I’m back in Alberta.  Edmonton generally, Fort Saskatchewan at this very instant.  It’s a very odd readjustment.

I had to drive today, and I will again tomorrow.  This will be the first and second time in over two years.  The contrast between Vancouver driving and Edmonton driving is stunning.  Vancouver driving requires alertness.  The other drivers on the road are more assertive, sometimes to the point of aggression or lunacy.  Edmonton driving requires diligence, because it’s entirely possible for absolutely nothing to happen for minutes at a time, and you have to force yourself to keep paying attention.  The sheer open space pulls your head towards the clouds and your foot toward the ground.  Cars float around; nobody really feels the width of what they’re driving—cycling last night, the four cars that passed me all gave me a full lane of room (which was very pleasant but disorienting).  Traffic consistently forms lines of evenly spaced vehicles: just barely too close to turn between them, as though they need to have room to stop if the car in front were to suddenly hit a force field.

There’s something here that I don’t quite understand just yet.  People are louder but less intense.  Friendlier but less open (or is that backwards?).  More outwardly fun-loving but far, far less adventurous.

Everything feels empty and sparse.  I remember a Chinese friend back in grad school talking about going to West Edmonton Mall all the time when he first arrived because it was the only place he could find that was crowded enough for him to feel comfortable.  I know what he meant now.

The cycling, as predicted, is generally great and specifically harsh.  Edmonton seems to have an abnormally high incidence of bike fatalities, and although I mostly blame it on the generally low level of alertness, it’s also clear that there just aren’t many people here who cycle regularly or seriously.  The terrain is very odd, too.  It’s mostly flat, but what elevation changes there are tend to be very steep and involve gorges cut out by streams and rivers.  Between stretches of effortless 30km/h riding are 100m hills that I can barely mash my way up.  I suspect that there are even some that I just flat out won’t be able to.

I can also tell that I’m going to be very productive at something here.  I’ll have to be.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 9:17 pm and is filed under General Rambling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.