The Gentle Island

I believe I've officially become an Islander. I just moved into my new house and start my new job on Tuesday in Prince Edward Island, Canada!

The tourism association of PEI has sold this Island as the Gentle Island for quite some time now, and to me it always seemed like a silly way to bring people. There's nothing very excited, fast paced, or busy. No big flashy city to loose yourself in. The downtown of the capital, Charlottetown (pop. 40,000), is about as busy as my original hometown. There's one overpriced yoga studio, two sushi restaurants, and four grocery stores. I haven't counted the Tim Horton's yet.

The first thing you'll notice when you reach the Island is that the soil is red and the drivers are ridiculously courteous. These people will pretty much cause an accident to give away their right of way! If you look across the street, they will stop for you. If you are standing in the road attempting to turn left into your driveway they will stop all oncoming traffic in order to let you through. I suppose you could label this as "gentle"...

Another thing you will notice is that everyone nods and says hello when you are walking down the paths or sidewalks. I've encountered this in smaller towns of say 2,000 people, but it seems that this capital city of a Province has it down pat to make sure that you feel like your living in a tiny village.

I suppose when the airport has one runway and six flights per day going in and out of the Province you realize how much of a microsystem it really is....