Go Canada!

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

As many of you already know, I became a Canadian citizen yesterday.
The ceremony was great. The participants came from 22 different countries, with every (inhabited) continent represented. There was talk of rights, freedoms, responsibilities, tolerance, and the Canadian family.
But the best part?
The oath was administered by a scientist!
One I’d heard of!

_Me with Robert Hancock
Dr. Hancock talked about his own experience of becoming Canadian after time spent living in England, Singapore, Australia, Germany, and the US. And he also delivered a very strong message about protecting the environment of this beautiful country.

Beautiful indeed… and hot enough for a swim in the Pacific yesterday, despite the snow on the mountains
The icing on the cake of a wonderful day.
And after the cake, the champagne…

…in plastic cups, because you’re not allowed to drink alcohol on the beach.
We didn’t get caught, but for the first time, I wasn’t worried.
They can’t deport me any more.

About Cath@VWXYNot?

"one of the sillier science bloggers [...] I thought I should give a warning to the more staid members of the community." - Bob O'Hara, December 2010
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11 Responses to Go Canada!

  1. Eric Michael Johnson says:
    May 30, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    Excellent! Congratulations. Perhaps I’ll be going through the same ceremony in a few years. I appreciate that they emphasize maintaining the natural beauty of the land in the commencement ceremony. Go Canada indeed!

  2. Kyrsten Jensen says:
    May 31, 2009 at 5:35 am

    You got your oath delivered by Bob? how cool is that? Did I ever tell you that I was accepted into his lab for a PhD studentship, but ended up doing it instead in his friend’s lab a province away? Bob is awesome – what him and Finlay are doing with their company and their research is great!

  3. Bob O'Hara says:
    May 31, 2009 at 10:10 am

    I don’t know whether this is celebratory, or a warning:

  4. Cath Ennis says:
    May 31, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    Thanks Eric! I recommend it, it’s worth the hassle

    this photo taken to commemorate the end of the hassle
    Kyrsten, I didn’t know that! He seemed like a great guy.
    Bob, I’d call that celebratory – good stuff!

  5. Jennifer Rohn says:
    May 31, 2009 at 8:32 pm

    Did you sign a piece of paper that said you had to start saying the vowel construction ‘ou’ like a long u?

  6. Cath Ennis says:
    June 1, 2009 at 1:05 am

    I don’t know what you’re talking aboot

  7. Caryn Shechtman says:
    June 1, 2009 at 4:22 am

    Congrats Cath! You can pull the “I didn’t know I’m not allowed to drink in public” routine anymore though. That foreigner perk is gone. A fair trade for sure!

  8. Cath Ennis says:
    June 1, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    Thank you!
    My accent still sounds foreign enough (actually, Australian) to most Canadians that I might be able to swing it, especially if we hang out near the international youth hostel. (Yes, I’ve done this before ;))

  9. Richard Wintle says:
    June 1, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    Repeat after me:
    “dustbin” is pronounced “gairbidge can”
    “garage” is pronounced “ga-raaaaj”, not “garridge”
    “coffee” is pronounced “Timmy’s”
    Sorry, all that was probably on the citizenship exam. Congratulations! And you’ve got to like any scientist whose lab homepage is “bob.html”. 🙂

  10. Darren Saunders says:
    June 1, 2009 at 4:02 pm

    your accent doesn’t sound Australian in any way!!??

  11. Cath Ennis says:
    June 1, 2009 at 6:40 pm

    Richard, I don’t mind using different words, but I am trying to resist different pronunciations unless necessary for comprehension. “ga-raaaaj” is what posh people say in my part of the UK, for example! So I’ll stick with “garridge”.
    Oh, and if “water” was supposed to be pronounced the way North Americans pronounce it, it would be spelled “warder” 😉
    Darren, most North Americans who guess my accent guess Australian. My former Aussie room-mate had the opposite problem! My favourite was when I used to hang out with a Kiwi friend who’s since moved to the UK. People used to always ask if we were both from Australia, despite us having completely different (non-Aussie) accents! But then my former Canadian room-mates couldn’t hear the difference between my accent and those of my visiting friends, one from Essex and one from Edinburgh.

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