How/why NL is so different from the rest of Canada is complex, but I attempt to BEGIN explaining modern Newfoundland here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_X8AxP_7hrI.html
Just spent 10 days in Newfoundland doing photography and everywhere I went, the people were friendly and chatty. I was called "dear" and "love" by servers more times than I can remember. I loved it.
I consider myself to be a pretty friendly person. I generally treat people with respect and, while I've gotten home after an interaction with a stranger and I think of a way I could have been perhaps a little more helpful, I always try to be kind and to brighten the day of people I meet. Strangers, for me, are the easy part. But my own feelings of inferiority leave me sweating when a stranger speaks to me and it's obvious that English is not their native tongue. If I hear people speaking to each other in another language, or if they speak to me with a heavy foreign accent, I am immediately intimidated. I feel inadequate, afraid that they will think poorly of me (or worse, of Newfoundlanders generally) if I can't understand what they are trying to say, or if they don't understand my answers to their questions because of my dialect (though it's probably more likely that they won't understand me because I am sounding like a blithering idiot, unable to put together a sentence through my rapid thoughts telling me I'm an idiot). That lovely woman that owns and operates "New Born Lander" said that she has plenty of friendly business contacts, but that nobody invites her over to their house. She finds it difficult to build "friendships" in the sense of being invited over for a visit or to share a meal. I wonder how many people feel like I do; what I have to offer is perhaps not good enough to offer, especially to someone who is accustomed to different types of foods, or different customs/ways to make someone feel welcome in their home? Is my house neat and clean enough to meet a stranger's standards, or will I leave them with a poor impression of me or of Newfoundlanders as a whole? I have worked with people for 30 years and had pretty close friendships, but have never had them come to my home. I feel it's not good enough. I wonder if other people feel the same way, and that's why they don't invite people over. In the video, you seemed genuinely surprised to learn that she felt that it isn't easy to make these friendships with Newfoundlanders. I know she works hard, over long hours, but has she invited people over to her house? If not, is it because she feels that she doesn't have time to host people adequately at her home? Are people perhaps not inviting her over because they know how hard she works and they feel it might be imposing on the precious time she puts aside for looking after her family? Does the person who grew up in smalltown Newfoundland not find it easy to make friends with someone new because they have only ever socialized with people they've known since they were children? There are lots of different reasons, all of which could be legitimate, why people don't necessarily make friends easily with strangers.
Thank you for taking the time to share that Carol. I defintely won't act like I have answers to the things you put out there, but the fact that you (and quite a few others) have taken that time to share comments like this is kind of the point. People are afraid of what they don't know, and that is perefectly normal. So lets talk about this... and talk to each other a bit more!
My experience with local contractors have been the opposite. Overcharged me and not responsive and rude driving school people. I have met strangers who are really nice but once you settle, you will see they are not really that different. There are a handful of bad potatoes here. Moved here from Toronto and I am thinking of moving back.
I leaned toward the positive in this video for sure, but there will be a part 2 that leans the other way. Dealing with contractors in NL is worthy of its own video, and on its own could burst the "friendly NLer" bubble. I hate making videos about negative stuff but there are definitely lots of examples of awfulness in this place and it is important to tell the whole story.
At the risk of becoming unpopular, I find this to be one of the biggest misconceptions about NL. I think residents here are super friendly to tourists, but to locals, not so much. I've lived in BC, AB, and ON, and moved here a year ago. I've met a few lovely folks, but I've also encountered many grumpy ones, too. On day three of arriving, I hadn't had a chance to have my plates changed on my car. While driving to the grocery store I had a construction flag person scream horrible things to be about "go the F back to Ontario." I think if you're born and raised here, it might be different? For now, I still very much feel like an outsider and hope that changes one day soon? Good luck to all. xx
At the risk of people getting mad at me.. i'm going to pull back the curtain a little here. Newfoundlanders are very friendly, especially to tourists. We really want you to like us and say nice things about us and praise our island and its people. There are so many stories of locals opening up their home and giving tourists the shirt off their back so to say, but Jimmy down the road they've known for 30 years? F him, he's an arsehole. Sometimes that kindness to tourists manifests to people wanting to move there. Everything can go well but as a come from away you will never be allowed to criticize the island. Hell hath no fury than a Newfoundlander scorned and you might as well pack up and leave. Newfoundlanders aren't all that nice to each other. There is a real townie/bayman divide (something my mainlander wife witnessed first hand) and for a slightly older generation a Catholic/Protestant divide. As a Catholic Townie i have a very different lived experience than a Bayman Protestant. We can also be a jealous bunch where if you become too successful you'll get accused of being uppity and thinking you're better than everyone. Having said all that. I still love the island, warts and all. Its a very interesting and beautiful place full of quirky characters and wonderful natural beauty. I even like the weather. It just took living on the mainland for 20+ years for me to realize it.
This isn’t the first comment that you’ve left on one of my videos that I honestly feel like I could have written myself. I’m actually working on a follow up to this video right now. This one was meant to share the perspective of the ppl on this video and it is mostly positive. The follow up will be just me giving my own perspective, which isn’t as positive. And my “script” follows pretty closely to what you’ve shared, down to the beginning where you acknowledge that some ppl will get mad at you for saying anything about the topic. I might actually incorporate your comment into the video 👍🏼
I agree. I love my home province of NL. I grew up and lived there until my 20s when I was part of the outmigration to seek full time work after university. I fully agree with how kind our province is to strangers or tourists. My family back home takes such pride in hearing that they are so friendly. There are things that happen at home that I’ve not experienced in western Canada or the US during my time there. One that comes to mind is what NLers do when there is death or sickness in a family. Being originally from outport NL, I grew up with everyone dropping off meals, casseroles, salads, soups, desserts, etc. It’s not just that they bring food, they bring food they cooked. They take time out of their day to spend hours making huge meals and bring them to the person struggling. We don’t buy Tim Hortons,…it’s homemade because it shows that we care enough to take time for them. Between a death and a funeral, we would receive enough food to last a month. People don’t have a lot of money but they will find a way to use the food they have to show love to someone that is going through a hard time. It’s the same if a family member is ill. I have done this outside of NL and there is always such shock from others when I do this. But it’s standard back home. I went through cancer 3 times away from NL and have friends that have passed away, but I’ve not seen this and it brings to light how we choose to do what makes others feel supported during these times. It’s little things like this that happen in NL that are far less common elsewhere and I love that about our people. But on the other side, I have seen the reverse as well. NLers bond to each other but a bond to outsiders is far less common,….or in the past is was. As someone in the healthcare system where we have many doctors from another country, I have witnessed a great deal of derogatory comments, refusal to receive care from certain doctors or professionals, etc. I always feel so ashamed when this occurs and cringe when I see it. There was little discretion about saying it publicly and I saw this multiple times daily when I worked there. I was often left having to make an excuse, cover for these derogatory comments so it was a very real and common situation. It has a history of being a very insular mostly Caucasian island with far less exposure to other races until recent years. I feel as though things may be changing now with more inmigration and that is a very good thing. But sadly, each time I was present in these situations, I would think back to the times when we claimed to be the friendliest people and wonder what others would say if they witnessed this. But I love NL and I take pride in my province. There is good and bad everywhere.
I went home after my Dad went into paliative care. I took a red eye from Calgary to St.John's and went straight to the Miller Centre on Forest road. I got on an elevator and was quickly and rudley asked if I "wanna move", by a housekeeping worker. I work in A hospital as well, and we would not talk to a visitor that way. Take it as you will, but I was not impressed. Maybe it's just me, but I find that strangers are friendlier in Alberta. Not in Ontario though!
when i was flying in, i met a family on the plane and they gave me their phone number "just in case". i think the way to express it, is that they want to meet new friends. you say hi, they will always make conversation.
My Dearest Friend and ship mate. She took me to NFLAND and instant love of the Beautiful Island. I am sure I left some of my heart ❤️ there. Beautiful People. ❤
I only got to spend 1 week in Nfld (6 days actually as we lost 1 day to a hurricane). Most of that was in Western Nfld (Gros Morn, etc.) I found Newfoundlanders to be very friendly. We lost our trip to Labrador due to that hurricane!
Being almost a year next month that I moved here from Toronto, without looking around or meeting anyone, I knew this was home. As I would be weary of a new neighbour I am sure my neighbours were also of course. In my linage there is a strong similarity with the cultures so I was just me and they were just them. You can tell when someone is kind just because but I hit the jackpot when it comes to my neighbours. A mix of younger than myself to older they are all kind, caring, funny and really would take their shirt off their back as I would for them also. With that being said there are a few other outsiders that come only in summer and from large cities like myself whom a couple I didn't even see (which is fine I understand) but one in general we already fought when they arrived. They realized they were in the wrong and the next time we saw each other it was like nothing happened. This is life. We may fight with others but we also fought with our parents and still love them. One couple opened up this spring, as we did not see each other during the winter which again is okay, and I have adopted them as my aunt and uncle. I see my parents in them and I miss my parents dearly (RIP). I am adored with by them also receiving so many fruit trees for my garden. It started by a couple of trees because the man heard I love trees. When he saw my excitement and gratitude I received about another half dozen! The fact that he did not buy them and came from his/their garden means more to me. They grew up here and I live in one of his families home that they built. These kinds of traditions, a strong set of family community and seeing a woman who came so far and found her home here instead of anywhere else in the world, well, they adore to see me build my home here and I adore them for what they have done to this community. We have laughed and cried about some similarities in life we share and now we have each other to lean on. I could go on because I love them so much but I will say there are a few neighbours who still have not surrendered a welcome to me. I am not hurt in any means for when I got here I was very busy unpacking and such that we didn't have a chance. Now that it may fell awkward to them to do such I will make my way to them. It's all about understanding and dismissing the judgment. And if by any means one is not happy to meet me so be it because I come from Toronto and if you can live through them people for 50 years one neighbour can be warmed up to eventually : ) It's a give and take in every country. If you are the stranger I believe you should make an effort to make the community stronger, go out and meet people like the last man said or just walk around if you are not into gatherings of sorts. Off to head outside now as I hear the first lawnmower of the season in which the kind fellow does my walkway just because : ) Thank you for the video post.
Just wonderful to hear from you, like I said in my last reply. Your situation makes me happy. I know that not everyone will have the same experience as you, but you are demonstrating that it is possible to relocate to rural NL and genuinly feel at home. And again... with the imagery in your messages haha! I can hear that lawnmower from here!
We are much friendlier to people from other places. If you lived in any rural community you know that all people have to do is gossip, even if that means spreading patently false rumours around. Friendly to your face, for sure. Don’t even get me started on the thousands of petty land disputes between people who have known each other their whole lives. And every time a grandfadder dies, even if there’s a will, you can bet your ass every part of the family will come crawling out of the woodwork to fight over the dead person’s belongings. It’s a lie we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel good. I’ve lived on the norpen, west coast, central, Bonavista peninsula, and the avalon. You will find the issues I described in every place.
You will find these issues in everyplace off the island too lol and there is actually a lot to do in rural communities, if you care enough to do it, and if you have nothing better to do then concern yourself with what everyone else says and thinks of you, then be a pillar in the community so they only have good things to say, or spend some time in a place like toronto, you learn to not care what people think so much when there are millions of them lol
Newfoundland is the reason why Canadians (in general) have such a friendly reputation. I have been to every province (but not to the territories or Labrador). Newfoundlander's are some of the best people that Canada has to offer by far. Friendly and hospital.
Newfoundland...the place where stereotypes refuse to die😆 No. No we are not that friendly. Come live in my neighborhood across the street from the shelter and see how friendly things are. Walk down water street amongst the homeless and drug addicts and skeets and see how friendly people are.
I grew up down the bottom of Pennywell Rd. surrounded by Field St, Cabot St, Rabbittown and Buckmaster Circle. Everyone went to St. Pats, i went to St Bons, i had a weird first name because my parents thought they were clever but it just gave me grief, i skateboarded and listened to punk rock in the late 80s/90s when everyone was a headbanger. I never worried about getting mugged or killed... but getting punched in the face for no reason was something that could happen at every single waking moment outside of my house. Its kinda weird i look back on it all fondly. I miss when skeets listened to Iron Maiden and Motley Crue instead of the face tattooed variety now who think they live in South Central LA.
Yes it's me again from that "How NL has fared" video. I find Newfies (INCLUDING YOU MR.ROYALE) to be one of the "modified" people that I personally have met of all other nationalities/races in my lifetime. There the type of people that are nice to one even when we Canadians treat them poorly and disrespectfully. I have lived in Ontario, NB, and now my born and raised province of NS and surprisingly, I have worked with and went to school with Newfies in all 3. Not one of them was like a typical joe like myself just warm, gentle, and very welcoming. One family which I will not disclose the surname even invited me and my parents inside there rented home and treated us like royalty. Couldn't believe it. I would have never got that treatment from the other lower 9. I wonder how they keep that special charm. Even you Mr. Royale are gentle when you speak and don't get off topic and start ranting and complaining like I would hear from a typical joe. I also will have a video up on my main channel within a month regarding "What If NL was..." and will link it if you approve me to. I may also use parts of your footage as well.
