maps

Before taking this class, I'd never really thought about maps. I guess I just thought they were boring lines on a page or a computer screen. Not very interesting. Back in the day before GPS's became the new thing, everybody had a massive city road map folded up and stowed away in a compartment in their car for when they got lost. In social class I studied topographical maps of the planet. And that's about as "into maps" as I got. I guess if I had ever taken the time to think about it, I would have realized there are so many more ways to map a city than roads, but I just never bothered to think about it. The sound maps were SO interesting to me, because it's such a different way of mapping from anything else I've ever seen. It's like getting an actual glimpse into life in other cities. Another thing that I thought was pretty eye-opening was seeing how inaccurate maps can be. I guess I already knew this, because I've followed instructions from my GPS perfectly, and ended up in a field in the middle of nowhere... not exactly where I was trying to get to. Anyways, these last couple of classes have given me something to think about. Turns out maps are pretty interesting after all.

My Edmonton

Having lived in St. Albert for my entire life, my sense of Edmonton is slightly limited. St. Albert is a decently sized city, but after having lived there for nineteen years, I can only really describe it as small and stifling. As a decently sized city, I know it has no real “small town Alberta” feel, but I honestly feel like I have met every single person near my age that lives in my city. As soon as I leave the St. Albert city limits and enter Edmonton, where there are so many people and so much is unknown to me, I feel like I can breathe. Since I’m not from there, it’s unlikely among the crowds of Edmontonians that I will run into the mother of the boy I dated in grade nine, or the girl who I accidentally got fired from our job in grade ten. It’s just a bunch of curiously unfamiliar faces among the crowds of people that I see on street corners downtown.

On the other hand, in St. Albert, our official “downtown” area basically consists of a government building attached to a library, with a few coffee shops and a tanning salon that I probably frequent far too often. Unfortunately, the only time I really venture into the big city, besides when I go to school, to my boyfriend’s place, or the rare visit to the dentist’s office, is when I go to the bars with my friends.  I love the busy nightlife in Edmonton, which far outstrips the same old crowd that goes to any of St. Albert’s few pubs. This nightlife often takes me to Jasper Ave, which is an area of Edmonton that I have the greatest familiarity and the strongest attachment to. I adore it for its obvious draw to youth: it is full of exciting clubs, bars, and even a small donair shop that has become one of my biggest guilty pleasures. So I might not be able to really say “My Edmonton” but I definitely feel attached to “My Jasper Ave” ;)