Tourism and Culnary

Sightseeing and Tourist Guidebook

When is the best season for visiting Montreal and PEI? Many people visit PEI in May to October every year because of the agreeable weather and the beautiful flowers. On the other hand, few people visit this place in winter because of severe cold. The lowest temperature in this island is less than -10 degrees. It shows glacial winter. People who live in Tokyo cannot endure the weather of winter of PEI. Regarding with this climate, visitors inquiries in June and July and August are the most.

In case of Montreal, it is visitor inquiries in 2016. Also, it compares the data of the year 2014 to that of 2015. In terms of visitors, tourist and traffic on tourism, Montreal archived results.

Secondly, I’ll focus on the tourism websites and guidebooks because I think their first paragraph express what people would like to convey. The website of PEI says below.

This little Island packs a big punch. With adventure around every turn, beauty that’s hard to even believe and food that is out of this world, Prince Edward Island will charm you from tip-to-tip.

The first paragraph as follows.

We may be Canada’s smallest province, but the opportunities we offer visitors enormous. In fact, our size makes all interests accessible from any point within the province.

I feel that PEI is proud of its provincial independence which is origin of its touristic strength.

In case of Montréal, The website of Montreal says

In the historical district, you'll discover the remains of the old walled city, narrow winding streets dating back to the French colony, superb public squares, majestic Victorian buildings of the 18 and 19h centuries and, finally, the very first skyscrapers in Canada, in the heart of what was then the downtown core of the country’s capital.

The booklet of Montreal as follows.

In the historical district, you'll discover the remains of the old walled city, narrow winding streets dating back to the French colony, superb public squares, majestic Victorian buildings f the 18 and 19h centuries and, finally, the very first skyscrapers in Canada, in the heart of what was then the downtown core of the country’s capital.

These two information shows that Montreal has different aspects in terms with Language, ethnicity, history, and urban area. This unarranged atmosphere is touristic.

I conclude that the touristic policies or sightseeing appeal between PEI and Montreal make a clear contrast for example existence/lack of winter activities, historical background and urban-rurality. However, I think this contrast means Canadian potential on future touristic development and multiculturalism.

Canadian Culinary

These are the foods which we ate as a local speciality through our stay in Canada.
I could know what are famous and popular in each region, but I didn’t know why they became the local specialty. So I decided to search the origin of them and the reason why they became famous.

Montréal is famos for Bagels.
New York is alsofamous for bagles, but there are some differences between Montréal bagel and NY bagel.
As you know, bagels were brought by Jewish immigrants.Therefore they were not created by Canadian people. However now it became one of the famous local specialty in Montreal. And I think this is one of the figures of symbiosis of culture.

Next, poutine has unclear beginnings. The most widespread claim for inventing poutine comes from the small town of Québec, in middle of the 20 century.

A customer asked the restaurant owner to throw cheese curds and French fries together in one bag because the customer was in a rush. At the time, those items were sold separately at the restaurant. When the customer saw inside the bag after the two ingredients were mixed together, he remarked, “This is a ‘poutine,’” using the Québécois slang—for a "mess.”

Those two were the episodes of local specialty in Montreal.

Through the tour of Anne of Green Gables, I heard that potatoes are very famous in Prince Edward Island. And also other agricultural products. However, this island is covered with the red podzol called “Island Clay” and this is not good for agriculture.
Then why is this Island famous for agriculture?
The reason is because of the red soil.

It is rich in iron, and perfectly suited for potatoes, as it retains just the right amount of moisture during the growing season, but is then effectively cleansed over the winter. Warm summers, cold winters and adequate annual rainfall result in excellent growing conditions with the right balance of heat, light, and water.
Also The ocean acts as a natural barrier against airborne or insect-borne diseases. From these reasons, agriculture in this island making great use of the local environment.

In conclusion, I found that “local specialty“can be divided in several ways. Like local originals and imported or created by foreigners.

Through this program, I became more interested in foreign cultures including the process of cultural diversities and local environment. From this experience, from now on, I will try to think about the backgrounds of foreign cultures. Also, I will join the seminar of foreign culture study.