The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2001, Page 33

Vol. 56 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
159
A Visit to Canada
by Kristin Adalsteinsdottir
Over a cup of coffee, Haraldur
Bessason was telling me a story, one of his
incredible stories, but not the story I am
about to tell. This time I interrupted
Haraldur and said, “I am going to Canada
for a year. Where shall I stay?” His answer
was immediate: “You should go to
Victoria; they have a good university,
Butchard Gardens, and constant mild
weather.”
To make a long story short, my hus-
band Hallgrimur and I rented our house in
Iceland and bought tickets for Canada.
After a very long flight, the prairies
appeared below us. I thought about the
Icelanders who had fled the difficulties and
hardship of their lives in Iceland, just over
a hundred years ago, to start a new and bet-
ter life in Canada. As a child, the stories
about the immigrants were, for me, almost
like fairy tales. In Logberg Heimskringla,
which my father bought, I saw pictures of
beautifully dressed people in America,
astonishing surroundings, and sheep with
strange tails. However, thoughts about the
immigrants disappeared when the fabulous
wonders of the Rockies came into view. I
had certainly entered a new world this
autumn day in late September 2000.
The first days in a new country, one’s
senses, are definitely open for new experi-
ences and almost everything is of interest.
We were first struck by the beauty of
Victoria: the gardens, the Arbutus tree, the
beaches, and the Olympic Mountains.
However, our eyes gradually opened wider
to encompass not only the land, but the
people. We had been in Victoria for only
two days when our neighbours took us for
a ride around the city to show us its quali-
ties and beauty. The following weekend
they showed us around, beautiful har-
bours, vineyards, and coffee houses. Later
they invited us to a Thanksgiving dinner
with their family. Throughout the year, we
met many people; they all seemed to have
in common these incredible manners, man-
ners that seemed to be rooted in considera-
tion rather than tradition.
Why do Canadians seem to be so conT
siderate and kind? Perhaps the answer can
be traced to life in a multi-cultural society,
in which people must learn to accommo-
date themselves to many different ways of
doing things and thinking. Or, as a friend
of mine said, “The pioneers had to be con-
siderate of each other—otherwise they
would never have survived—and this may
have worked into a cultural characteristic.”
The Canadians are not only friendly;
they also wish for reciprocal behaviour. On
my third day in Victoria I was out, walking
quickly, bending forward against the wind,
as often is necessary in Iceland. Of course
there was no wind to fight against in
Victoria, but I had not yet changed my way
of walking. A young man approached me,
and said, “Smile!” I was shocked. Why was
he asking me to smile? What did I look
like? What did 1 do wrong? This incident
made me think. I began to realize that peo-
ple I met in the neighborhood smiled at
each other, and often commented on differ-
ent subjects. As the days went, this simple,
uncomplicated habit did mean more to us
than might be comprehended at first
glance. We felt that this kind and friendly
behaviour was a welcome.
A large announcement at the
University of Victoria caught my eye in
November. The Beck Trust announced
“Lectures on the Icelandic Heritage,” pre-
sented by Nelson Gerrard, for three
evenings. Could this be true? Out of
curiosity, we decided to attend the meet-
ings. We expected five to ten people to
attend, which demonstrated our ignorance
about the strong Western-Icelandic com-