Canada, according to the new Canadian…

A few observations of late...


The first & most pressing question for me is:

• ...Why have some of the Canadians still got their Christmas lights up? Is it not enough that they came out at the beginning of November but to still be up in the middle of February… ho hum.
• Teenagers here are very cool. They are articulate, respectful (and respected, probably a hand-in-hand thing) intelligent and have sacks-full of common sense.
• Education is amazing. Never mind dropping our standards, we’ve had our eyes opened to how amazing it can be. The schools are quiet, calm places. Students respect teachers and rules. Teachers respect Students, it’s a very inclusive environment and I, for one, love it.
• Kids have a plan. They subscribe to a cause, off their own backs, they see the power of ‘we’ not ‘me’ and they take in the bigger picture. I have been overwhelmed with admiration of how these kids, and they are as young as eight or nine and up to fifteen or sixteen, who are raising money for Haiti, organising enormous events, and hosting them without adult input, they could teach me a thing or two.
• And it’s not just the kids. At Christmas there were more volunteer opportunities than I have ever seen. More charitable events raising more money for local and national causes than you can imagine. Everyone was doing something. Each school does a ‘hamper drive’ whereby each child brings in something from a pre-issued list, from a small toy to food for a Christmas meal, and all the donations are collected up and delivered to the less-than-fortunate families in the school or, in our case, the nearby areas. There is some poverty here but it is not frowned upon (or milked by an over-dependence on a faulty state-system) and those in need don’t mind saying so. Everything is done very respectfully but the end result is that those families who couldn’t have put together a special meal or give their kids much for Christmas have a turkey, and fresh vegetables. And their kids have presents to open. It doesn’t take much to make a difference.
• The lake is quite the most beautiful thing I see every day.
• The unity of this place, which is probably incapsulated in all the above comments, is mind-blowing. I get tingles just thinking about it. The 2010 Vancouver Olympics are almost underway and everywhere you go there are messages of support for the teams, flags flying, Go Canada signs everywhere. The Olympic torch came across Canada and we were lucky enough to see it here in Kelowna, in fact we ran behind the torch bearer for a while, with ‘O Canada’ booming out over the PA and the Canadian flag wherever you looked, the 20,000 strong crowd all whoop-whooping, cheering and generally building that esteem that carries this country forth. I felt honoured to be part of it.
• There are too many bill-boards obscuring your vision of the stunning scenery.
• My prediction for Kelowna in 20 years is a sad one, it’s turning into a mini-LA with lots of boob-jobs and enormous unnecessary chromed vehicles… the decadent homes are fighting for remaining land resulting in smaller plots and larger homes wedged in. It’s up & coming, sure. When it arrives we may just move on to quieter pastures…
• When the devastating fires took hold here in 2003 everyone came together to offer shelter, not just for people but for their animals, horses, vehicles. The same was true of last years' fires and wherever you looked there were billboards offering help, adverts placed in the local papers, notices up on walls and street corners. I love how this community comes together. The fires this time were contained with little structural damage, although so much forest was devastated, and with it the habitats and lives of so much wildlife. The stories of burning animals are horrific. The fires of 2003 instigated an action plan for future fires, which was put into action last summer - most of the firefighters were volunteers. When I watch this on youtube it makes me cry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVp80WCU-mY (turn up your volume) The fire line was extinguished just a couple of hundred feet behind where we live now, so many homes were burnt to the ground. This is so Kelowna, so Canada for me. I forgot this for a while.
• Some things remain constant despite the change in continent. Politics generally, for one. However good it is – and it’s damn good on the whole – the people will campaign for more. More rights, more funding, more voices. I say look at what you have. But then I would, life’s pretty easy here (in my humble opinion) compared to the two continents I have lived in before North America…
• Oh, and Doctor’s receptionists. We still owe them a living, and don’t forget to apologise for bothering them if they happen to answer your call….
• Canadians trust the English accent. Apparently we’re well educated. Cool.
• Travel broadens the mind. Emigration strips you of your identity and you have to fight to get it back. It’s tougher than anything I’ve ever done before. And I’ve done stuff.
• In Canada the customer is always right. Companies and government bodies do the ‘right’ thing.
• This country amazes me everywhere I look. The future is so bright it’s gleaming. I’m so humbled to be a part of that future, I hope with all my heart that our kids grow up here; that they take the space, the scenery, the politeness, the mutual respect for granted. I hope they never have to encounter a ‘computer says no’ shop assistant or government official, have to be sworn at because they forgot to change lane in time, or worry for their safety on a dark night. Utopia, perhaps not, but we may just have turned back the clock for our kids, its life as we knew it 30 years ago.

It was worth it. Remind me I said that. That's your lot for tonight :)