Last week our daughter, Gwen, returned from two months in Australia. She was there for a theatre course and then spent the rest of her time backpacking around the east coast of Australia. She had an awesome time, as you can imagine. She snorkelled on the great barrier reef, went to Bondi beach, cuddled a Koala and generally enjoyed herself.
We thought it was interesting as we listened to her stories about her travels that she always told people she was Canadian. After all she was born in England and lived her first 15 years there, so for her to identify herself as Canadian after only 5 years in Canada may seem amazing.
We are often asked how are children have settled into life in Canada, and I think that Gwen’s story answers that question perfectly. She told anyone she met that she was Canadian and only confessed to being British if her Vancouver friends made her.
Gwen enjoyed Australia and wants to go back for a working holiday some time in the future. In fact she’d prefer to go there than go back to the UK. What’s nice for us is that she definitely thinks of Vancouver as home.