Hi everyone,
My name is Sierra Gale and I welcome you to read what I have to contribute to English 470’s semester-long discussion.
Seeing as this course will focus on the place we call home, and how we think and speak about that home, it might be useful to share with you the various homes I have called my own. I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, a place I have called home for the majority of my life and will continue to for an uncertain amount of time. However, I left Saskatchewan in 2007 and have since lived in Texas, Vancouver, Revelstoke, Hawaii, the seats of various busses travelling throughout South America, and a 1976 Dodge camper van. I am currently splitting my time between Vancouver and Gibsons and am so happy to be back on the west coast.
I graduated from UBC in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations. I’ve enrolled in this course with you fine people because I am currently applying to various post-degree teacher education programs. An additional english literature course is something I require to be considered admissible to most schools. Why did I choose this course in particular? My knowledge of Canadian history is, in my opinion, shamefully lacking. The opportunity this class offers, to be able to learn more about Canada’s history online, with a focus on storytelling and First Nations’ perspective, is one I couldn’t pass up.
Throughout my travels, I have often been asked what it’s like to be from Canada. Every time I am asked this, I find it very difficult to form a useful answer. When I am asked about our politics, our culture, or how we relate to one another, anything I say just doesn’t seem accurate enough, or complete. I know racism exists here. I have seen it most obviously in my home province of Saskatchewan. Why it exists has been a topic of many late-night kitchen debates. What I am hoping to gain from this course is a better idea of what it means to be Canadian, truly, through the interpretation of stories and perspectives I would otherwise not be exposed to.
I look forward to learning from, and with all of you. Here’s to the beginning of what I hope will be a supportive, inspiring online platform!
Sincerely,
Sierra
Works Cited:
Gale, Sierra. “Skipping Winter: An adventure in the southerly direction.” Web blog post. Skipping Winter. WordPress, 9 Mar. 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
Smith, Kim. “Bleak picture painted of racism in Saskatchewan.” Global News. Global News Canada, 23 Jan. 2015. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.
Hi Sierra,
I enjoyed reading your post. I really identify with what you said about struggling to tell people about what it’s like to live in Canada. I’ve also done quite a bit of travelling, and it is so common to share stories about your country’s food, culture, and general way of life with new people that you meet. I find that I have a hard time explaining what Canada is “like,” and I’ve tried to identify a few reasons why this might be:
– In comparison to many other countries, Canada is very young and has simply not had the time to develop a concrete or even stereotypical identity.
– Canada’s First Nations peoples have rich and distinct cultures, yet most Canadians (myself included!) do not seem to have much knowledge of First Nation culture in general, let alone identify with it.
– While racism certainly exists in Canada, it is still a multicultural country. Because a variety of people immigrate to Canada and continue to engage in their own cultural practices and religions here, it is hard to say what is solely “Canadian.” For example, when my German cousin was visiting Canada for the first time, he looked around Kerrisdale and asked, “Where are all the Canadians?” It took me a while to figure out that he saw “Canadians” to be synonymous with “white people.” Canadians are people from all over the world who have chosen to bring their lives here.
– Canada is large and there are different cultural norms in different parts of the country. I can confidently describe life in Vancouver, but I have not gotten to know other places in the country well enough to confidently describe Canadian life in general.
I would love to hear if you or any others have some thoughts on this!
Cheers,
Emma
Emma, thanks so much for choosing to comment on my blog! I’ve definitely pondered a couple of the reasons you’ve mentioned. Your comment about your cousin having an image of Canadians as “white people” is especially interesting to me however because it seems so silly, yet totally understandable in a way. What I will take away and probably come back to in the future are your words, “Canadians are people from all over the world who have chosen to bring their lives here.” I love that. Thank you.
Hi Sierra,
You blog looks great, thanks and welcome to our course of studies together. I enjoyed your photos of your travels very much, a great blog. I too have lived in the seat of many a bus traveling central America – https://belizebelize.wordpress.com/category/walking-into-tijuana/
I look forward to working together and I do think you are going to enjoy this course.
Hey Sierra,
Like Emma I also got the urge to comment from what you wrote about being asked “what is it like to be from Canada?”. Now I wasn’t born in Canada myself, but I think I relate to what you say in my own way because I’ve experienced so many times intimately the same expressions about being Canadian through my close friends and family. So much so that I’ve come to believe at this time that this itself is what it feels like to be Canadian. And as vague as this characteristic might sound, and thus usually considered unpleasant, I personally view it as a powerful characteristic. So much so that I even see it as the reason for existence of a very good setting for the evolution of different ideologies into a new branch, or another matured state (like a lab).
It’s a conversation I haven’t had the chance to have enough times, about seeing this vagueness or openness aspect of a Canadian identity that is felt by some, as a positive characteristic considered worth adopting or spreading by outsiders or new inquirer.
Wow Kourosh. The idea that not knowing what it means to be Canadian could be considered one of the main characteristics contributing to what it means to be Canadian, and that that characteristic could be embraced as a positive one, is such a refreshing perspective. I had to twist my brain a tiny bit to see it, but I like the possibilities it offers. I will definitely be taking this new perspective into future conversations I have about “canadian-ness.” Thank you so much.