City Slicker

This summer has been a bit of an adjustment. My family has moved from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Cedar in Nanaimo. Now, in my family we are no strangers to moving. We’ve moved around several times but it was usually within an urban setting and Cedar is anything but urban.

When I was very little we lived in the West-side of Amsterdam, which was very grungy and certainly urban. I remember walking to school in the mornings with my mom and sisters and we would sing, “We all live on the dumpy side of town, dumpy side of town, dumpy side of town” to the tune of yellow submarine. You’ve got to love my mom for putting a positive spin on pretty much everything. After that we moved to Amstelveen which is basically a suburb of Amsterdam and it was still very easy to use public transportation to get to anywhere you wanted, or you could just ride you bike. So again, it was definitely very urban.

But now, we’re in Cedar, Cedar by the sea to be more specific.  And it is anything but urban. We have deer walking through our backyard all the time, we have little to no cell phone reception and we are not connected to the main sewage line. It has taken some getting used to, to say the least. But the ocean is a mere 5-minute walk away and there are literally thousands of blackberries ripe for picking, I am enjoying it and think it’s a great place to come and relax for the summer, but to live here all year round is not for me. I would miss the hustle and bustle of the city.

Being able to jump on a subway and head down town to hang out, see museums, concerts, and go to pubs and stuff like that is just something I’ve grown so accustomed to. To be honest, I am more of a homebody than somebody who goes out and takes full advantage of all that cities have to offer, but it’s still nice to have the option. I guess I feel freer in the city. I have more freedom to go places and do different things without having to ask someone for a ride or be dependant on others.

As much as I like the small town kindness and the peace and quiet of Cedar by the sea, I must say that hearing a siren howling in the distance last night as I was trying to sleep brought me comfort. It sounded familiar, like home.