Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

To the many friends I've made out in BC and elsewhere, my repeated visiting and even mentioning of Saskatchewan has been met with (at best) confusion, and (more commonly) ridicule. What is my fascination with this place?

Among other things, I was born here. When I'm talking with my parents about recent goings-on, they'll throw in a memory every once in a while that occured at the same place as I was. Every once in a while, particularly at the university, I wonder what life was like for them here. It was a different time, to be sure, but I'm the same age as they were in the middle of their time here, going to the same school, buying beer at the same offsales, and freezing through the same winters. Well, I think it's interesting.

After some time spent in tiny Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan (it's a town, not the large body of water in this case) and Olympic host Calgary, Alberta, I had acquired a couple siblings and ended up living here for what turned out to be some curcial years of social development. Nothing particular happened, but I made friends that have lasted since our move to BC ten years ago. I made a point of visiting at least once a year, and then took the opportunity to work here for a summer during my time at UBC. Three summers later, I was back here for a Master's, and I've got maybe another year left until the next big move.

So what's so great about this place, anyway?

It's big enough that it's got all the things you need for a city (not everything you might want, like say big concerts that aren't limited to Elton John, but that is another matter), but small enough that you can get anywhere quickly and often see people that you know around. There are maybe ten high schools here, so when you meet someone near your age, there's a good chance you'll know somebody from their school, or at least enough about their school to make fun of them.

If you're looking for serious clubbing, this is not the place for you. Peronally, I'm happy with the local pubs (I'd recommend The Black Duck or O'Shea's if you happen to be downtown), since that is more my thing. I've also been known to check out the local music scene (Stonemason, anyone?). In my experience, though, when I mention Saskatoon and somebody came here for a conference or some other unintended visit, they say they had a great time.

Hmmm . . . what else . . . as noted above, there is a univeristy here. The campus is pretty, and the school is well respected in a few major areas, like vet med, and the big one, biological/pharmaceutical research, which will only improve in scope with the opening of the Canadian Light Source. The math department here is a little low on grad students (They have trouble attracting Canadian students from outside the province; I am the first in a few years), which means that I've got a supervisor all to myself and plenty of office space.

Well, that's enough to get you started. I'll try to think of some Saskatchewan stories for another time.

Posted by warcode at September 16, 2002 09:32 PM