Welcome to my blog, English 470! My name is Brendan Ha and I’m a fifth year English Literature major who is currently applying for his Bachelors of Education. I’m a second-generation Korean-Canadian who was born in Vancouver, and then was condemned to a locale that is perpetually perfumed in the aroma of cow manure. I live in lovely, lovely Abbotsford.
This is a view from Eagle Mountain, one of the richest neighbourhoods in Abbotsford. Please don’t mind the Real Estate logo at the bottom right. I’m sure there’s some social commentary that can be derived from this.
We’re also situated in the Bible Belt of Canada, so interspersed between stretches of blueberry farms are dollops of churches, fellowships and assemblies. I am also sad to say that Abbotsford has lost its prestigious title as the murder capital of Canada in 2012. The city is still currently looking for something to be proud about in the new year. Jokes aside, I do enjoy my rural town. Despite all the bugs and unpleasantry that comes with the agrarian landscape, I can at least take solace in the fact that we don’t have flying spiders. Although it is different than the eclectic energy of the city, Abbotsford harnesses a more calmer power. When the horizon yawns against the rosy-fingered twilight and you can see the white-capped crest of Mt. Baker jutting out above the picturesque hills, one can only say “wow, this is home.”
Here, where sermons and folk-song thrive, I can see an intersection between this class and home. English 470 is a course where we’ll study Canadian literature’s wealth of Indigenous traditions, where speech drives the compelling power of stories to the forefront of intercourse and the spirited participation of both listener and orator. We’ll discover the historical undercurrent of the works we examine and further explore the linkage with European forms of literary expression. And this is why I am so excited to take this course. I want to broaden my understanding of Canadian literature by falling into the intricate webbing of “nation building, canonization and colonization” (Paterson). I want to wrap myself intimately with racial issues in Canada, tie them to the body of works of our writers and find how each string resonates today in 2016. To be able to collaborate with everyone here on the worldwide web is going to be an absolutely enriching experience as I’m sure we all come from places with stories of our own, whether it’s the big, bustling city or the small, quiet town. English 470 promises this and I am ready to take the plunge.
And although I may be scared of spiders, the web of storytelling is something I would love to be ensnared by.
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Works Cited
“Abbotsford Sheds Title as Murder Capital of Canada.” The Star. The Canadian Press, 3 Jan. 2012. Web. 8 Jan. 2016. <http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/01/03/abbotsford_sheds_title_as_murder_capital_of_canada.html>.
Nes, Katie Van. Keller-Williams-Amazing-Homes-Eagle-Mountain-Amazing-Views-Abbotsford-BC. Digital image. Luxury Real Estate Lives Atop “Eagle Mountain” in Abbotsford, BC. Activerain, 19 July 2011. Web. 9 Jan. 2016. <http://activerain.com/blogsview/2408699/luxury-real-estate-lives-atop–eagle-mountain–in-abbotsford–bc>.
Paterson, Erika. “Course Syllabus.” ENGL 470A Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres Jan 2016. University of British Columbia, 2015. Web. 12 January 2016.
Watson, Traci. “Flying Spiders Found—and They Can Steer in Mid-Air” National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 18 August 2015. Web. 10 Jan 2016. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150818-spiders-animals-science-flying-forests/>.
Hi Brendan,
Greetings from another English Lit student who also hopes to enter the profession of cultivating minds someday! Thank you for that bucolic yet tongue-in-cheek description of Abbotsford. I’m sure your future students will be very entertained by your colourful vignettes. Growing up near the last stretches of farmland in Richmond, I can definitely commiserate with your daily olfactory battles. Real farms—however picturesque—oft fail appease the nose. (You’d think Keats or Wordsworth would have written a poem about this by now for all their obsession over earthiness!)
Having spent a week in Missouri over the winter break, I was intrigued to learn of a Bible Belt north of the 49th parallel—and stunned to learn that a city at its BC heart also bore the dubious distinction of “murder capital of Canada.” It seems antithetical that two titles are referring to the same space! While the link briefly mentions gang violence, I’d be interested to hear a local’s perspective. What do you think are the social or historical undercurrents that have woven such an unusual narrative for your city?
Thanks,
Bea
Hi Bea,
And a warm greeting back to you! I’m glad to hear from another prospective farmer. I hope my future students will appreciate the Arcadian re-imagining of Abbotsford, but if destiny brings me back to teaching here, I doubt they will share the same vein of enthusiasm for the farmlands. As you have said already, they are enemies to the nose. So, if Wordsworth and Keats have written anything about their olfactory assailants, they have probably used the papers they’ve written on to cover their noses and have ruined them in the process…
Interesting question! Due to its religious atmosphere, Abbotsford is a highly conservative place and historically, the city has faithfully (ha-ha) been blue since the creation of its riding. Although, 2015 marks the first time the Conservative Party won with less than 50% of the popular vote! Anyways, because of this conservative, religious background perhaps many youth are compelled to rebel against their strict upbringings, always told to be quiet, to be fearful of authority. As a consequence, many lash out. Of course, this is all a generalization, but one created from the fruits of personal experience.
Looking forward to a great semester with you, Bea!
Thank you.
Hey there Brendan,
I just couldn’t help but to comment on how I feel about your lovely town and the calm you describe so well. Sometimes throughout my travels, I’ve felt that many of the people that are blessed with living in a relatively calmer life in this post modern era might not be appreciating the effects of a life setting that is much more in touch with the environment we evolved in and depend on so much. But I’m happy to say more often than not, I run into people such as yourself who do take joy in this much underrated luxury, and I get to take a little joy in it vicariously.
When I think about why I so strongly relate to what you shared on your blog, I can only think it’s because I was born and raised in a city of 12 million and have lived in many metropolitan cities. But through my two-sided extremist nature, I’ve ended up spending many years living and working in places much less shaped by the younger thoughts of mankind, mostly in an agricultural setting. And also I think I have a stronger feeling about the effects of the differences of lifestyles due to my experience in rigorous meditation and yoga practices which I feel like can make a person sensitive in peculiar ways.
One of the reasons I think I’m so drawn to the power of literature is because of such doors it can open for a person like myself to cross such divides, and be a tool to help familiarize oneself to completely new settings.
Hey Kourosh,
Thanks for reading my blog! The points you’ve made resonate within me very much so. I’ve recently finished reading a book called The 100-Mile Diet for my contemporary literature class, and although it is slightly extreme and at points contradictory, the book advocates a return to a nature we have been severed from through the vehicle of local produce. Commuting to Vancouver and experiencing the crazy city life is a joy in itself but certainly, when you are able to partake in both worlds you get to appreciate the treasures of each setting.
That’s really awesome! For me, I think exploring the world and to live and breathe different circumstances, settings, situations and environments is so conducive to a broadening of the personal human experience. I’ve always been interested in meditation. Perhaps soon, I’ll start my own reflective regime!
And regarding your last point, I wholly agree. I’m stoked to be able to cross the divide toward what seemingly should be familiar, but what is totally unfamiliar to me. That “what” being Canadian literature.
Looking forward to an awesome semester with you, Kourosh!
Thank you.
Hi Brendan,
Your blog post was great! I learned so many different things from it, both about you as well as about Abbotsford. I grew up in Vancouver and have lived in the Lower Mainland my whole life, never knowing that Abbotsford was once the murder capital of Canada. Scary to imagine! I think it is kind of ironic that you are on the “Bible Belt of Canada” and it was also once the murder capital – interesting phenomenon.
What in particular about the web of storytelling intrigues you?
– Courtney
Hello Courtney,
Thanks so much! I appreciate your kind words a lot. To be quite honest with you, I lived a lot of my life in Abbotsford without realizing it was the murder capital as well! I think I only realized the fact when that particular article was published! The irony that you’ve mentioned is definitely a crux for many of my Abbotsfordian jokes.
Gee “Clee,” the web of storytelling intrigues me in many ways, but perhaps one element to pinpoint would be the capacity for stories to frame the world and one’s personal contexts. Chamberlin’s text has definitely inspired me to view narratives more closely as tools to recapture the world with the intimate lens of human experience—especially with perspectives that are foreign to my own.
Thanks for the comment Courtney! I’m excited for a great semester with you!
Thank you.