I once met a young man named Josh; we were sitting at a cafe in Rome discussing the Euro crisis, and I remember it well. We discussed the economic impact the crisis was having on Italy, and Josh began to tell me about Italian family structure. He said that the Italians were a close knit bunch at home, and often took time out of their workday to come home for lunch with their families. This did not bode well for Italian GDP, but Josh was fine that fact. “Life is about more than endless production” he told me. “Why should we work all day if we cannot enjoy the fruit of our labors”, he implored. Josh had found peace in the Italian lifestyle, and Josh was at home. 

I once met a student named Sofie; we were sitting at a cafe in Vancouver discussing the Euro crisis, and I remember it well. Sofie was studying ECON at UBC and was frustrated that she was unable to ski as often as she would like. She was so swamped with work she could barely find time for anything else, and when she finally had a break there was no snow on the mountains! But Sofie quickly told me it was quite all right; she would have some time off in the summer to travel, hike, and kayak. There was no place in the world she world she would rather live, and the sacrifices she made to enjoy her surroundings were worth it. Sofie had found peace in Vancouver’s beautiful outdoors, and Sofie was at home. 

I once met a Forex trader named Franz; we were sitting at a cafe in Beijing discussing the Euro crisis, and I remember it well. Franz loved currencies, and we had a lively discussion about where the Canadian dollar was going in the wake of recent economic events. Franz had grown up in Winnipeg but moved abroad after school in search of work. He never lost touch with his roots, but he had made a new life for himself in China. He worked during the week at a bank, but he was able to spend time his family on the weekends. He loved playing mahjong with his friends, and it wasn’t unlikely that you would find him at a Party World testing out his vocal cords. Franz had found peace in a foreign land, and Franz was at home. 

A quick note about the story: I find it difficult to write about myself, as I feel most people do, so I came up with a few characters to demonstrate my sense of self through the story. I typically don’t think of stories when I connect myself to home, but I certainly think of the values that my family has, and continues to, instill in me. As such, my characters told their own stories (histories) in way that centered around their values, the choices they made, and what they sacrifice to attain what they want. The key to each of their stories is that they are all different, but that does not change the ultimate sense of home they find. Home is more than the four walls that surround us most of the time, it is a sense of belonging that can exist anywhere and at any time. The reason I chose to use multiple characters because I feel that identity (or at the very least my own identity) is constructed with a variety of variables, and no single connection to the world accounts for the entirety of who we are. I think this notion meshes well with the dialogue we are being asked to explore between native and settler cultures, as a multiplicitous sense of identity leaves more room for expansion and acceptance.

Works Cited

“Family Karaoke.” Party World KTV. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <http://www.partyworldktv.com.sg/>.

Jarvis, Johnathan. “The Crisis of Credit Visualized.” YouTube. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx_LWm6_6tA>.