(Bitaemo means Welcome in Ukrainian)
(Ukrainian style embelished cross purchased in Winnipeg in early 1990s. It's on a wall in my living room)
Thanks for all the positive comments to my last post. Here now is part 2, about my Ukrainian roots.
Like my Maternal Grandfather, my Paternal Grandfather was also an immigrant to Canada. Since English was NOT the first language for either of my grandfathers, as a child I thought you had to speak another language to be one! Michael was born in the Ukraine, and immigrated to Canada as a child with his family. He ultimately met and married Jeanne, who was born in Canada to immigrant parents. My father is the third born child in a family of ten children. There were two other children that never survived past infancy. My Dad was born in a one room farmhouse located on a Manitoba homestead. I posted an aerial picture of the farm here. Dad's first language was Ukrainian, he spoke no English until he started school. After living his adult life away from the farm, Dad has lost most of his Ukrainian, and has to translate it from English in order to have a conversation. Dad normally has no accent, but interestingly, it can be detected slightly when he is stressed.
In researching this entry, I located online some history of the community where my Dad was born. And this page is about my Aunt Jeanette, who is a very talented artist. I note that her paintings look way more impressive in colour.
Dad left the farm to pursue higher education. He roomed with two of his sisters. Interesting how things have changed since those days, as Dad says that his sisters did all of the cooking and cleaning for him and his brother!
Following his university graduation, Dad obtained his first social work job (yes, I followed my Dad's footsteps into this profession) in Swift Current Saskatchewan, my Mom's hometown. They met at a dance, and were married less than a year later, in May 1957. They ran their own business briefly (a hobby store), following which Dad returned to social work and obtained a job in British Columbia. My sister and I were both born in BC, and the rest is history!
My parents raised us to be proud of both of our cultures. I understood from a very young age what my background was. I remember asking other children what their nationality was, and they had no idea what I was talking about. Culture, including that of others, has fascinated me to this day.
I believe that my mother had no exposure to Ukrainian culture until she married my Dad. She did a great job of incorporating some Ukrainian things into our home. She's a great cook who now excels at preparing the yummiest Ukrainian dishes (a lot of cultures are about food, aren't they?). My Baba and a couple of my aunties make beautiful Pysanka, Ukrainian Easter Eggs. They are displayed in my parents home every Easter. They are intricate and gorgeous; I'll try to get some pictures to share Wit you this Easter. I tried the art as a teenager, but lets just say that I don't have an artistic bone in my body. Another fond memory from childhood is of attending the National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin Manitoba. I particularly love watching the dancing, and wish I had more opportunity these days. Unfortunately, I was never able to try it myself, as my family never lived in communities that had it available (one of my regular readers commented that she took it up in her thirties; I'm jealous). I found more information about Ukrainian culture here, if anyone is interested.
Another fond memory from childhood is visiting the Manitoba farm where my father was born and raised. We loved running around, playing in the barn etc with our cousins. And there was that fabulous (and rich!) Ukrainian food. I was even intrigued listening to my Grandparents converse in their mother tongue. Although I've never been able to speak it myself, after several days of being immersed in it, I could get the gist of a conversation.
Almost forgot to share a rather humorous way that something Ukrainian entered our lives. When I was a teenager, our family finally got our first dog, a golden lab/retriever. My Dad named him Yocky, which was short for Yock-shi-my-ush (phonetic spelling, no idea how it's really spelled!). I remember being out for a walk when we lived in a city that had a larger Ukrainian population. Yocky was a beautiful dog, and people always commented on him. Someone asked his name, and we told them his full name. Well, these particular people were Ukrainian, and started speaking the language to our dog!
I think that Chinese culture had more of a daily impact on my life, as we were closer to my Mom's family. I am however thankful that my parents made sure that we had some exposure to our Ukrainian roots as well. I'm very proud of both cultures, they are definitely a part of who I am today.
In university I particularly enjoyed the courses that related to ethnicity and the history of how our country was settled. I wrote at least one paper on Ukrainian immigrants, and I believe I also wrote about the Chinese Cultural revolution.
How does my culture affect me today? I believe that culture influenced my career choice as a social worker. And it affects how I conduct my social work practice as well. I am very conscious of other cultures and always try to be sensitive to cultural issues. Learning about other cultures fascinates me (I think I've said that already). My favourite reading is both fiction and non-fiction about people from different cultures, particularly my own. Right now I'm reading Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang that Susie so generously passed on to me, along with other books related to Chinese culture that she had finished with.
Thanks for letting me share my background with you. It was fun sharing with you, I feel like I'm a little more reconnected to my roots now.
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