Halifax - Photo by Tass, Flickr

There’s not much that defines us as Canadians – we’re polite, we make maple syrup. One of our famous comedians, Mike Myers, went so far as to say Canadian culture is “more like celery as a flavour.”

But perhaps we just have a subtle culture that is less accessible to identify and define. If you are one of those lucky Canadians who have lived in multiple provinces, you’ll have noticed the uniqueness and diversity of our country. Sometimes we’re so worried in contrasting our culture with different countries that we don’t realize that we have unique sub-cultures from province to province, region to region.

When I moved here from Halifax in 2009 I experienced domestic culture shock. I stepped off the Canada Line at Broadway and Cambie at 11 p.m. and was blown away by the traffic and restaurants and the sight of a wall of skyscrapers in the distance.

Although I was only moving from one Canadian city to another, I had to adapt to a different climate, a much faster pace of life, and new societal norms. Sadly, I was once one of those clueless people holding up the escalator flow by lounging on the left-side of the railing.

Vancouver’s unique culture influenced me even more. I became more conscious of how I dressed – no more hiking boot errands for me. I learned what a Coach purse was, but I am still a Maritimer and I refuse to pay more than $20 for something that holds keys and tissues. And like most people in Vancouver I have become a sushi connoisseur.

Living in this beautiful setting with mountains, ocean and careful city planning, I started to feel that my beloved Halifax was in comparison, a country bumpkin. With Vancouver’s renowned aquarium, perfectly manicured seawall, bustling Gastown and tantalizing Grouse Grind, I scratched my head when someone asked what defines Halifax.

Well, Halifax has some pubs, lighthouses, a couple old fortresses…things that can be found bigger and better in thousands of other places in the world. This begged the question of why I’d been so proud of my hometown, anyway.

But the answer came to me quickly.  I realized that Halifax isn’t trying to be the best at anything.  It’s not trying to be bigger than it is.  It’s not trying to define itself.  It is what it is.  It’s a small unassuming city with a culture and identity of its own that makes it a more than desirable place to be.

Both cities are fascinating on their own accord. Vancouver boasts mountains and glass skyscrapers and Halifax has shipbuilding and heritage buildings; around-the-block lines for the hottest Vancouver clubs, live bands on every corner in Halifax; billion dollar movie sets versus lone bagpipers playing on the piers.

But if I could make one aspect of Vancouver more like Halifax, I would want Vancouverites to muster up some Maritime friendliness – chats on the bus and warm smiles never hurt anyone. If we can discover such unique cultural differences between Canadian cities, imagine the interesting things we could learn from one another if our widely multicultural population began to open up.