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My Riverside Rapid Digital Portfolio

Browsing monthly archives: September 2017

Perspectives on Multiculturalism

Many people have a preconcieved notion about people of color automatically not being able to speak fluent English. The man being interviewed in this video expresses his experiences with people’s assumptions about him because of race.

However, Canada is not all racist. The following article gives an example of that:

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/celebrate-canada-days/multiculturalism-day.html

I would say that despite incidents of racism, Canada is mostly a multicultural country.

What is the canadian identity?

There are a lot of stereotypes about Canadians. But the word stereotype has a bit of a bad connotation – prople think of it as unfounded. There are actually several stereotypes that are absolutely true, and in many cases are a large part of a Canadian’s everyday life. For example, please read through the following:

These things identfiy Canadians. For the most part, this is what foreigners and locals alike think when they hear the word Canadian. I myself admit to more than half these things describing me or my experience in Canada (I don’t drink coffee or beer).

 

Something else that defines Canada is its words. If one were to go to America and ask the price of a “toque” at a store, the person behind the desk would ask what in the world you’re talking about (I type from experience). And of course there is the ever-present “Eh”. The following article gives some information about the origins of these terms.

Five Canadian words and where they came from

If somebody from another era, say the Great Depression, read this, they’d probably not understand certain things which came after their time (e.g. The Stanley Cup), but in many ways would otherwise disagree with me for the most part. Most of the words mentioned in the article would either be very new, or as-yet nonexistent. Maple syrup would have been far too much of a luxury to be popular. Perhaps the only thing somebody from the 30s would agree with are Canada’s harsh winters, which likely claimed more lives then than now.

Life is about experiences

Saskatchewan. Such a fun name, such a boring place. Ahead of me, and behind me, and in all directions stretches emptiness, flatter than a ruler – rulers at least have the ink from the numbers sitting on top. Looking to my left to ease the monotony, I see my Dad. Ever the same, sitting there with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on the space where the window would have been (it’s open). He’s a little wide around the gut, but that happens. Looking to my left, I see my Mom. She’s stressed about… everything. My mother is a person who does not like long drives. I guess about ten minutes until she asks for either a stop and some fresh air, or a place to vomit. Come to think of it, I could use a stop and some fresh air. Better look out the front window for awhile. And how about some music? The dull roar of the diesel engine grows monotonous rather quickly. In my mouth remains the nasty aftertaste of the cheap fast food we had for lunch. I’ve felt better. The combination of the long drive, the aforementioned greasy fare, and the heat in the cabin of the U-haul are making me feel quite ill. Feel is such an odd word. It can mean physical sensations, or it can mean emotions. What emotions am I experiencing now? Sadness. I miss British Columbia, my home for my entire life until this point. I really wish we had stayed, but asking why for the umpteenth time is not going to do any good. I already know the answer. So I’m sad. But I’m also a little excited – moving to a new city, a new province – a world without mountains, where there are more leafy trees than evergreens. Who would have thought of such a place? Well, God apparently did because it exists. Now we’re coming up on the next town. Already? Time flies when you’re deep in thought.

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Today I got to know an interesting person named Gavin. His answers to my questions, or perhaps the questions themselves, didn’t give me much to work with, but I shall try to convey to you who he is. Gavin has one sibling who he does not seem to get along well with. He doesn’t really do art, but he is taking woodworking this year, so he apparently has some artistic inclination. He likes action movies and plays soccer for fun. From that I gather something of an appreciation for athletic endeavours. When asked what he would do if he won the lottery, he said that he would spend the money – the reader can make what he or she will of that. All in all, I would say that Gavin is a well rounded and fascinating person.

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