It's alright 1am, and I'm sitting in my apartment at 2560 Allard. This has been my first home since I settled down in September. Many good memories, but some also bad experiences. If it weren't for the noisy neighbour upstairs and kid who's always running around next day, or for the strange bugs and flies that appear out of nowhere, I'd have stayed longer.
Fortunately I found a new place literally around the corner from here. It's a nice apartment with big windows, three rooms. Needs a little painting, and some work here and there, but otherwise it's really cosy. Well, at least as far as I know, since I've not slept there yet. But if all is well, and goes well, I have a feeling it might be a place I'll try to make a warm, cosy home at, even if it's for the short term. And I think my cat will like the place too. Seeing the large window sills and the balcony made me smile and imagine the kind of fun and lazying about she could have there.
Yes, it was Canada Day yesterday, and true to Quebecois tradition I also started to move some of my things. Now just the big heavy pieces of furniture, and I'm all set.
It's a day I guess I could pauze and reflect on. Not so much because I'm Canadian, but because I have been made to feel welcome and wanted in this country. A far cry from the subtle and inert racism and xenophobia I experience and sense in the Netherlands or Europe generally, I feel so strangely at home. All these people, black, yellow, white, from all these different heritages, cultural backgrounds and with so many religious faiths all coming together to celebrate, to waive that red and white banner. They're all proud, proud to be Canadian, to be born, to be living, to have come to this wonderful country, this blend of mutual acceptance, blending and cosmopolitanism that is a model of for the future of this world.
Happy Birthday, Canada.
And while it is a joyous day here, I also cannot but not remember that it is/was also my dad's birthday. Were he here to see this world, to experience with me what I experience now, this joy and achievement here in Canada, I think, or at least I'd hope, he'd be very proud...
1 comment:
It's not so surprising that Europe is more "xenophobic" than Canada: immigrants in most European countries have come from lower-class muslim families, which is no reason to discriminate against them, but one shouldn't be surprised if ordinary voters (not always the brightest folk, nor priviliged enough to live in good neighbourhoods) protest to this. Canadian immigrants are mostly from Asia and the West (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Canada); the latter being wealthy, the former having a culture that emphasises hard work and obedience. What both regions lack is islam, a generally hyperconservative and all-encompassing religion. See also http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14302290&sa_campaign=publisher/aug/09/eh
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