First Correction Leads To First Story.

Well, I guess that's a lesson learned. My first comment is in and it points out an error. Jeff (qv) reminds me (and, yes, I HAD known this at one point) that a "Waeguk" is not, as I said, a question; it's a FOREIGNER. He beseeches people to ask a foreigner (himself) a question.

Trying, as ever, to turn an upset into a positive, I thought "Hmm, well I'm a foreigner, aren't I?"
I stand humbly corrected but, with Jeff's permission, I will continue to use "Waeguk" until someone comes up with an even more obscure translation of either "question" or "foreigner". Answers on a postcard please, to dyveatqq@hotmail.com.

This all leads me to ponder the precise nature of being foreign; when are we and when are we not? This first became a question to me on my arrival in Canada, in 1991. Before that, I was always either in England, where I was never a foreigner, or I was not, in which case I was. The only time it would have been debateable was if I happened to be in Scotland or Wales which were part of my nation, but not my country - confusing even, sometimes, to the locals.

But, wherever I went, in England or out of it, I was acutely aware that, to people of the "old world" at least, you are what you sound like. I could be treated as a foreigner just a few miles from home if my accent didn't fit. Now, I don't want to invalidate anyone who, as part of a "visible minority" in my homeland, has experienced discrimination because of their appearance. I know it happens and I abhore it. But it has always seemed to me that, regardless of what you LOOK like, if you SOUND like you belong, then you probably do. A visitor to the UK from, say, Germany, might look as English as cricket and real ale but, when he opens his mouth, he clearly identifies himself as "other" and is then prey to any curiosity or prejudice (good or bad) that his listener may carry.

Similarly, second and subsequent generation immigrants sound as Anglo Saxon as I do and, regardless of appearance, when they open their mouths to say, for instance "pint o'bitter an' a bag o' cheese 'n' onion please mate, ta", they tell the listener almost EXACTLY where they are from, and it's not Bangalore! This has become even more evident in the years since my departure, as I notice on my occasional visits and when meeting British visitors to Canada.

So, in my head, I'm a limey. I always will be, because I will always SOUND like a limey. It's not a choice I make, it's just what I am, like being male. I could (and probably will, one day soon) get Canadian citizenship and will live here the rest of my days. I would then be entitled to call myself "Canadian" and would gladly do so with pride. But I will never FEEL Canadian, not really. I yam what I yam and that's all sweet potatoes.

In the New World, Canada especially, Toronto even more especially, things can be different. Almost everyone is hyphenated. Many, for example, "Portuguese-Canadians" will live in "Little Portugal" and are proud hyphenated-Canadians. Some have portuguese accents, some don't. Some speak fluent Portuguese but little English, some the reverse. Some are Canadian citizens, some are Portuguese citizens, some are both, others are neither; being Brazilian, Angolan, or whatever. Makes no never mind. The are part of Toronto's "vibrant Portuguese Community" AND proudly Canadian. Come the World Cup, they will gladly cheer for Portugal, Brazil or, given a chance, Canada; all at once if necessary.

To me, though, this has nothing at all to do with patriotism or loyalty. I am not, by nature, a patriot, of anywhere. I AM, I like to think intensely loyal but I don't see that as being connected to what it feels like to be me. So, a Waeguk I am, and a Waeguk shall I remain. Ask a Waeguk!

Question to self: Where did I feel the MOST foreign?
Answer: Strangely, it was one of the places I was also made to feel most at home. Tanzania. I was TRULY a visible minority - usually a minority of one. An odd, sometimes scary, but memorable experience. But that's for another day.