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. Mbali na hilo, 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.

Leo, 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

Mimi ndoa mwanamke ambaye ni kizazi cha nne wa Canada wa asili ya Ireland-kikatoliki. Kama mtoto, baba yake ingekuwa Drag familia kanisani kila Jumapili. Lakini basi yeye alikuwa Epifania kidunia – golf – na kuweka badala ya maombi. Leo, Jumla jumla ya dini katika familia ya mke wangu lina ya haraka, zaidi lisiloeleweka, grace before meals.

Mke wangu na mimi ni hawamjui. Hakuna ladha ya dini katika nyumba zetu. . Sisi mtazamo haya kama utamaduni, si ya kidini, icons.

Hakujawahi mgongano wowote wa kidini au kiutamaduni katika nyumba zetu kabla ya watoto waliozaliwa au tangu. . They couldn’t be more dissimilar from one another. mdogo ni mfano kutema mate ya mama yake. Wakati yeye alikuwa kijana angeweza kuzungumza yasiyo ya kuacha tu kama mama yake alifanya kama mtoto (au hivyo mimi nina habari na mimi sina shida kuamini kuwa). Familia ya mke wangu dubbed yake “Chatty”. Na 30 au hivyo miaka ya baadaye wakamwita binti yetu, “kidogo chatty”.

Mzee wangu binti, na sifa yake ya Kisemiti, inaonekana kama mimi. Yeye binafsi kubainisha kama Myahudi. Wengi wa rafiki yake ni Wayahudi, yeye alisafiri kwa Israeli na mpenzi wake wa Kiyahudi, falafels na matzoh mpira supu ni miongoni mwa vyakula yake favorite. miaka michache iliyopita yeye alihudhuria chakula cha jioni ya Sabato katika moja ya nyumba ya rafiki yake Wayahudi ya. Yeye kupendwa vipengele kidini: nyimbo, sala na baraka. Yeye alifika nyumbani usiku na hisia ya kunyimwa – she had been denied exposure to the religious side of being a Jew.

Binti yangu mdogo akaenda daycares sawa na shule katika kitongoji hicho kama dada yake mkubwa. Yeye binafsi kubainisha kama Canada wa asili ya Kiyahudi na Ireland-kikatoliki. Yeye ni kafiri nia. 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.

Moja ya nyumbani, huo malezi, huo mazingira ya. Jinsi ya kueleza tofauti katika binti zangu’ binafsi identifications? Mimi sijui. Najua hata hivyo, kwamba mimi kuhisi bahati sana kwamba mimi kuishi katika jamii - na katika nchi – ambapo utamaduni binafsi kitambulisho ni uchaguzi binafsi na madhara yoyote. Si tu ni halali, it’s encouraged.

- Carl katika Winnipeg