Growing up as an immigrant child was hard. The first question I was often asked was “where are you from?” The easy answer was Pakistan. It was a part of me. Okrem, I thought living in Canada was difficult. I was bullied for being a “Paki”, my protective parents didn’t allow me to go to sleepovers and movies and my clothes smelled like the Pakistani spices my mom used in our traditional food. I was caught between two worlds and didn’t know how to reconcile them.

I am not sure when it happened but sometime during my elementary school years, saying that I was from Pakistan was no longer the easy answer to give. My memories and life in Canada became more familiar.  My parents encouraged me to celebrate and contribute to my new home and remember the one I left. I remember attending my Citizenship Ceremony and excitedly telling my 5^th grade teacher Mrs. Burnett that I was now a Canadian.

I volunteered at an MPP’s office and had my first trip to Ottawa where I called my mom from the Peace Tower at the Parliament of Canada in awe of where I was standing.

During my undergraduate years at the University of Toronto, I began to travel during the summers. Working abroad in various communities, I was asked the same question I had been asked in Canada “Where are you from?” I answered, “from Canada”

The next question was “Where are you really from?” In frustration, sometimes dismay, I would answer, “I was born in Pakistan but I grew up in Canada”. I was very proud of my Pakistani birth and early years but I was also very sure that my home was now Canada.

In 2009, my family decided to go back to Pakistan. I was excited and nervous. Before we left Canada, I remember thinking no one will ask me where I was from – I speak fluent Urdu, wear the traditional shalwar kameez and will not stand out in a crowd.

When we arrived in Lahore, I went out with my family and ordered a chana dish from a street vendor. I just started to eat it when a woman’s voice behind me quietly asked “App kahan se hain?” meaning “WherWhere are you from221;

I couldn’t believe it. Not here!

I was born only a few hours drive from Lahore in a town called Sargodha. I told her I was from Pakistan. She wasn’t convinced and asked again.

I said, “I was born in Pakistan but grew up in Canada.” We struck up a conversation and talked about our lives in different parts of world. I couldn’t help but think of the person I would be if my family had never left Pakistan. When I arrived back in Canada, I was overwhelmed by that unexplainable feeling of “home” when I saw Toronto.

Dnes, I still get asked where I am from. To say that I am Pakistani-Canadian is the easy and the right answer to give. I may have been born in one part of the world and relish in the few memories I have but Canada is my home. Together, the two places have made me who I am and for that, I am grateful.

-Sadia in Mississauga

Vzal som si ženu, ktorá je štvrtá generácia kanadský írsko-katolícke pôvodu. V detstve, by jej otec pretiahnuť rodinu do kostola každú nedeľu. Ale potom mal svetskú zjavenie – golf – a uvedenie nahrádza modlitbu. Dnes, súčet náboženstvo v mojej ženy rodina sa skladá z rýchleho, väčšinou nezrozumiteľnými, grace before meals.

Moja žena a ja sme ateisti. Neexistuje žiadny náznak náboženstvo v našom dome. . Vnímame to ako kultúrne, bez vyznania, icons.

Tam nikdy bol nejaká náboženských či kultúrnych konfliktov v našom dome, ako sa narodili deti alebo pretože. . They couldn’t be more dissimilar from one another. Čím mladší je verný obraz svojej matky. Keď bola mladá, že by hovoriť non-stop, rovnako ako jej matka ako dieťa (alebo tak som povedal, a ja nemám problém veriť, že to). Moja rodina manželky nazval ju “Hovorné”. A 30 alebo rokov neskôr nazvali našu dcéru, “málo Chatty”.

Moja staršia dcéra, s jej rysy semitských, Vyzerá ako ja. Ona self-identifikuje ako Žid. Mnoho z jej priateľov sú Židia, ona cestovala do Izraela so svojím židovským priateľom, Falafels a matzoh loptu polievka patrí medzi jej obľúbené jedlá. Pred niekoľkými rokmi navštevovala sobotňajšej večeri v jednej z jej židovského kamaráta. Milovala náboženské komponenty: piesne, modlitby a požehnanie. Prišla domov v noci s pocitom deprivácie – she had been denied exposure to the religious side of being a Jew.

Moja mladšia dcéra išla do rovnakej daycares a školami v rovnakej štvrti ako jej staršia sestra. Ona self-identifikuje ako kanadský židovského a írsky-katolíckej pôvodu. Je to spáchal ateista. Right now she’s traveling through Southeast Asia and is far more interested in the history and politics of the region than the religious shrines.

Rovnaký domov, Rovnaký výchova, Rovnaké prostredie. Ako vysvetliť rozdiely v mojej dcéry’ self-identifikácia? Nemám tušenie,. Viem však, že sa cítim veľmi šťastný, že žijem v komunite - a v krajine – kde kultúrne sebeidentifikace je osobná voľba bez následkov. Nielen, že je prípustné, it’s encouraged.

- Carl vo Winnipegu