canadian goose

i had an interesting phone call today at work. rather unique because i haven't been asked this question before. "is ottawa full of cultural ghettos?" the woman was calling from florida and currently has her summer home in mississauga. she said that she doesn't like driving for four blocks and seeing only one culture and not a single canadian. wow, can she be any more unpolitically correct? it was interesting talking with her because she kept saying, "i'm not prejudice" (even though i never even hinted at the word when speaking with her).

i actually do understand where she's coming from. personally i wouldn't want to live in an area that's predominantly one culture, but to avoid that would be pretty difficult. i grew up in a caucasian neighbourhood, one cousin in a jewish neighbourhood, another cousin in a east indian neighbourhood, and another in a chinese neighbourhood. i think the closest thing to a mixed area would be a student ghetto.

anyway, i told her ottawa isn't a city that immigrants tend to gravitate towards unless they have family here or a job, which is actually true. i'm actually hoping to meet the woman (because she's planning on coming down to ottawa this weekend or next). i'd just like to see whether she does approach the topic again and if she does, how would she word it. obviously talking about it over the phone is not the same as talking about it in an open space where others can here you.