Canadian Salad

Happy Canadian Citizenship Week! While we're not exactly sure what that means, we will deep dive into the complicated, messy and even joyous relationship immigrants consider when saying 'I do' to citizenship in Canada. What are the reasons people decide to become citizens? What are the reasons people don't? What is it about Canada that makes someone say 'Yes to the Maple Dress'? Okay, we're getting off topic. But, no really . . . why?

It's complicated and messy and down right more than just a piece of paper.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"You don't have any Canadian work experience." As immigrants, we apply for jobs, get the interview and then we're slammed with this comment. Our education, our global work experience and even our skills somehow can't match up to these "high" work expectations in Canada. And we continue to be denied a job.

Join Andrea and Hostion as they explore (through ranting) the harm denying a person a job can do - not just for a person but for Canada as a whole. Free labour, unpaid internships and even achieving a Canadian higher education shouldn't be the cost to be employed. There are ways to do better and these two immigrant friends have solutions. It's time for Canadian employers and Canada to listen.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ballroom Culture is more than Madonna or Vogue Magazine. While it’s striking a pose it’s also striking social oppression and creating liberation. Ballroom Culture is a community of people who created an act of peaceful resistance, social oppression and identity rejection. Whether you know all about it, or none at all, listen as Hostion shares a window in a community that creates home, belonging and life-giving resistance. 

We yearn for these things. And sometimes the places and communities we're born into don't provide it and we may be alone. But what if resilience, liberation and inclusion were found in the places we never thought to look? What if a chosen home and a chosen community can help us embrace ourselves fully? It was possible then and it's possible now.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Consider Hostion. Born and raised in China with a strong nationalist culture, government and hierarchy. Then consider Andrea. Born and raised in the United States with a relentless patriotism embedded in family, school, church and even sports games. With two very different and yet similar experiences of national identity, Hostion and Andrea wrestle with what healthy pride of one's country actually looks like.

As immigrants, we are always trying to navigate the spaces we live and the places we've been. How we see Canada is greatly shaped by where we came from. For immigrants, it's the hyphen in-between: that little dash that says who we are first and where we build belonging, second. It's weird. It's messy. Is it patriotism and pride? Who knows.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The land we stand on makes us. It defines our seasonal rhythms, our daily habits and our yearly traditions. How we have community, when we see family, the foods we eat . . . everything about us is tied to land.  But what happens when we leave? What happens when it’s forcibly taken from us?

Hostion and Andrea share how voluntary migration and forced migration alters how you see yourself and the new land you live. Knowing the history of Canada, of colonized land, what is the posture voluntary immigrants need to have? As people born on Turtle Island, can we be curious about what 'Land Back' really means? From the original peoples of Turtle Island, to the Japanese internment camps in Ontario and to present day Palestine, listen to how land is and always will be an integral part to who we are and how we live.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ramadan is special. Faith, religion and family shape how we make the holiday meaningful either in our home country or here in Canada. What is the sacred and collective observance of Ramadan and how do Muslims in Canada see this religious day in light of a society that doesn’t observe it?

Hostion and Andrea invite two guests, Bushra from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Fayrouz from Libya, to share their experiences of observing Ramadan both in Canada and in their countries of origin. Hear how community can help create collective joy and worship. Listen to them share how navigating Ramadan can be hard while Muslims are being oppressed in other parts of the world. What are their traditions? Why is Ramadan important? The hardest thing about observing Ramadan in Canada is, well . . . you’ll just have to listen.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How we borrow money. How we save money. How we give money. It’s not all the same. Culture is the biggest influencer for us in how we perceive and interact with those golden coins and paper bills. 

Immigrants have a unique relationship with money, especially if they are from collectivistic cultures. And often, western banking systems and societies misunderstand the ways in which the Global Majority views, uses and gives money. In this episode, Hostion and Andrea will unpack the similarities we universally experience with money while also amplifying the immense way cultural traditions and perspectives impact the way we use money here in Canada. What does money do for us universally and what do we do differently? You might be surprised.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laughter is universal. Humour is a part of being human. Everyone tells jokes. But across the water and over the mountains, sometimes we find ourselves the only ones not laughing.  

Hostion and Andrea will tell jokes, laugh and discuss the nuances of humour in new social settings. Are there differences of humour and comedy among cultures? How do you translate a joke so others can understand? Can comedy be used to address stereotypes of cultures or can it be used to perpetuate isolation? Join them as they underscore the importance of laughter in different cultures and how humour creates the capacity to connect and to belong - something that we all long for in society, and in our new places we call home.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are currently over 450 heart languages spoken in Canada, according to the most recent statistics of 2021. With language comes identity, culture, history, and family. And when we immigrate, so much is sacrificed in order to adapt and even survive. Language is one of the first to be compromised. But should it be?

Hostion and Andrea discuss their journey with their family’s heart languages and how submersion into a majority-speaking English country can slowly decrease the use of those languages. What does it mean that Canada is a multi-lingual country? Why do some of us who immigrated choose to avoid speaking our heart language while others of us strive to keep it alive? How do we restore lost languages and what can we pursue in light of language revitalization efforts amplified by the Indigenous Peoples of Canada? Our languages are the languages of Canada - all 450 of them.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Politics. Most of us will shy away from it, stay unengaged and ignore the noise. It's complicated, confusing and it's completely different than what we're used to in our heritage countries. After all, it doesn’t really affect us . . .right? Well, maybe not.

Hostion, Andrea and returning guest from Belgium, Niels, will discuss the complexities that we, as immigrants, face living in Canada and how cultural identity impacts our decision to vote or to be engaged in politics. They’ll share about the vulnerability that most of us feel when first arriving in Canada and how the idea of citizenship for voting rights is complicated.  They’ll discuss how immigrants and immigration policies are mostly at the mercy of those who can vote, with their future and livelihoods at the hands of those who are unattached to the immigrant experience. And they’ll share their perspective on what we can do as immigrants to engage in politics or civic engagement, even without citizenship - because every voice deserves to be heard in Canada's nation of immigrants.

Let us know what you think of this episode! Text us!

Go to Canadian Salad Website for all sources cited in this episode.

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And please refer us to your friends, family and that racist uncle that just doesn't get it.

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Theme music by Nver Avetyan from Pixabay.
A Janklin Production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.