Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars
Aqaba and Petra are awesome to visit, but I wouldn't live in (or near) either of those places. Or really anywhere in Jordan except Amman. It's small enough a country that you can go anywhere and it wouldn't take you too long, anyway.
I think what's cool about a lot of the countries I mentioned is the youth culture. I think that even in universities in Canada there is a sort of disengaged, very cynical air to things, and even smart people tend to just gather at pubs and engage in illogical ramblings about this or that, even when they are actually discussing something interesting. I think there is also a sort of feeling among a lot of young white Canadians that Canada is irrelevant and not very interesting, which sorts of infects their whole worldview, attitude, and life (I guess they feel that they, as a result, are not particularly relevant or interesting). A sort of comfortable, 'well, that's Canada, eh' attitude that I find very few Arab youth- whether in Arabia or not- have. In major Arab cities one really can find those cafes of lore, a sort of gathering place of culture and intellect, and really driven by passion. In Canada, a lot of the places that purport to be such places are filled with vacant, disengaged hipsters. And don't get me started on how the average discussion at a Canadian pub compares to discussions I overheard at cafes and just on the street in Amman.
A lot of it is also just the fact that Arabia has more history and culture than Canada. Sorry, that's a fact. I'd rather live here and be a Canadian than be a Jordanian in Amman, but I would never say that Calgary is a more interesting city than Amman. Does downtown Calgary have a Roman amphitheatre? There just isn't a lot of vibrancy in most of Canada, and while I do appreciate our sleepy, somewhat self-deprecating sensibility, I do sometimes feel like going to the burbs and screaming at people to get out of their houses and take to the streets! I've actually thought about this a lot, I do really, really dig Canadian film, art, etc. The problem is that barely a goddamn soul is engaged in Canadian culture. The minority of culturally engaged, vibrant Canadians make awesome art and awesome films and write awesome books. But when you seek out that circle, you realize just how absolutely, miserably tiny that circle is. Sociopolitically, we are the best country in the world. Quality of life is excellent. But to seek out the amazing sensation that you are in the middle of something bigger than yourself, one is often forced to look outside North America. Maybe if I lived in Toronto or New York I would think differently, I don't know.
Winning hockey gold was one of the few moments I felt I was in the middle of something bigger than myself in Canada, in my whole life.
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