Canada Day

Canada Day is upon us again. Together with my family, we will join local residents and celebrate by way of parade, entertainment, food, and fireworks. We repeat a similar routine each year, but still, we do not grow tired of it. Our love of this country seems to outweigh any danger of boredom due to the repetitive nature of each year’s celebrations.

I don’t think Canadians are unique in that respect, but I have on occasion sensed that others envy us a little for what we have. We have so much to be proud of, but still we tend not to appreciate it at times – we take it for granted.

One of the best antidotes to becoming complacent about this great country is international travel. As a 19-year old, I left Canada for two years to volunteer in the Congo, which entailed two months of language study in Belgium. During that time, I took advantage of some travel opportunities in Europe. On one occasion, my friend Charles and I hitch-hiked from Mons to Amsterdam and back, and my Canadian flag appeared to be the key for us. Charles, an American, without hesitation adopted Canada and displayed a second Canadian flag.

Ever since then, I, like so many other Canadians, display the flag on our luggage or back-packs whenever travelling. Just the fact that our flag elicits positive responses from foreigners is reason enough to be proud to be a Canadian. So on July 1^st, I’ll be proudly flying the flag and carrying it on my person.

Happy Canada Day!