Originally Posted by YYZlover

But when I am to board a plane to Canada my heart fills with warmth and I am calm and serene. I love it here. I love it being a melting pot of friendly people from different cultures. I love watching the mixture of old and new. I see buildings that remind me of Sweden, Germany, Spain, UK. Everything (almost) that you can find in Europe you can find here.

I even like the french I meet here because the immigrants in Canada are the ones who didn't want to live in the downtroddenness of their own country and instead searched out a place where they could be happy.

Every single human has a need to belong and to be surrounded by likeminded people. If you don't find it where you are born, you could find it somewhere else. And I found it here in Canada.

Originally Posted by Judy in Calgary

I went on a trip to Italy, fell in love with it, and want to move there. Can anyone tell me which would be the best part of Italy for me -- the one that has the cheapest houses, the highest paying jobs, the best schools, the most pleasant climate, the most beautiful scenery, the most stunning art, and the most delicious food?

Just kidding.

But I really did love Italy.

There were a lot of splendid sights / sites in Rome but, if I was forced to choose just one, I would vote for St. Peter's Basilica. That would not have been the tourist attraction that I would have wanted to have liked best. I'm a bit of a Recovering Catholic, who hasn't quite got over sociopaths like Sister Helen at my convent boarding school. But, even if the Catholic Church is represented by human beings with the full range of human frailties, St. Peter's is what it is. When I was standing in the middle of it, I was unable to deny that it was drop-dead gorgeous.

It also was tough to pick a favourite in Florence. There were many features of the city that vied for first place. But again, if I was forced to name Florence's most delicious offering, I would have to say it was Michelangelo's David. When I say that, it sounds to me like another cliché. But again, the facts speak for themselves. When I looked at that statue, it was impossible to deny that it was stunning.

While I was sight seeing, I was thinking about this whole immigration thing. Some of my companions on day tours were people from Greece, Spain, France, Germany, etc. -- countries that have their own history, art, monumental buildings, charm and so on. Every one of those people sighed and said I was so lucky to live near the Rocky Mountains in Canada.

But my tour companions who came from "new" countries -- the USA and Australia -- all raved about the old buildings and cobbled streets of Italy. An American couple who had been living in London, UK for the last year were representative of this group. They said that they loved London, its museums, and everything else it had to offer. The other thing they loved about London was its proximity to the Continent. They were in Rome that weekend, and two weekends before that they'd been in Paris. They were using the opportunity afforded by an intra-company transfer to soak up as much of Europe as they could.

Sometimes it's hard for me to understand why you guys walk away from the UK when you have all that stuff on your doorstep. But then it's also true that I've never lived in the UK. I'm very conscious of the fact that it's one thing to visit a place as a tourist and another thing to live in that place.

I also was struck by the fact that, much as I loved Italy, I experienced a sense of having arrived home when I reached the departure gate for the Air Canada flight that would take me to Toronto for my connection to Calgary. This has happened to me on every overseas trip on which I've been in the last 15 years or so. When I've reached my departure gate and found myself surrounded by Canadians, I've felt safe.

Not that I feel threatened in foreign countries. But, when there are Canadians chatting all around me, I get that feeling that some of your describe when you visit the UK -- the feeling of sliding into a comfortable old sweater and pair of slippers. Canadians are people whom I've come to understand.

It's true that Canada doesn't offer everything I want, and I expect I'll always need to travel to experience what Canada cannot give me. But, after 31 years here, I do feel as if Canada is my home base. It was nice to have that confirmed.
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