Half a World Away
Where is home? For some students going to Burnaby Central, that’s not an easy question to answer.
For Sofia Tonelli, however, it’s pretty simple - home is a long way away. Originally from Bologna, Italy, Sofia chose to study abroad for a year at our school. We chatted about what’s it like to go to Central, and about the culture gap between our countries. So what do we in Canada do so differently?
“Thank the bus driver”, Sofia told us, “the people are nicer here.” Though it may not feel like it sitting on a crowded bus in rush hour, Canadians might just be politer after all. When Sofia goes home, she says she may pick up some of our habits.
“In Italy, I will say ‘hello, thank you,’ and the bus driver will be like ‘what?’”
For someone who lives close to where Balsamic Vinegar was invented, Sofia was surprisingly kind to our food in Vancouver. There is on big culinary difference, though- we don’t have “typical” Canadian food. It is hard to pin down a Canadian stereotype for food. I think I have maple syrup less than once a month, and I haven’t had poutine in a year. Our food, like our culture, is a miscellaneous and harmonious combination of where we come from - or what was on sale at the grocery store.
So what about Italy?
She doesn’t miss the hours of school back home. Italian school finishes at one in the afternoon, but with the amount of homework students receive, they are expected to study until nine. There’s also school on Saturdays, and “less freedom” with course selection.
“Everything is older,” Sofia says of Italy, in the understatement of the century. Bologna, her home, has pre-Roman history, with settlements dating back to 1000 B.C. With rich culture, grand medieval architecture and delectable food, Bologna might seem like a preference for “Raincouverites”. But Sofia says she “can’t choose [between] a modern city or an old city.”
It’s a different case for Emiliano Garcia, who comes from the Sinaloa region in Northern Mexico. Emiliano, who came to Canada in August, admits he misses the familiarity he left behind in his former country. Emiliano says Vancouver is less “close-knit” than his home in Sinaloa, and confesses he prefers a small community rather than a big city with different cultures.
The state of Sinaloa is the original home of the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame and El Chapo’s infamous Sinaloa drug cartel. It is also rich in fruit production; a trait Emiliano admires. Emiliano explains that the fruit there is “fresh” and has “more flavour.” Sinaloa has become a home for Emiliano, and he certainly has developed some connection with the Mexican region.
Emiliano says his friends in Mexico have a misguided impression of the weather in Vancouver, and told him that he would struggle with the cold. After a few weeks of Autumn and a season of winter, Emiliano has confessed that the climate is much warmer than he expected. The snow was the only thing that seemed extreme to him, as he had never before experienced the accumulation of the white matter in his life.
Emiliano is looking forward to visiting his home, after getting to know Vancouver and the lower mainland, with a great sense of adventure and zeal.
Sofia’s homesickness is a little different, as she is in a long-distance relationship. How does she survive the 9-hour time difference?
“Voice messages,” apparently, and a spare third block. Finding time for a sit down Skype session with her friends, family or boyfriend is a little better, because the afternoon is morning in Italy. The distance has helped her “discover who [her] best friends” are, as many of her “surface friends” back home haven’t really kept in touch. There are 5-6 people she says she really misses, and have made the effort to stay connected.