Today I became a Canadian citizen! I've lived in Canada longer than I lived in the U.S. so I figured it was about time. Andy & I attended the citizenship ceremony at Canada Place in Edmonton. There were 71 of us becoming new citizens. Three of us were Caucasian. It was kind of cool! I sat next to a young woman who was Columbian by birth, but raised in Lebanon and had Lebanese citizenship, and was now getting her Canadian citizenship after 4 years in Canada. And she's married to a Venzuelan with Canadian/Venzuelan citizenship. My story was decidedly boring compared to most people's!
I was able to take my Bible with me to swear my oath on, so that was special. We repeated the oath after the judge, first in French, then English!I received my very own signed copy of Pierre Trudeau's greatest work, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in both official languages. I also got a little maple leaf pin and a flag. Woo hoo!
Here's me in the atrium of Canada Place after the ceremony. We sang "O Canada". Andy said it was the first time he ever got emotional singing the national anthem!
It was such a great experience, and I'm proud to say I'm Canadian, although for those who are wondering, I am still proudly an American citizen also.
8 comments:
YAY MO!!!
I still don't think you look like a beer. :^P
Congrats on your new citizenship, we're happy to call you our own!!
Okay, we'll share you with your family, but only on certain days.
Have a happy day,
Love the Greeks!
oh sure, now you "officially" get to celebrate both Canadian AND American holidays...Does this mean I hafta buy you 2 gifts every Christmas?
-Dan
Now you have to say "insurance" correctly. Sorry.
Congratulations!!!
Sure, Dan, 2 Christmas presents, presents for July 1 & 4, 2 Thanksgivings....and I'm still working on "insurance" and "vehicle".
Congrats Mo! How exciting! Enjoy celebrating all those holidays - and make sure you get the extra gifts from Dan - LOL!
That's awesome, congrats.
Mo-
Ed told me about the blog and I thought I'd have to take the time to check it out. Congratulations on becoming a legal citizen of our neighbor to the north!
I just have one question- I'd think you would need to be of legal age to take such an oath, and by my calculations, you're only 7!
Beth (from Seattle, via Mount Vernon)
Congratulations!
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