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You know me well enough to know that is a dumb question to ask of me
Sometimes we all just need a confirmation. I'm glad you stated and clarified that. I will not ask such a question again.
Anyway, you did get me thinking what a more homogenous Toronto would look like and its an interesting thought. While there isn't anything wrong with it, at the same time it just seemingly runs counter to what so many of us are used to here so the idea is a bit 'jarring' to most of us. When you take the emotion out of it though - it would be an interesting 'what if' scenario.
I think we are very much aligned here KLM and very much a product of where we live and that isn't a bad thing at all. With respect to my relationship i'm not saying there weren't challenges early on. There were and often times we were left scratching our heads and saying, hmmm must be a cultural thing lol. The funny thing is, now we don't do that anymore. I know how he will react he knows how I will. I'm also FAR less reserved than I used to be and don't give a crap if people have an issue with the way we look in public. We also laugh and look at eachother like, oh you see that guy/girl give us the lookdown. We do the same thing back at em or start dancing lol.
Another thing about multiculturalism is cool is bringing people together. We work with this guy who wouldn't have been caught dead eating hot food. It took work but my Indonesian and Sri Lankan coworkers and I have broken him in and even though he turns various shades of red - he joins us for Hakka Fridays. This is a guy who lives in Guelph but we all get along famously and its experiences like this that bring people together and open themselves up to new experiences outside their 'comfort' zone.
So yes, there is more to this than just a 'business' arrangement or at least some great spinoff benefits that just go beyond what meets the eye to some people.
I'm just a bit uncomfortable with this whole 'business' arrangement thing. I hope I can use my personal experiences as KLM is doing as well to show that there are human connections that occur ie relationships and friendships that go way way beyond just a business arrangement. It might be like that in the beginning for an immigrant family but it certainly isn't the be and all and end all of their experiences or doesn't have to be..
Anyway, the relationships and the friendships, they are extremely rewarding to those that are open to them and make for great conversations and great times spent together. It also opens one up to the world around them.. I would never have gone to Sri Lanka and Indonesia If not for my friends at work! These things bring us closer and work to improve upon that ever elusive more harmonious integration. This is just my reality in this day and age and losing my friends and my partner and these experiences would be absolutely devastating to me and to so many of us.
I don't think anyone is saying that there is no cultural or emotional spillover benefit to immigration. Like you, I married someone from a different country than myself, I have a sister who married a German fella and has made a life in Germany, I also have countless friends and family that have done the same. So I appreciate what it adds to our lives on an emotional level.
At the same time it starts out as a business relationship the majority of the time. People typically do not want to leave their country, learn a new language, give up their careers and lives as they know it just to "enrich" the receiving country and populous culturally. Ethnic enclaves are created not so people can enjoy living in another world within their cities, but rather out of necessity to survive. So taking all these factors into consideration it has to be business first and foremost that is the motivating factor for the person themselves and they are under no false impression that the government stamping their documents is in it for any other reason than economic gain.
I know this takes the warm and fuzzies out of the whole equation, but it is what is it.
It's not that strange to choose to marry someone with similar beliefs. I wouldn't marry anyone who was not of my religion because it's important to me. It's not the ethnicity that matters to me. And if I had children, I'm sure I'd feel the same about them which is not to say that they wouldn't be free to make whatever choice they wanted to make.
I think in cases where religion is a cultural hang nail it's different.
You never really know where life will take you. That is the scary and exciting wonder of being alive. I never would of thought in a million years I would be with someone like my partner, but sometimes you happen to accidently run in to someone or something that just changes everything. That in general is for me one of the wow factors of having immigrants they are bringing over ideas, thoughts, perspectives that are different and offer us the chance to explore and see something new and different in our own backyards.
Controlling immigration is a good thing. We can't keep letting people come in with no checks. We don't know who these people are....
They do jobs most Americans won't.
Canada's still not interesting enough. Not for my taste. We need more people. We should bring in double the number of immigrants that we currently have coming. Yes, I'm serious.
I don't think anyone is saying that there is no cultural or emotional spillover benefit to immigration. Like you, I married someone from a different country than myself, I have a sister who married a German fella and has made a life in Germany, I also have countless friends and family that have done the same. So I appreciate what it adds to our lives on an emotional level.
At the same time it starts out as a business relationship the majority of the time. People typically do not want to leave their country, learn a new language, give up their careers and lives as they know it just to "enrich" the receiving country and populous culturally. Ethnic enclaves are created not so people can enjoy living in another world within their cities, but rather out of necessity to survive. So taking all these factors into consideration it has to be business first and foremost that is the motivating factor for the person themselves and they are under no false impression that the government stamping their documents is in it for any other reason than economic gain.
I know this takes the warm and fuzzies out of the whole equation, but it is what is it.
I made mention of the fact that it starts as a business transaction in my posts if you read through them....
That is why I said however that often times there are spillovers to that that are extremely rewarding and indeed warm and fuzzy. How else can one do that than to explain on a personal level what those warm and fuzzies are as a result of people coming here. For every negative experience there is to multiculturalism and diversity there are at least two or three or ten positive experiences. In more homogenous cities it is more difficult to have such experiences.
This is what I said word for word..
" It might be like that in the beginning for an immigrant family but it certainly isn't the be and all and end all of their experiences or doesn't have to be.. "
I'm not sure how or why anyone would counter that. How something starts and how it progresses are different things otherwise we would never evolve, connect and progress right? Are you just being difficult here or what lol......
Yeah I guess Jamaica's cuisine did benefit from "immigrants", if that is what we are calling slaves now.....
Credit must be given to the heavy Indian, Chinese, Syrian, Sephardi and Azckenazi Jewish inflience on our cuisine as well.
Oh sorry, you thought I was "American"? Doesn't surprise me that was your knee jerk reaction. Now run back to the kitchen Nat, you have a steaming pot of mashed potatoes calling your name.
Acajack, NDG, KLM..congrats on your high level reading comprehension skills and just paying attention in general. Y'all folks are alright!
LOL. I know you are an immigrant,, but you being in the US, American or not, it just appeared your point about food in Canada was also based on your experience in the US. I was taking your whole experience in, besides, the majority of your posts do come from your viewpoints about Canada from your US experience.
As for my mashed potatoes, I guess I can accuse you for the same thing I accused you for. My family is mostly from Quebec, I've been eating Quebecois foods, made by mother and grandmother, my whole life.
My father loved to cook and I grew up in a neighbourhood full of immigrants. I was eating Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Polish, Indian, Irish and Scottish, you name it, since I could lift a fork or chopstick.
Canada's still not interesting enough. Not for my taste. We need more people. We should bring in double the number of immigrants that we currently have coming. Yes, I'm serious.
Haha buddy... You might get in trouble for this but i'm not averse to what you're saying
Besides, I love big and bustling cities. There is something 'alive' about them and without immigrants I don't think our cities would have a chance to be big and bustling.
Canada has more than enough places to get a small town life anyway.. Why are we afraid of big and bold is beyond me..
LOL. I know you are an immigrant,, but you being in the US, American or not, it just appeared your point about food in Canada was also based on your experience in the US. I was taking your whole experience in, besides, the majority of your posts do come from your viewpoints about Canada from your US experience.
As for my mashed potatoes, I guess I can accuse you for the same thing I accused you for. My family is mostly from Quebec, I've been eating Quebecois foods, made by mother and grandmother, my whole life.
My father loved to cook and I grew up in a neighbourhood full of immigrants. I was eating Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Polish, Indian, Irish and Scottish, you name it, since I could lift a fork or chopstick.
Hey I like mashed potatoes, I made some a couple weeks ago. Also I am pretty sure that you know it was tongue in cheek.
I suppose I would have thought more about the US context, if we were speaking about the US and immigration. I viewed this as 100% about Canada, which I hope is the conclusion most arrived at since it is in the Canada forum.
Finally, thank goodness for all those immigrants you grew up around. Otherwise it would have been Tourtière every night. Even something that delicious gets old after a while.
I made mention of the fact that it starts as a business transaction in my posts if you read through them....
That is why I said however that often times there are spillovers to that that are extremely rewarding and indeed warm and fuzzy. How else can one do that than to explain on a personal level what those warm and fuzzies are as a result of people coming here. For every negative experience there is to multiculturalism and diversity there are at least two or three or ten positive experiences. In more homogenous cities it is more difficult to have such experiences.
This is what I said word for word..
" It might be like that in the beginning for an immigrant family but it certainly isn't the be and all and end all of their experiences or doesn't have to be.. "
I'm not sure how or why anyone would counter that. How something starts and how it progresses are different things otherwise we would never evolve, connect and progress right? Are you just being difficult here or what lol......
I don't think anyone is countering anything. You said the business part of it made you feel uncomfortable and I was genuinely confused as to why that was so jarring. I don't recall any post from anyone that said there was zero emotional benefit.
What more can I say?
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Never say never ....lol
I guess I can accuse you for the same thing I accused you for. My family is mostly from Quebec, I've been eating Quebecois foods, made by mother and grandmother, my whole life.
