Description
Mr. Vaillancourt describes the culture shock upon arrival in Cyprus and the differences amongst the local people.
Marc Vaillancourt
Mr. Vaillancourt was born April 22, 1957 in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. After high school, Mr. Vaillancourt was interested in receiving a trade and with the desire to live the adventure of the military, age 19, he decided to join. At this time, Mr. Vaillancourt trained as a vehicle technician and joined with the Elelctricial Mechanical Engineer branch. Mr. Vaillacourt held rank as Master Warrant Officer. In 1990 Mr. Vaillacourt’s postings began as part of the 12th Armoured Regiment with a tour to Cyprus and in 1997 was part of a unit that travelled to Haiti; a specialized tour organized in Ottawa with only 5 soldiers in command. Mr. Vaillancourt was discharged from the military and now resides in Barrie, Ontario with his family.
Transcript
It was my first look at a tropical zone. So coming out of Quebec City and having the doors of the air plane open it was the blast of heat that hit you first and then the, we were on the Greek Cypriot side which was fairly, fairly westernized if you wish and life was quite routine. Things were different. We were previously posted in Germany for four years. So we were accustomed to European living. The biggest shock was when we crossed over to the Turkish side and that was like crossing the border and going back four hundred years. It was just amazing the difference in cultures and the tough living that they had to live there, that they do live there still. But other than that, it was an adventure.