I’m surprised to find that so many of us feel so similar about the concept of “home”. I mentioned the ambiguity of “home” in my previous blog, and as I read the blogs of other students I began to feel that this feeling of ambiguity was more widespread than I initially thought.

Alishae Abeed talks about home “as a feeling” and describes her adventures back and forth from Lahore, to Dubai, to Oakville and to UBC. Alishae transgresses the physical space of “home” and describes it as a feeling with memories, family, friends, food, smells, and ultimately as something more than just the confinements of a property line. I share this feeling with Alishae, particularly the aspect of food, because there is nothing more “homey” to me than a piled plate of my mom’s spaghetti or her delicious salsa chicken.

Charmaine talks about the house that she grew up in on UBC Campus, her memories, her family, and eventually having to move into a new home away from campus. Charmaine reveals a conflict of ownership versus attachment that rules her confusion after discovering that her family never truly owns the house at UBC. While I believe that home is a feeling, as a child I felt a similar ownership for my home. Even thought it wasn’t mine (it was my parents) it felt like it was mine. Charmaine discusses the strange issue of whether or not her house was actually hers, as the home was actually situated on Musqueam land.

Fredi Li hits the hammer on the head when she states “home is comfort, familiarity, safety, love, and most importantly, family”. She shares her memory as a child when she was traveling toward Calgary on the “Going-To-The-Sun” road. In her moment of fear, she finds home in her family. Despite not having a physical place to call home, Freda expresses the happiness and comfort that she felt in the presence of her family. I share this feeling with Freda, as I have also always found a piece of home in each of my family members.

We all seem to share these values, assumptions, and stories:

-Home is hard to encompass in a finite definition

-Home is not stagnant. Home changes over time.

-Home includes family

-Home is familiar

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Works Cited

Abeed, Alishae. “ENGL 470A: Canadian Studies.” ENGL 470A Canadian Studies. WordPress, n.d. Web. 09 June 2015.

Li, Charmaine. “A Home With Many Advantures.” Canadian Yarns and Storytelling Threads. WordPress, n.d. Web. 09 June 2015.

Li, Freda. “Whose Canada Is It?” ENGL 470 Whose Canada Is It. WordPress, n.d. Web. 09 June 2015.