I can't figure out why somebody would live that far north!!
SJN:
Well, it all has to do with the dawning of consciousness on primitive man.
250,000 years ago Ungk was trying to spear fish on the shore of what is now the Black Sea. Suddenly, God bestowed philosophy and abstract thought on Ungk, and Ungk suddenly realized that...
"I am aware of my own existance." thought Ungk. (a very deep thought)
"I think, and therefore I am." concluded Ungk.
"But, who am I?"
"And, where am I?"
"And how do I get to Southern Manitoba?"
And, the rest is history.
No, seriously, I didn't choose to live here... I was born here, so I had no say in the matter. 140 years ago, shortly after Confederation of the various provinces into the country of Canada, the Canadian government wanted to populate the interior of the country so they offered free farmland to any European farmers who would settle in the prairies and farm the land. The thinking is that populating the interior of the country (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) was necessary in order to ensure the unity of the country since there was concern that British Columbia might opt out of Confederation and become it's own country because it was so isolated from the rest of the provinces.
Farmers in Europe were pi$$ poor, and the opportunity to own their own farmland was an extremely attractive prospect, even if it meant having to endure the harsh prairie winters. Thousands came, and each family was given 4 acres of land to farm, and on that land they built mud houses. That immigration policy continued right up to before WW1, and my mother's parents came from Ukraine and settled in what is now Sundown, Manitoba. Sundown has all of about 40 people, even now. My mother was born in Canada, tho. She met a man from Ukraine who immigrated to Canada after WWII. He was born in Ukraine and became a teenager during WWII. His family realized that if they stayed there they would have to live under communist Russia, so they abandoned their house and farmland and made their way across Europe, eventually ending up in a Red Cross camp for displaced persons in Austria. My dad's job at that camp was to make soap because there were lots of displaced persons living in the camp, and the concern was that they maintain a high standard of cleanliness to avoid the outbreak of diseases. So, the Red Cross provided the materials and equipment, and my dad and several others made soap for the camp. Everyone got soap at a pitance price so that everyone could keep themselves clean. My dad made soap for 2 years after WWII before he and his family were all accepted as immigrants to Canada. He was given a job on the CNR (Canadian National Railway) but as soon as he could afford it, he bought a barber's chair and carried on the trade of barbering in Pine Falls, Manitoba. He had apprenticed as a barber in his home town near Lviv, Ukraine, and would work as a barber until he was almost 80.
That's why I live here. I'm the product of Canadian and World history.
