Nationality - It's important sometimes

Last night one of my newer friends here at the college asked me exactly what nationality I was. Now, normally when I get this question, I think of it politically as people are generally inquiring as to whether I am Irish or British, and are thereby trying to ascertain if I am Catholic or Protestant and therefore whether I fit the various stereotypes that go with such an identity in N.Ireland.

However, the question last night was did I see myself as N.Irish (the safe answer to the political question) or Canadian. And the reality is that I didn't really know.

Of course, N.Ireland will always be my home and nothing can change that. But an nationality is more than that.

Growing up I guess I really never liked the idea of being British or Irish because it would mean that the other 50% of the population might not like you. How then would it possible for me to be proud to be British when I knew that terrible evils had been done to the Irish population and similarly how can I claim to be a proud Irishman whenever the IRA would target anything they saw as remotely British.

I was never able to separate my nationality from the idea of what it had done to the other and I guess that is why I felt that I was able to adopt an Canadian persona so easily. If the biggest problem facing a country is an ice hockey strike (or lock-out whatever you want to call it) then you have to be doing something right.

So now I am a N.Irish Canadian in England, another country that I am really starting to warm to. Whatever accent will I develop next?

I gave in

Well it has happened.....after years of stating the evils that are mobile/cell phones, I have finally went out and gotten myself one.

It seems that it is virtually impossible to survive in England without one. I mean seriously, I do not know anybody in England that does not have one. This one does look pretty cool and apparently I can take it to Canada and use it like a regular cell phone there without it costing an arm and a leg.

One other thing that has been annoying me recently has been is NFL predictions. People are always predicting with regards to the spread. I mean this weekend my buddy Steve on his excellant blog www.nwontario.com, predicted that Minnesota would beat the Colts. However, when I actually read what he said about the game it was not that he was predicting a Vikings win but instead that they would beat the spread which said that they would lose by 7 points. As it was, they lost by 3 points so fair play to Steve he got the prediction right, but I don't think that when the players came off the field that they were thinking "oh, it's okay, we beat the spread". No, I am sure they are devastated. So from now on when people are making predictions why don't they just say something like this "Packers to beat the Vikings this, this Sunday".

Anyways, on a non sporting front, I am most perturbed by this airline that screwed up my flights to Canada. I got a letter this week apologising for what happened and stating "we would like to offer you FREE pre-bookable seats....the next time you book with us". In my excited mode, I took this to mean that they were giving me a free flight to Canada which would be wicked. However, apparently all it meant was that when I buy my next ticket, they will let me reserve my window seat for free. Now, am I wrong when I say that every time you fly, they ask you at the airport if you would like a window seat. So what good was this offer??

So basically, the airline is offering me nothing for delaying my trip by 24 hours and meaning that I couldn't get to see the Packers game that I had been looking forward for 9 months. So I have made an official complaint and I shall let you all know what happens. If anyone feels like writing in support of my complaint feel free to write to mail@canadianaffair.com. I have been corresponding with Monisha so you should probably address anything to her.

Ok, so no real political rant this week. I was quite shocked that Bush won so comfortably last week, but let's hope that he uses his majority to actually do some good.

Until next week

Back Again, Ranting Again

As many of you know, last week I got to head back to Canada and see everyone there. I really had a fantastic time meeting up with everyone in Kingston and fortunately I saw ALMOST everyone that I wanted to see.

In actual fact, the week had the potential to be a disaster. For you see on the way out, my flight was delayed by over a day and it turned out that I was not able to arrive in Canada in time to make it down to Wisconsin to see my beloved Green Bay Packers. After much venting to my family from my lonely airport hotel room on the Saturday night, I did eventually leave England on the Sunday. However, something about flying into Toronto helped me regain my excitement and the week became a delight from that point on.

Speaking of the Green Bay Packers, it seems that they have made it such that John Kerry will win the US election today. For you see, whenever the Washington Redskins lose on the week of the election, the incumbent candidate is always defeated. And despite the Packers best efforts to throw the game away at the end of the game, they prevailed winning 27-14. So I guess it is goodbye Monsieur Bush.

Seriously though, this election does seem to have attracted more attention than any that I can ever remember. Now, while I do hope that Kerry gets the nod, it is also equally imperative that the rest of the world attempts to continue to support the US regardless of who ends up in the Oval Office. I have been amazed by the amount of Liberal opinion who genuinely believe that Bush has been attempting to destroy the world. Surely, we must remember that the current US administration has acted in what they believe is the best interests of the country.

We all know that the US is obsessed with the idea that it is them against the Rest of the World. Often we loathe the US for this mentality which we see as ignorance However, ignoring the fact that we all ignorant in many ways, resenting the US does nothing but add to their insecurity. If we therefore continue to be bitter against the country, what incentive exists for them to act in any way altristic.

Take N.Ireland for example. The majority of people in the country will now agree that more progess politically was made there during the late 1990's than ever before. What was the only difference in this time? The fact that President Clinton got more involved than any previous US President. Since roughly the time that Bush came to power, progress has stalled in the country and note again that conspicious by his absence in this time has been President Bush. I wish that he was more involved, but I understand why he has not been. For on top of the fact that he has been fighting an unpopular war, I have no doubt that he realized that Clinton was actually hated in N.Ireland for the role he played. The astonishing thing is that despite the fact that the country was incapable of making any progress by themselves, they wanted to be left alone, presumably to continue to blow each other up. What therefore would President Bush gain by taking an active role in the country today?

We need a strong US presence on the World stage and the only way we can get this is to support them regardless of whether or not a candidate is elected whom we all like. The AIDS crisis in Africa threatens to be a defining event of the 21st century and this is only one of numerous potential crisis facing the international world. Like it or not the US is the strongest country in the world and the one country that could potentially make a difference.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus talks about how much more difficult it to love your enemy than your friend. At the minute, America thinks that it has a lot of enemies. There is no harm in praying that America can live up to the biblical standard and support those who may not support them, but surely we can make it easy for them by once again becoming their friend.

Hope for Kerry, even pray for Kerry. But be prepared to befriend the US regardless.