Global conflict. There are currently over 32 active conflicts in our world today. Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, Palestine, Ukraine, Algeria, Libya, Lebanon. . . the list goes on. For many immigrants currently in Canada, their home, their friends, their families are all experiencing conflict, leaving a grief that sometimes has no words.

Global conflict affects us all. It can be overwhelming. We live with survival guilt and simply don’t know how to help bring peace to ourselves, let alone the world. In this episode and on the heels of the current genocide in Palestine, Hostion and Andrea have an honest conversation - processing the terrible, the awful . . . and even the hope.

In this episode, Hostion shares what most of us feel as defined by ‘war anxiety’. Andrea offers tangible things we can do to help organizations bring relief to war torn places. And they both end on how to take care of yourself in these overwhelming times so that you can take care of your global family around you.

Access to resources cited in this episode are found on the Canadian Salad website.

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Remembrance Day. Immigrant veterans gave everything even when a country did not give back. Their battle was not only on the battlefield but right at home.

In honour of both the National Indigenous Veterans Day and Remembrance Day, we remember Canada’s unsung heroes - immigrant veterans.

Who participated in both world wars? Were they fighting only to end global evils? Listen to Hostion and Andrea as they take a deep dive into the untold narratives and history of immigrant veterans in Canada. The rights we all have as immigrants in Canada is something to truly cherish and value. Immigrant veterans created the capacity for newcomers to be recognized as human, as worthy of the people they were. The people we are today. 

Remembering them is remembering why we have rights and freedoms as immigrant people.

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It's about me. No, it's about you. No wait. It's about us. 

It might be hard to see how our individualistic or collective cultures influence us as we live within them. And we may never know until we have the exact opposite challenging and surrounding us. What if you're used to collective thinking, honour and shared living? Is it wrong or selfish to aspire to your own dreams?  Who should compromise when group and individual dynamics collide?

From Hostion's collective cultural upbringing to Andrea's rugged individualism, join in on a conversation where two contrasting viewpoints actually come together through the compromise of both traditions for the sake of community, friendship and love. A collective-individualistic culture can happen - even in Canada.

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Men are great. Men are wonderful. Men are hurting. Patriarchy. What is it exactly? As much as it privileges men, does it also hurt men? 

If you’re a boxer or briefs person (or none at all) this episode is for you! Hostion and Andrea bravely unpack patriarchy examining the obvious ways it enables men to power and privilege but also examining the ways it is slowly killing and hurting men (as it is also hurting women, non-binary and trans people). Listen to Hostion’s realization of patriarchy after arriving in Canada. Hear how Andrea is trying to combat the negative impacts of patriarchy with her husband as they raise their son. Be compelled to challenge patriarchal systems so that everyone, including men, can be healthier, stronger and better.

P.S. Andrea has a hard time converting American feet to Canadian meters. She should have said 5’9”. Silly American immigrant.

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Religion and faith. Some immigrants come to Canada seeking freedom to express their faith without persecution. Some immigrants come with religious traditions but cannot find a community to express them. Other immigrants come with no religious affiliation or faith expression at all.  How do we normalize talking about religious beliefs in a way that doesn’t alienate, proselytize or exclude anyone? If Canada is secular, why are certain religious groups often discriminated against?

Take a listen to the conversation between two people with different faith backgrounds.  Andrea shares her journey of deconstruction out her religious Christian upbringing while Hostion generously holds space and curiosity for religion and faith - even if he doesn’t have one. Humanizing one another is what we need, especially for those who believe differently than we do.  

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Saying ‘thank you’. Tipping wait staff. Giving gifts. Each culture has its own traditions and expressions of expressing gratitude. Does saying ‘thank you’ to everyone for the smallest acts of service cheapening gratitude? What happens when you want to tip someone for your meal but another person completely disagrees with it? And how do you make sense of gift giving?

Take a listen as Andrea and Hostion unpack the varying dynamics of gratitude among different cultures. Learn how giving Hostion clocks or gifts in quantities of four is a sign of death. Hear how Andrea’s experiences as a waitress greatly impacted her passionate defence and plea to tip at restaurants. And learn how Andrea and Hostion both reconcile their differing perspectives of gratitude and make space for each other. 

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Chinatown. Chinese New Year. Fireworks. We see the beautiful expressions of Chinese culture in major cities and towns across Canada. What brought the first Chinese immigrants to land on Vancouver Island? What happened when they arrived? And how did Chinese immigrant communities find a place where they belonged?

In this episode, Hostion will share the history of Chinese immigrants to Canada. Although a dark history of Canada's past with the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Head Tax and the extreme discrimination and racism, there is also a thread of strength, resilience and community to be found. Listen as Hostion shares with you how Chinese immigrants brought community and welcome to other immigrants by sharing their culture, their resources and their traditions. 

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As immigrants to Canada, we arrive with joy and excitement to make this new country our new home. But what happens when we learn the truth of Canada’s treatment, history and systemic injustice towards the First Peoples of this land? What happens when our dreams of Canada become disillusioned with reality? 

In this episode, Andrea and Hostion share their experiences upon hearing the truth of Canada’s history towards Indigenous People, what kinds of relationships did the Original inhabitants have with Chinese immigrants and who are some prominent Indigenous artists and contributors that we can celebrate today.

For immigrant and non-immigrant alike, we all share a responsibility to learn, to be changed and to grow into better communities and advocates for truth and reconciliation. For no one is free until all are free.

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Being Human. It’s a beautifully messy and complex way to be. But it’s also worth honouring and celebrating.

This episode will explore the intersectionality of identity: a framework for understanding how race, economic class, gender and other identities are all interlinked with oppression and discrimination in society. Hostion and Andrea will ask the timeless question of what it is to be ‘Canadian’, how to see your many layers with patience and love, and how non-immigrants and white people can uphold intersectionality in order to be better advocates and active allies for immigrants and others who are marginalized and oppressed. 

Also, does Canada have a national food? You’ll just have to listen.

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Sometimes who you are cannot be defined by where you are from. 

Meet Andrea. 

Host of Canadian Salad and an immigrant to Canada from the United States, Andrea shares her immigration story and journey of self-discovery apart from where she came. Hear how stories at the US-Mexico border should compel Canada to be a safer country for refugees from the Global South. Hear what shocked her when she came to Canada, what assumptions people had of her and how she came to love an unknown part of her heritage that was fully realized in her new Canadian home. 

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
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