Canada Day

On my way home from a lovely evening with fun friends I was listening to the Vinyl Cafe with Stuart Maclean and he read a story about a new Canadian and his experience with feeling Canadian, or better stated lack thereof due to some redneck comment of some so-called "real" Canadian. It struck a chord with me, not just because of the nasty comment, but also because of my own experience. The Dutch government for the longest time would not allow dual citizenship. So to become a Canadian citizen I would have to give up my Dutch citizenship. This was a problem for me as being Dutch is part of who I am. This has now changed and after all this time I will pursue Canadian citizenship. Canada has been a good country for me, even though I really didn't like it when I came here and it was not easy to integrate even though I spoke English well and our cultures are not that different. Yet, I didn't feel I belonged and I was not always tolerated wholeheartedly. I had a similar experience to the gentleman in the Vinyl Cafe story and it really hurts when people say nasty things. You can try all you want but those sorts of comments do not create a welcome feeling. However, I have wonderful friends, my husband and daughter are Canadian, I have been able to accomplish a lot here and so maybe I wil spend part of my Canada day completing the forms. I will need all of you to cheer me on though in the swearing in ceremony! Happy Canada day