Mankind in his/her various migrations ends up transforming the places where they settle without giving a thought to the changes, even in themselves, that result. They come to these new places, like North America, searching for jobs and a better life, but they remain the people of their origins; they come to those places in this search but many of them never abandon their original way of life and become fully Americanized in the process; the cultural hold remains no matter where in North America they settle.
When I lived in Toronto, in the suburbs just north of the city, it was fascinating for me to travel to the western side of the city, downtown, where Italian immigrants had settled decades earlier, bringing with them that robust European culture with its distinctive cuisine. In that area, everything, except perhaps in the design of the buildings, was Italian. The shops, the restaurants, the sidewalk vendors, the young men in modern dress liming on the sidewalks, the outdoor drinking spots in the summer, were all straight out of Italy. Walking by one was continually hearing the strong Italian language, and seeing its flamboyant gestures from these new citizens of Canada living and working in the area – all of this in one of the most “Canadian” cities in North America. It was like a shot in the arm to go down there; you were in a different Toronto from the conventional one in the Willowdale suburbs where I had my house. In that downtown “Little Italy”, as it was known, the Italian culture was out in full flower – even the barber shops were that way – as was the garrulous flavour of just casual conversation, especially among the males, confronting you on every corner.
