Missing home

dayna ann
New Member



Joined: 08 Jun 2004
Posts: 5

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 12:08 pm

 

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I went home last month for a week and it was wonderful. I have been in the USA for 4 years. Some things I have adapted well to and like very much...other things (giant cockroaches, guns, high crime, rudeness, corrupt politicians and police forces) I am still having a very tough time with.
I have tried hard to make friends and reach out. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck connecting with people that I really click with. 4 years is a long time to be trying. It is so frusterating. I sympathize will everyone who is having this "friend" issue.

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cdngirl80
New Member



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 5
Location: Seattle, WA

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 7:53 pm

 

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Reading everyone's posts on here is just...amazing. You're describing everything I'm feeling! I've always thought of myself as a patriotic Canadian, but it wasn't until I moved to the States that I became almost fanatical about it. Maybe it's because the Americans I've come in contact with (my husband, included) are just so...UNAWARE of Canadians and our culture and diversity, that I feel it's my duty to educate them. *LOL*

I'm going "home" in a month!!! I'll be there for a week, and I absolutely can't wait! And I just found out today that I get to go again in August (just the the weekend, though) because my uncle's getting married. I'm so excited. I have a feeling I'll gain about 30 just from Tim Horton's, but oh well...it'll be weight well gained. *LOL* And HARVEY'S!!! Ohhhhhh, I can just taste their burgers now. It's been so long....

Dayna Ann, I can totally commiserate with you about the friends thing. I left Canada at 19 and at that age, I was naive enough to think that friends were "forever" and all that. But 4 years IS a long time, and even with email, it's hard to stay in touch with everyone. I think it's also that my old friends and I are on completely different paths now, and don't/can't understand each other's lives as well as we could before.

And making friends here...well, I made a lot of friends in San Diego, and am lucky enough to still stay close with them, but I'm having a harder time here in Seattle. That's why I love the internet though...there are so many other people out there who understand what I'm going through...I don't feel so alone.

Q

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pkennedy1990
Junior Member



Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: London

Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 4:38 am

 

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If you think 4 years is a long time, try 18 years, your mother is from there (Louisiana-Mississippi Choctaw) your Canadian side of the family is all dead, you're being mistaken for an American everywhere you go, because you're First Nations are getting treated like "nigger" everywhere you go (check out Harlem or the Bronx if you don't know what I mean!) your mother's side of the family is not allowing you to register with Indian Affairs to get your benefits to go to college on, and the only part of the entire country where you can get any relief from all that is the city limits of San Francisco, 7 square miles of sanity.
Now I have noticed that most Canadians who go to the States and get treated like Americans don't mind as much, but they are not the First Nations ones. Only visible minorities in the States get treated like dirt. So when I say "getting mistaken for American" like it's a BAD thing, when you're First Nations getting mistaken for "nigger" everywhere you go, England included, that's what I mean. The women at the Canadian Embassy here in London caught on almost immediately to what I'm talking about.
So if you've only been there 4 years, you're lucky. After 18 years of being treated "like American" I'm ready for a PADDED CELL.

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torontobound2006
New Member



Joined: 01 Oct 2004
Posts: 7
Location: South Carolina, USA

Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 8:08 am

 

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Oh God, I would love to have some Tims right now!!!!!!!!!!!

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ironringer
New Member



Joined: 11 Nov 2004
Posts: 2
Location: Boston, MA

Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:48 pm

 

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I didn't realize how common my feelings are - I've been here almost 5 years, am planning to marry my American gf (who for career and family reasons would never move with me to Canada) and am deeply torn about my life choice. Before I moved here I was never much for Canuck nationalism but now...

I wonder if I've simply built up a rose-coloured image of my home and native land in my mind. I certainly remember never feeling like I could get ahead there, watching the medical system fail my grandfather, the endless East/West bickering, etc., but from my position now, facing the prospect of never being able to move home, and raising kids who will pronounce the last letter of the alphabet funny, who won't grow up watching CBC... As the opening subject of this thread said, I miss home.

Glad I found this site. A support group for displaced Canadians.

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