here ‘n’ there

Each spring Ottawa holds a tulip festival and the city that has spent the past three or four months buried in snow comes alive with colour.

Now some history from wikipedia:

In 1945, the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered Princess Juliana and her daughters for the preceding three years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, in the Second World War.

The most noteworthy event during their time in Canada was the birth in 1943 of Princess Margriet to Princess Juliana at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The maternity ward was declared to be officially a temporary part of the Netherlands, so that the birth could formally be claimed to have occurred on Dutch territory. In 1946, Juliana sent another 20,500 bulbs requesting that a display be created for the hospital, and promised to send 10,000 more bulbs each year.

After living and working in Canada for seven years I have now become Canadian. I attended the oath taking ceremony with 71 other people from 30 countries including a 100 year old Chinese lady. The ceremony was a light hearted affair and for some people it was the end of a long and difficult road. The family next to me were from Jordan and they we so clearly overjoyed to be here. The father was positively beaming and his kids were waving their flags like crazy.

There was a more solemn side to proceedings as we were reminded of our duties as Canadians and we were urged to join local community groups and take an interest in helping others. It made me wonder if that sort of thing shouldn’t be taught in schools.

We went to a BBQ at a friends house on the weekend. This is a new house (to them) and its is situated on a fantastic location on the Ottawa River. Fishing in the summer, hockey in the winter, fall colours in between and beautiful sunsets all year round. What more could he ask for?

I got my letter asking me to attend an Oath Taking Ceremony after which I will become a fully fledged Canuck. All of that studying must’ve paid off.

I went to Prince Edward County this weekend and visited Sandbanks Provincial Park. On the shores of Lake Ontario the park is well known for its high sand dunes but I found this beach equally as interesting. I can’t remember being on a beach with so many white shells. If I was to come back in a million years the beach would likely have the whitest sand.

The dunes are quite impressive though, the tallest must be around 100 feet high. What I find most fascinating is that there are trees growing in all this sand. At this time of year, shorn of leaves, they look quite dead. I think this group were mocking my lack of hair.

I took the Canadian citizenship test yesterday with about 10 other people. The questions are designed to ensure that you understand something about the history and geography of the country as well as the form of government. There are twenty multiple choice questions to be answered in thirty minutes.

I will be notified by post withing one to three months whether or not I have been accepted where upon I will be asked to take the oath of allegiance as the final step to being granted citizenship.

This week I received from Citizenship and Immigration Canada a “notice to appear - to write a citizenship test”. This should be the final stage in my quest to become Canadian and I don’t want to trip up by taking things for granted so its back to the books. I have one week to prepare.