So, I was asked after a long break from blog writing to pick up my keyboard and start all over again. It seems fitting to write more because so much more has happened to me since I wrote last. I visited Ottawa all over again (I mean, my sister lives there. Why wouldn't I?!). I take much more frequent visits to my favourite big city, Toronto. I have been to conference after conference about planning my future, but perhaps the most important thing that happened to me, the thing that showed me most of what it means to be a true "canadien(ne)", was my exchange to Quebec.
I went on a government and YMCA funded exchange to a city in a province I had only been to once before. I had always loved studying French, but until then it never was a large part of my life. But 6 weeks immersed in Quebecois culture sure changed that. It was then that I realized that Canada is more than our just the fusion and harmony of two languages, the dance of two cultures across the flag that so defines our nation. Canada is not just what I experience when I visit Ottawa. It's what I see in Chinatown in Toronto. It when I gaze at the Boucherville Islands from a dock, looking across the St. Lawrence River. It's also when I am on the train home and see the border pass, a change of culture, and language and perspective. Canada is not a sum of its parts, it's more. It's the harmony between them, and the contrast within them. And even though we sometimes clash, it's still pretty dang good. The worst we had was a few deaths 25 years ago. We have a difference in opinions sometimes, but all of such things are inevitable. Look at a family, you still love each other, but sometimes fights happen. And if someone is removed from your family, there's a gaping hole where you can't quite repair what happened. Your family, if it was just the sum of the parts, shouldn't feel a loss, but it's more. Canada is like a family. We fight, we bicker, but overall we're pretty well-off.
And Quebec widened my horizons. I don't think you could ever really define Canada. There are so many mountains to climb, so many tundras to see, and so many lakes and rivers to explore. To know Canada would be to see all of it, every last drop of dew on the morning ground. But I can tell you more about my country, I don't disagree with anything I said before, but I can add to what I said before. Canada is my home, and I don't know if there's a place better suited for me. I can live in a free country where everyone is equal, regardless of race, language, or culture, where you aren't defined by how much money your family makes, and where you are free to do whatever you choose (just so long that you don't stop other people's right to freedom that is :-D ).
I can tell you a few things. There are a few irrevocable truths.
1. When you look at the sunset over the St. Lawrence River, you could think that it goes on forever.
2. When you can eat lunch in front of 400 year old buildings just 5 minutes from work, you're reminded of how many people could have been in the same spot where you are sitting.
3. People are still just people, even in 400 year old cobblestone streets. When you go somewhere often it becomes accustomed to you, no matter where it is.
4. It's okay to take a break just to look at how the sun hits the river in the daytime.
5. Nature is just a reminder of what everything was like in history. People went about their ordinary lives thinking that the nature was just their ordinary surroundings. If we protected nature like we protect our civil rights, we'd have a much prettier landscape.
6. Canada is made up of people from all walks of life, all faiths, all races, and all customs. It's acceptance that creates harmony between people. Their differences shouldn't be the emphasis, it should be the things we have in common.
7. Riding a bike through the forest is one of the most calming things you can do (until you get lost- but that's a later post).
8. Language can be a barrier, but if you try hard enough, you can overcome the greatest of obstacles.
9. Having a pool isn't necessary, but it's a pretty good plus after a full day of work.
10. Every place differs in some minor ways, but when we get down to it all, we are all just people looking to have the best life possible. Everything has a history and a reason for existence. When you look into it, while some customs seem strange, it's just because your customs are different (maybe sometimes there are customs that cross the line).
In summary, Canada is everything about its past, its present and its future, We may learn some things along the way, but in the end we all can't see everything. You can never really know your country, but you can attempt to learn more about it. The country changes every second with every action and every thought in it and about it. Countries can never have a neat definition, but in every country there is a distinct beauty. It's the beauty of people coming together, working together to achieve a greater good and a societal organization. While that society may not always function perfectly, it's just a work in progress and in a second, it'll become something totally new and unknown.
