Monthly Archives: February 2014

After reading a handful of blogs, I have felt nostalgic and sentimental for the past because each classmate’s definition of home brings back many memories. I sincerely enjoyed reading your stories and appreciate that some have gone so in-depth in sharing them. I know sometimes it’s not that easy re-telling a story that comes with emotional weight, so I just wanted to say thank you everyone for sharing your intimate past! With that being said, I found some commonalities of ‘home’ that I wanted to touch on:

Home is

• wherever parents are
• welcoming
• a place of belonging
• a place of longing/missing
• love and acceptance
• warmth
• a shelter
• feeling protected
• filled with memories – both good and bad

I also wanted to address the following quotes from classmates Gillian and Sam because I find myself relating to their definition of home:

“there is ALWAYS a full fridge at home, stuffed full of the most delectable food and wine. Compared to my student fridge of hot sauce and pickles, a full fridge is a divine luxury upon returning home.” https://blogs.ubc.ca/gillianmciver/

I decided to move out for my last year at UBC, which means I am away from home but closer to campus. This is the first time living by myself, which means I have to do all the cooking. Due to my lazy nature and lack of cooking skills, I never have a stocked fridge. Like Gillian, I usually have some condiments and maybe (if I’m lucky) some leftover from a restaurant. So, whenever I head home, I get VERY excited to open a fridge full of food, not to mention eating the most delicious, comforting ‘home food’ my mother cooks.

“Home is so much more than a geographical location.  […]It doesn’t even have to be a place. Home can be a group of friends that have opened up their arms to you when you needed it the most.” https://blogs.ubc.ca/samellisengl470/

I relate to this quote because I have pretty much lived with my family my entire life. I only moved out for my final year at UBC because I couldn’t stand 3 hour commute rides. With that being said, living on my own for the first time can get extremely lonely. I am constantly accompanied by silence, there is no one to talk to, and I find a lot of time by myself. It really is great to have a circle of friends that I can be with at times I feel lonely, or when I just need someone to talk to. Even sharing a meal together makes the worlds difference in my opinion. For that reason, I am so grateful to have met a handful of people at UBC who I can call my second family.

I wanted to address two aspects of home in my story: the first is where I call my home and the second is my definition of home.

When I first moved to Port Coquitlam when I was five, I really did not consider Canada my home. My mom, brother and I had moved in with my Aunt’s family, which also included her sister-in-law’s family as well. Needless to say, the house was always bustling with noise and crowded most of the time. I remember my elementary school years filled with unfamiliarity and frustration; I wasn’t fluent at speaking English and it was very difficult making friends. Each time I had a spelling test, I wouldn’t know half the words. Because it was a struggle to adapt to school, I didn’t enjoy much of my time there. I always looked forward to going home where I would be greeted by familiar faces. Further, I remember counting down the days I could return to Hong Kong to visit my dad. To me, Hong Kong was my true home even though I had migrated to Canada. My fondest memories of Hong Kong at the tender age of 5 were spending time with my grandparents in my old apartment, eating delicious street food like curry balls and skewers, and drinking Vita lemon tea (which is equivalent to juice boxes here) on a hot, humid day. What I cherished most about life in Hong Kong was the sense of familiarity – I understood the language, most of my family members were there, and the buildings and markets always gave me a sense of belonging.

However, my sense and outlook of a home has changed as my stay in Vancouver extended. When my dad moved to Vancouver in 2004, my family and I decided that it was finally time for us to move out into a house of our own. We found a neat Japanese-inspired home up the mountains in Coquitlam. As the years have passed, more and more memories were made in that house with the people I love and respect. My sense of home has shifted from Hong Kong to Canada ever since my immigration because I no longer visited Hong Kong as often. Because my immediate family members were all in Canada, I finally felt like my family was settled in Canada. I guess you could say that there was a sense of relief because I knew I wasn’t going to move elsewhere. For that reason, I consider my family a huge part of my home and regard the two as synonymous with one another. I connect Canada to my home because that is where my family is. The sense of welcoming and belonging given to me by my family is incomparable to any other feeling. It brings me joy just to think of that particular feeling because I think of warmth and acceptance. I want to end this response with a quote that fits perfectly with my definition of a home and has resonated with me since I read it: It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home.