shards of something else.

Woman without a country

I've loved experiencing the south side of the border as more than a tourist.... the transition has overall been easy and very blessed. Gotta say though.... being a foreign national has its interesting parts. I have become the reference for all jokes and questions related to the north (I have been asked multiple times about curling since the Winter Olympics started!), and being teased about my Canadian-ness has become an established part of the relationship between my advisor and me. It's pretty entertaining, although one really has to be able to laugh at herself and be secure about who she is! I found this a few weeks ago and thought it was clever:

I couldn't resist showing this to Dr. Joe (my advisor), even knowing that this would be giving him more ammunition for his teasing! He uses this every chance he gets. :p

All this teasing about my "foreignness" has all been well and good.... until this past week. During a phone call home with my parents, my dear dear sister, who was watching the Olympics men's halfpipe event, yelled out, "Your country is killing us!!!"

Ex-CUSE me?!

All the Canadian jokes I have endured since moving here could not have prepared me for this heated accusation. I was shocked! Offended! What a thing to come out of such a darling mouth!! Since when was my Canadianship revoked without my notice??

Somehow, I have become a woman without a country.... because as Dr. Joe put it when I told him about this incident, "your country has disowned you, and we have not yet accepted you."

Reeling from the loss,
Steph.