The Icelandic connection - 01.06.2010, Qupperneq 28

26
ICELANDIC CONNECTION
Vol. 63 #1
On Being Canadian - Away from Home
by Heida Simundsson
Bangkok, Thailand
December, 2009
I just finished a very interesting and
enjoyable book by Roy MacGregor titled
Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and
Its People (Toronto: Viking Canada Publ.,
2007). The topic of Canadian identity has
been on my mind for the past several
months and, as you read on the back
cover, this book “come(s) as close to cap-
turing the feel and flavour of Canada as
words allow ... a remarkable book.”
MacGregor talks about topics that built
and shaped our country and things that
today make up our country; the topics
range from politics, to prairies, to hockey,
to Metis’ rights, landscape and trains, to
immigration, and everything else between
and outlying.
I have made attempts before to sum-
marize my ideas of Canada and my
nationality but have a hard time putting it
into words. I realize after reading this that
I just don’t know enough about the histo-
ry and the general population. 1 just
haven’t seen enough either. How can I
attempt to summarize Canadian-ness if I
haven’t seen or experienced the many
very different cultures, landscapes, ideas
and ways of life you can find within my
country?
MacGregor did not even reach any
kind of definite conclusion in three hun-
dred-some pages. And this was after trav-
elling across the country and talking to
many different people in different walks
of life. He just explored and discussed the
Canadian identity, not really drawing any
conclusions. Reading this book has
instilled a desire to travel more of
Canada, talk to different people, and see
things for myself . . . explore and discuss.
A little background: I am a fourth-
generation Canadian of Icelandic descent
on my paternal side and my maternal
family has been Canadian since the early
days of the fur trade. I am in my final year
of a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from
University of Winnipeg. The U of W pro-
gram offers fifth-year students the oppor-
tunity to finish their last year in a work-
study program in Thailand. Thus it is that
I find myself spending my first winter
away from Canada; teaching in an
English-language school in Bangkok.
Being away from home has made me
realize how very much Canadian I am.
I'll share with you some of my
favourite parts in the book, or a few parts
that really hit home with me. At the end of
the book, the most definite conclusions
MacGregor comes to about being
Canadian is that Canada is just what it is
to each individual. He talks about his
memories as a child at a place called Lake
of Two Rivers. I didn't quite catch if this
was where his home was, or if it was a
summer retreat of some sort, but it sounds
like it was one of his favourite places and
he continues to revisit it as an adult.
He writes, “Lake of Two Rivers.
Roots and Rocks. The place I think of
when I first think of Canada. My Pier 21
- where I landed at the age of three days
and have stayed ever since.” This has
been a thought similar to mine when
thinking about the Canadian Identity. In