Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Is this how they feel ALL THE TIME?

I'm a Canadian who was born in Vancouver, and a have been a BC resident all my life. I've never lived further than 20 minutes away from the Pacific Ocean, and always in sight of the Coast Mountains - here in south-western BC: truly the most beautiful place on earth.

I enjoyed the past few weeks more than I ever thought possible.  The Olympics, the athletes, volunteers and organisers have inspired me more than I can describe.

I feel so darned patriotic.  So proud and lucky to have been born and live in this great country.  The flag makes me happy; the national anthem makes my heart swell; and I think that the rest of the world must be jealous.  Everyone must want to live here now.  How could they not?
I want to wear red and white every day.  I want to tell everyone in bloggie land which country I come from, and I fully expect the congratulatory comments to come rolling in. (Tongue only partly in cheek)

This plethora of pervasive patriotic pride is a true delight;  it has seeped into my bones, filled my heart, and lightened my soul.
As I ponder this magical and unaccustomed glow a thought strikes me....

Is this how Americans feel ALL THE TIME?

7 comments:

Deborah said...

That made me burst out laughing. What a thought, that this feeling could just be NORMAL!

I feel the same and only wish I could actually be in Canada right now.

Unknown said...

I'll tell ya, Kathryn, during the closing ceremonies when the kids were singing a very upbeat and almost "rockin" version of Oh Canada, I was slightly jealous...I almost said to my husband that as much as I love our country's anthem, it will never sound as cool as your's did that night! You have a right to be proud. Your city pulled off an amazing feat!

Kathryn said...

Deb,
Isn't it an unaccustomed feeling? I mean I always felt happy to be Canadian,but this has taken it to a new level! Are you coming over in March or waiting until May? I hope you know it's BYOB - Bring your own Belgian!

Connie,
You know, I've always liked YOUR anthem! Did you ever notice that we kind of fade out in the middle of ours? When the anthem is sung at official functions there's a bit of French inserted in the middle to make it bilingual. Those of us English-only Canadians have to mumble our way through. I guess it's time we learned the French, at the very least for the anthem. Thanks for your great comment!

Kathryn said...

(Not this American!)

Congrats on the wonderful job with the Olympics & all the awards won! Canada is a great land & we are fortunate to have you as neighbors.

There are times when i feel patriotic, but the truth is these days not so much. We have done so many things i feel are not right & that i'm not proud of that that feeling of pride is faint in me.

So glad you are elated.

Jacqueline Korteland Boller said...

I'm not that patriotic, to be honest...times are tough lately, I guess, but the Olympics were fun for me and a nice distraction!

Von said...

Congratulations to all of you in B.C. for beautifully hosting the world at the recent Olympics! It was amazing to see the ingenious ways snow and ice were kept on the slopes in the abnormally warm weather. All the weather patterns are nuts this season!

I think many of us U.S. citizens feel patriotic much of the time, if you leave politics out of it. The beauty of our country never fails to amaze me, there are so many wonderful people, and so many of us have been blessed to live a life that millions cannot even dream of. Canada shares these qualities with us and we can all be grateful to be Americans and Canadians.

Jannedals said...

David Pelletier especially made me feel the most proud to be Canadian. His suave comments like "You just don't come to the Olympics dressed like that" and "That's alright Jamie, I'm confident in my abilities..." really made me tear up.

I felt my French pride too, upon the sight of the excellent moustache of the French halfpipe snowboarder. This "Inspector Clouseau" may not have won a medal, but he definitely won a place in my top 10 fashion moments of the 2010 Olympics.