Europe Memoirs, Part 3: A Canadian in Europe

Original Post Date: August 8, 2009

I began my 3 day hiking expedition by leaving Berne early in the morning and heading for Interlaken Ost station by train. At Berne station, I was standing on the platform minding my own business when I was approached by an elderly gentleman. He told me he saw the Maple Leaf on my backpack, and asked me where I was from (I was pleasently surprised to see how well the Maple Leaf is recieved throughout Europe). We got to chatting, not just on the platform, but all the way to Interlaken, as it turned out we were going to the same destination. In fact, he was extremely friendly, we ended up exchanging contacts, and I promised I would come and see him the next time I was in Berne. The gentlemans name was Hans, and he happened to be a retired professor, who used to teach at Berkeley, and had travelled throughout the world, including Vancouver. This was really the first chance I had gotten to talk to a Swiss person freely, and we started discussing the differences between North American and European Culture. I told him how much I loved the relaxed lifestyle, personal fitness levels, and excellent infrastructure. However, I started to think to myself... despite these benefits, would I want to actually settle here? By the end of our conversation, something sort of dawned on me... as a tourist, I was extremely well treated and welcome, and I had an excellent time travelling, but as a foreigner.

Europe has its own history, its own language, and its own set of values, of which each European country is quite protective. To stay in Europe, I felt an immigrant would really have to change themselves and BECOME European. People in general tend to set their own boundaries, and it isn't until they are pushed do they tend to redefine these boundaries. But I wonder, do we sometimes forget who we really are, and justify redefining ourselves, just so that we can fit in? Do we become blissfully ignorant, and is it really even worth it? Given that I have never been pushed too far out of my comfort zone, perhaps I don't have the right to ask these question, but it was a thought that popped into my head quite often during my travels.

In North America, perhaps because of the lack of history, I think the choice is still optional... speaking from experience, if an Indo Canadian wants to retain Indianess and be proud of being Canadian at the same time, it is entirely acceptable. The Canadian identity is that that we don't actually have our own distinct identity because we have come to accept a myriad of identities from throughout the world into the country. I suppose you could say that you are free to define your boundries in whatever way suits you best. Whether or not this is a healthy approach is debatable, but perhaps this is the reason why I think most minorities would still prefer to come to North America first before heading to Europe...