Dear residents of Halifax: Have you ever thought about how lucky you are? I mean seriously, you have a wonderful city and are the nicest, friendliest people in the whole world and you sometimes overlook it. I just moved here and I am still waiting for someone to come and slap me out of this nice, mellow dream world.
Coming from Ottawa, where wearing a hoodie in the middle of January is never possible, people never say "please" or "thanks" and getting flipped off or sworn at is a daily occurrence, this place is a dream world. People here are actually nice. Like legitimately nice. They actually care about your day or about helping you out (my neighbour ploughed the end of my driveway when we got that snow last week! Still blows my mind, the weather here, by the way). This is amazing. Even just walking down the street and having people say "Good morning" or randomly talking to you in grocery stores (I have to admit, I'm still not used to people coming up and having a friendly conversation; back in Ottawa people only came up to you to ask for money or where to score some weed) is truly, truly awesome.
The crosswalk is one of the biggest changes I've had to face. Sure we had them in Ottawa, but they were more of a Frogger-type experience. I still run across or make sure that car is really stopping before I cross.
I thought only a select few of our civilization learned manners, but it's good to see that it is still an ongoing concept and actually used. I have met some of the nicest, friendliest people who would do anything to make me feel at home. I know I still have a lot of things to adjust to (like adding an s to certain words, like "anywheres" or "over theres") and saying "for shore" instead of "for sure" or learning not to be in a hurry to go nowheres. But this is home. Seeing the ocean every day or taking the ferry or seeing the local artist: I look forward to it all.
Next time you feel horrible about Halifax, think about all of the little wonderful things we take for granted. I feel like Indiana Jones, who's just found a lost city. —Joseph Armstrong, Halifax