The first difficulty is
pronouncing it. The second difficulty is finding it. Even now
I still struggle when people ask, "So if you're not from Toronto,
which part of Canada are you from??" My answer is usually
something like, "Hmmmm...I'm from the western
part...well, no, actually it's sort of central-western. You ever
heard of Winnipeg? No? How about Calgary? No. How
about Vancouver? Yeah? Okay, well my city is between Vancouver
and Toronto. It's called Saskatoon. No, really, that's what
it's called....and the province is called...ummmm... actually, forget
it." It is not a world famous place
and not much happens there, but I am very proud of my city and
province. I think the friendliest people in Canada live in
Saskatchewan! It is the kind of place where people are nice to each
other for no reason at all. People are honest, hard working, and
dependable. They love nothing better than sitting down with the
neighbours for a cold beer and discussing their most recent house
renovation projects.
The Climate
Euwww, this is a bad place to start, but I suppose it's part of the
package. The weather sucks. Badly. Summers are hot, dry,
dusty and the winters are frigid and never ending. The only
consolation you have is that these harsh conditions result in some
spectacular scenery! Frosty, crystallic winter mornings with a sun
so blinding bright you need sunglasses - and yet so fiercely cold it hurts
to breathe. The summer is a checkerboard landscape of a thousand farms alive with colour. Where there isn't farms, there is
forest and lakes full of wildlife. So don't let the horrific weather
stories keep you away!
The People
You have two types of
people. The first are Farmers. The second are people who do
everything in their power not to appear to be Farmers.
The original immigrants to
Saskatchwan were mainly European, especially Scandanavians, Ukranians,
Germans, Dutch and Polish. The original people of Saskatchewan were
the native aboriginals and they still account for a large percentage of
the population.
Things to Do
The best thing to
do when in Saskatoon is to go over to my mom's house for a pool
party! There's always lots of beer, lots of people and lots of
fun! Just make sure you replace some of the beer you drink or else
you'll make mom mad. Also, it's not a good idea to show up with the
gang at 3:00 in the morning after last call at the bar. If your
rowdy behaviour wakes up mom you will likely get BANNED FROM THE POOL and
that's bad. Then you'll have to resort to the second best thing to
do in Saskatoon which is....
Bud's on Broadway (Home of the
Rhythm & Blues)
Usually filthy and full of bikers, Bud's on Broadway is the best bar in
the city for Tall Rye & Cokes, peanuts, and spliffs in the
bathroom. Plus the live music is great! We have had too many
adventures in and around Bud's to mention, but most of them involved
mindless drinking, foul language, abusive waitresses and ugly gypsy
women. You can find Bud's on Broadway Avenue, which is on the east
side of the river. When you start to notice lots of pierced nipple,
strangely bearded, tie-dyed, lazy-eyed, foot shuffling, artsy-types
celebrating their individuality, you are getting close to Broadway.
Oh yeah, if you see a friendly
looking biker guy wearing lots of gold rings, dirty jeans, and missing a
finger or two, say hi to him - his name is Brad and is one of the coolest
people I know.
Things to See
Since this is my hometown, I have no idea what a tourist might want to do
there. You never know about the tourist things available in your own
city. But there are a few tourist things which come to mind such as
Wanuskewin Heritage Park, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, the University
of Saskatchewan campus, and the Meewasin Valley Trail. If you get
bored of those things just do what everybody else does and go wander
around downtown or in one of the malls. The best thing about
Saskatoon is that there are no tourists. Seriously. The only
tourists in Saskatoon are the farmers who live about 30 miles away and
drive in for the weekend to go shopping. there are not many places
in the world which have not been invaded by tourists...but Saskatoon is
one of them so you are sure to have the whole place to yourself!
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