I’m not a CFA, or an “Ontarioan”. I grew up in rural Nova Scotia. Not farm rural, but beautiful simple countryside by the shore rural. In my hometown there’s more churches and Tim Hortons than the actual population should allow for. There are more white hair folks than young adults. If I see someone my age, it is like sort of seeing an albino deer. A traffic jam consist of two trucks stopped side by side, windows down and conversation flowing. Sobeys parking lot you hear “Hey Jim! How’s she going?”. People smile at each other (sometimes they don’t even know each other *gasp*). The roads suck, pot holes are big enough to lose an echo in. The shitty roads though aren’t exclusive to my home town; you can go out and see them anywhere!
The truth of the matter is… it’s my home. I packed up my bags, my life and moved to you. People talked you up. People were so excited for this simple country girl. Finally! She’s moving on up in the world. She’s going to see you, you dear Halifax. I thought finally, I will be stretching these little wings of mine and will be on my way to a “real job”. This will surely show everyone how independent I am. The city will harden my soft ways up. I will get over my recent heartbreak, find me a dashing city boy. I wont be a simple country girl anymore, I’ll blend right into the city. I will live happily cityly ever after. Apparently not so.
Which leads me to the point of all this- I don’t like you Halifax. You might say “Pack up your lil bitch wagon and move the hell home then!” I wish I could. I’m here to further my education so I can get a job. So I’m stuck here with you Halifax till I finish my education. Then I hope, pray that I can go home and get a job. Be with my family, my dog and my cats. I’m just not seeing what is so wonderful about you Halifax. Sure you got the pretty waterfront, but I be afraid to stick my pinky toe in that water. Sure there are nice folks… Just don’t look at them. Sure you have lovely people with the most beautiful dogs but don’t bother trying to talk to or pet their dogs. Sure you have another form of transit, and I am sure it’s errrum lovely. Simply put I miss home. —Nee Nee
This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2012.
This is my life story… but again I didnt write it…
“I thought finally, I will be stretching these little wings of mine and will be on my way to a “real job”. This will surely show everyone how independent I am. The city will harden my soft ways up. I will get over my recent heartbreak, find me a dashing city boy. I wont be a simple country girl anymore, I’ll blend right into the city. I will live happily cityly ever after.”
This kind of thing doesn’t happen overnight. You can’t have it both ways. Of course you miss home, and of course Halifax isn’t the best place on earth. You have to adjust, and it’s not likely that you’re going to find a dream job in your little home town, thus the abundance of old retired white haired people. What you’re doing right now is called getting out of your comfort zone and it is necessary in order to become a more complete person. You don’t want to sit around your little home town for the rest of your life, trust me.
Try to get out and meet people, and be brave and stay positive, keep smiling at people! You will make friends, especially if you get a job in addition to going to school. Halifax is pretty friendly compared to a lot of other cities, but it’s not a small town where everyone knows each other. Once you make some friends they’ll be able to show you all the cool stuff our city has to offer. It’s not very far from beaches and countryside and lakes that you can swim in and hiking trails and country roads that you can go for a drive on. It’s perfectly normal to miss home but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself where you’re at. If you run home with your tail between your legs you will eventually regret it.
Well dear, FUCK OFF then!
Stop crying and put on your big girl panties. Life is difficult at times, but that doesnt mean we get to slag others as a result of our unhappiness.
Dumb cunt.
Well, sorry it (we) didn’t live up to your expectations ….. my story is the complete opposite. I moved to Halifax in the 80’s and have moved from here a couple of times but have always been drawn back ….. it is like a magnet!
I have no family on this coast but have made a home and met amazing people who became my closest friends. There isn’t a day that goes by when someone doesn’t call out my name or smile and nod when I walk down the street or enter a business. It’s frikken awesome……. my friends comment that I have an amazing memory as I can always remember a persons name even after only meeting them briefly one time….. so when I hear someone say “Hi, Koda, how are you?” my response addresses them by name as well.
For me, Halifax is home-sweet-fucking-home!
The truth is OP, You’re a country girl. You’re not a city girl. What you’re describing is urban living. And it’s not for everyone. Halifax is a good city. But it’s a city.
honeymoon’s over…
I used to be proud of the fact I was living in the most expensive part of the province…
(south end hali… right outta school n all)
now, older and wiser, I see the error of my ways…
and the only person I could even BE impressing was myself.
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.
The thing about homesickness is that it tends to colour your view of where you are. In comparison to your memories, nothing ever measures up. I bet if you looked long enough, you’ll find someone who pines for Sudbury. Or Newark. Maybe even Detroit.
In some cases, it passes. You find new friends, people, things to do. I know one gal from the Middle of Nowhere, Shelburne County who now happily lives in downtown Toronto. In other cases, the only solution is to move back–even if it means not doing something else you wanted to.
Give it time, figure it out, and you’ll make the right choice. As the bard said, “This above all: to thine own self be true”.
I came to the Halifax area from a little village on the south shore. I got laid off had no choice but to move into the city for work. Had no regrets. Wifey too.
i find halifax small and perhaps it’s because i hang around the same area, but everyone says hello or smiles. as to the dog situation, i tend to be quite bold but always ask before petting. come to a summit, it will be like you never left home
Someone took “sex in the city” a little too literally.
my dear girl, as one from the sticks, i also feel for you. i know what it is like, trying to fit in, in the big city. but yes, halifax does suck, big fucking time. i used to live in many small towns throughout n.s. , and canada. most of the larger cities are cold places, and the people are worse yet. don’t fret, finish your schooling, and then, if you want, move back home, where you enjoy being. fuck what anyone else says or thinks. all the best of luck to you, and make your dreams happen, nee nee.
*errrum lovely* what a great way to describe something, like saying “that tasted interesting”
Hey GP, why don’t you and LS get together and rid the world of proper grammar and capital letters.
I thought I would never say this (in a non political context), but way to go HARPER! Education is the key to the future. However, the government is cutting that too.
tHaNk yoU 4 yore inSITE.
why don’t you just go get fucked shitd? you have to be the second biggest asshole here, meaty the first. you wanna start talking fucking grammer, then boy oh boy, you have never given or gotten a text then. wake the fuck up aasshole, who fucking cares anymore? and as to gp, i also lived in bridgewater and yarmouth, and found most people there, a helluva alot better than some of the fucking monkeys living in this festering cesspit of halifux.
but to each their own poison, nee nee, you aren’t home now, and truly, i feel sorry for you. don’t let some of these fuckheads get you down, do your thing, and get the fuck bak home, you’ll be a lot happier.
Ah yes pickups stopped side-by-side in the middle of main st. with the drivers conversing, the big potholes, a Timmies for every ten people, white-haired people, albino deer. Sounds like you’re from my neck of the woods OP. Why would you want to leave all this?
You must be Thelma’s daughter, I think her name is Nee Nee. Not Thelma that works at the post office but, you know, Thelma at the seafood counter at the Save Easy.
thelma logan, from bridgewater?
You mean “sent” a text, right LS? I’m sure with time I can become the biggest asshole here. I’m just taking my time honing my skills. Sometimes I feel like I’m spinning my wheels, but your validation gives me the strength to push forward.
Takes one to know one LS, ya old fart