Migratory Meanderings

How Do You Explain Canada?

Some friends of ours (I won’t ‘out’ them just yet) are thinking seriously at emigrating, spurred on by the fact that we’ll be leaving at some point (if only we can find the time to fill in those dang papers and submit our application!). At first they wanted to go to the US of A but discovered that America has reached its ‘quota’ of UK immigrants so apparently they could enter the country but wouldn’t even be conisidered for a Green Card, thus unable to work. Unbelievable! So, they’ve begun to look into Canada, despite the fact that they haven’t been there. I asked them “Why not Australia, or South Africa, or someplace warmer and more exotic?” and their answer had to do with the fact that Canada had a lack of bugs and snakes that could kill you (as opposed to places like Australia and South Africa), plus that Canada seems to openly welcome immigrants and makes the process relatively straightforward, and that Canada was just a pretty cool country. They told us that they just want to get out of the UK, that it’s going “down the pan” in a big hurry and they just want a fresh start. Fair enough.

But there’s the small matter that they’ve not actually been to Canada (I’ve heard that this is common with many immigrants). In the case of our friends, they’ve been to Florida and seen the Canadian pavillion at Epcot, and have drank Canadian beer at said pavillion and met some very nice Canucks, but it’s not quite the same is it? So I’ve had to become a kind of unofficial Canadian ambassador for them. I am honoured by this prospect (seeing as I’m the only “live Canadian specimen” they have close at hand) but also a little intimidated, because it does put a lot of pressure on me—especially since I haven’t really lived there for basically 8 years, and when I left I was a university student so I haven’t had a true example of what living in the real-Canadian-world is like.

So to give them a bit of a “taster”, I’ve given them some of my back issues of Canadian Living and Reader’s Digest to introduce them to a tiny sliver of Canadian culture. I’ve let them borrow a few of my Canadian books to explain what us Canuckleheads are really like (but the big question is, do us Canadians really know ourselves?!)—books like How To Be A Canadian by Will Ferguson and Why We Act Like Canadians by Pierre Burton. (I’ve always been passionate about Canadian Literature (CanLit for short) but of course most of my cool Canadian books are packed in boxes in my parents’ basement). Other than pointing out several potential places to settle on a Canadian road map, this is the best I can do for them under the circumstances. There’s also the UK-based newspaper for potential immigrants, called Canada News which contains information and advertisements, as well as articles by UK immigrants who’ve taken the plunge but it’s really difficult to plan a trans-Atlantic move and get the feel of a potential country without living there for a period of time beforehand, and I don’t think many potential immigrants have that luxury. So it is very much a leap of faith.

But all this has got me thinking (again) about what it means to be Canadian, and what Canada means to Canadians. I think Canada is gradually coming into its own identity, and I’ve always been proud of the fact that there is relatively little racism in Canada compared to other countries and that people could celebrate their ‘roots’ (ie Russian or Scandinavian) but are still proud of being called Canadian. I think Canada’s becoming more at ease with standing up and saying “I AM CANADIAN” (even if it took a beer commercial to really kickstart the trend) but of course there’s a long way to go and Canada still has its share of problems.

I feel almost like an immigrant myself, seeing Canada in a new way and feeling a bit scared that I won’t fit in to my home country after being away from it for a good while. But what I want to say to my friends and others who want to make Canada their home, and are willing to work to create a life for themselves as many Canadian families including my own did when they emigrated, all I can say is, COME ON OVER. Canada is a pretty cool country.

YAY! They Did It!

Mega-congrats to Kate and Frank who successfully swam across the Atlantic (just kidding) and are now getting used to those funny Canadian accents (noo doot, eh!) and exploring the wilds of Toronto. I wonder if they’ve been initiated into the House of Tim yet? Looking forward to the blogs, you two—and I am comforted by the fact that we know someone who’s done this so we can take confidence in the fact that yeah, we can do this too.

DJ Carla Strikes Again!

My previous post got me thinking which is never a good thing (so my husband tells me!) but I thought it would be kind of funky to do an Official Immigration Mix CD. G always shudders in utter terror whenever I do a complication CD because I inevitably put on several cheezy 80s tunes (what’s so wrong with that anyway, I ask?)…but I think he secretly likes my CDs, even though he never puts them in the car. But to provide the soundtrack for our Good-Ol’-Fashioned-Immigration-Form-Filling-In Party™, which will be happening very soon, I thought I’d come up with some possibilities of what I could stick on a CD. It goes without saying that I’d like you, dear reader, to come up with some other possibilites. but here’s my list so far.

The Canadian Rant My name is Carla, and I Am Canadian!
The Immigrant Song by Led Zep. It had to be done, but everytime I hear this all I can think of are those Viking Kittens .I wonder why….
Should I Stay Or Should I Go by The Clash. For Those indecisive moments when we wake up and go ‘so why the heck are we doing this again?!’.
Leaving On A Jet Plane by Chantal Kraviazuk. Besides being glaringly obvious from its song title, it’s also one of those really sad songs where you just want to listen to the song and have a good cry if you’re feeling homesick or whatever.
Come Fly With Me by Michael Buble….Uh, Durr!
Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. Ever since I mentioned it in my last post, it’s been running around my head like crazy.
Seize The Day by Carolyn Arends. This is a Christian song, but I really like the lyrics to it. It just popped into my head the other day for some unknown reason (I haven’t listened to it for ages) but it seemed to confirm that yeah, we’ve gotta grab this opportunity while we have the chance.
Cowboy Take Me Away by the Dixie Chicks. I’ve always really liked the lyrics to this song. Like “Wide Open Spaces” it speaks to me about finding my own place where I can feel safe and truly be myself and feel like I just am meant to be in that place. I haven’t really felt that in England even though I’ve tried to make it work and n hope that we both find that place in Canada.
Small Town by John Cougar Mellencamp. I had to leave in order to get a new appreciation for my roots. But would I wanna live there again? The jury’s still out on that one.
Don’t Fence Me In by David Byrne. Give me land, lots of land under starry skies above….

This isn’t enough for a CD but I’m sure I’ll find more possibilities. I don’t want to go to sleep right now even though I have to. I want to stay up and put together my CD! Dangit.