get halfway across the road, what the hell is that, I will be calling the City, won't be the first time they've heard from me" -------- - The old fashioned apple juice can has perished from grocery stores, to be replaced exclusively with plastic paper Tetra cartons  - Cheez Whiz cheese spread has a $7.00 CAD price tag (Ontario- $3.99)! - streets are almost always numbered with only a handful of exceptions which even then also have numbers - the city is less than half the size of Montreal & Toronto yet feels the strange requirement for five, even six digit adresss numbers, for example my college's address: 11762 106th St - afternoon matineee movies cost only $3.50 and evening movies $7.00, incredibly lower than Onario's $9.00 matinees and $13.50 evening shows  - Edmonton Transit System, the city's outstanding public transit organization have mini brochures for each route available from racks on all buses, these mighty handy booklets outline all the timing, stops and locations of the route. They also have a fold-out map where you can follow along as the bus continues along the route to ensure you are getting where you want to  Myself holding one of the ETS route brochures The route map showing how to get from downtown to the West End Teague Neal blogged on 1:00 AM
0 comments
|
Teague Neal |