Homesick

Every once in a while I experience homesickness from Vancouver. And when this happens I look around me here in the Philippines for references of Canada to fill that homesickness void. I'm often amazed how many Canadian references are surrounding me here. Some, in the most unlikely of places.

The local transportation is called the jeepney; and often they are great sources of Canadiana! It's an odd place to look but I always see Canadian flags painted onto the sides of jeepneys. I don't know why, but I see them all the time. And what's even more perplexing is I see more Canadian flags on jeepneys than American flags. It fills me with pride because most of the time, people here just assume I'm American. Canada always seems to be treated like the USA's misunderstood wimpy younger brother. If the jeepneys are proudly displaying our Canadian flags then I guess we're no longer misunderstood. Or, better yet, just naming a jeepney Canada is always nice too!

Across the street from me there's a mall. And in that mall there's, of all things, a Telus call center. Plastered on the side of this mall is a huge billboard advertising employment opportunities at Telus, 'The Canadian Telecommunications Company!' Telus may be Canadian, but the employees are definitely 100% Filipino. They have an open air employees' lounge on the roof of their office. And in that lounge there's a karaoke machine. And this karaoke machine spits out the typical cheesy love ballads we've all learned to love and hate. But, as I said, it's open air; and it's right across the street from me. Do you see where this is going? The Telus employees are call centers employees; they're not professional pop musicians. So, knowing this, you must realize their singing abilities are, well, to be nice, god awful. So imagine going to sleep one night and being awoken by the screeching sounds of a Filipina singing 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' at the top of her lungs. It's not a good way to awaken from a pleasurable dream. Your pleasurable dream has just become a nightmare! Needless to say my neighbours complained and got the lounge shut down. So no more bad singing during the wee hours of the morning. I often wonder if my neighbours are secretly blaming Canada for this bad singing. It is, after all, coming from 'Canada's Telecommunications Company.'

Blenz, the 'Canadian Coffee Company' is also here in Manila. Having Blenz here really creates an internal conflict in my mind. I'm really big on supporting and buying the local product. So generally, I'll go to a local coffee chain like Bo's Coffee or Figaro and have my coffee there rather than going to a Starbucks or Seattle's Best Coffee. But having a Canadian coffee shop here screws with the patriot parts of my mind that wants to support and do all I can for Canada. So what do I do in this case? Drink caffeine for Canada? Or drink caffeine for the Philippines? It's a hard decision to make. I may have to drink two coffees every day: one from Canada and one from the Philippines!

Oh, in case you're curious, coffee is massive here in the Philippines. Filipinos love their coffee! In my neighbourhood alone there's 10 coffee shops. 5 of which are Starbucks! Crazy!

A trip to the local grocery store is a trip to the who's who of Canadian exported products. Most of these exported products I've never seen in Canada! So it's somewhat amusing seeing a product line that claims to be a famous brand from Canada when I've never heard of it. I don't claim to know everything, but if it's really that famous wouldn't I know about it? I'm referring to a can goods brand called 'Selection.' Have you heard of it? I never have. What's even more interesting is that well-known brand from the Real Canadian Superstore called 'President's Choice' is available here. It's refreshing knowing I can shop here for Real Canadian Superstore products and not have to bag my own groceries (for those of you that don't know, Real Canadian Superstore keeps their prices low by having you bag your own groceries. Not only do you bag your own groceries, you also don't get any bags - unless you buy them!).

Buying Canadian brands here makes sense. Most things are internationally understood. A can of beans here is the same as a can of beans in Canada. Sure Filipinos eat different things than Canadians (except Filipino Canadians!) but canned vegetables and fruits can be utilized in every country. But what about those rare products that are 100% pure Canadian? I'm not referring to maple syrup cookies here; Filipinos would yum those up (remember they have a sweet tooth!). I'm referring to that infamous Montreal delicacy called ... poutine!

I was shocked when I saw this in the grocery store. This can as well as ten of his poutine brothers were sitting lonely at the bottom shelf of the canned vegetables section. I think it's been there for a while. It was dusty and if you look closely there's rust forming at the top of the can. Why is this here? Seriously, why is this here? Does the average Filipino off the street even know what poutine is? It's such a surreal product to find in a Philippines grocery store. Why market it here as 'poutine sauce'. Wouldn't it make more sense being marketed as something universal like say, chicken gravy? So odd. I felt sad for the can like I would feel sad for a kitten or puppy locked in a cage in a pet shop. It needed a home so I bought it. I not only bought it, but I also made it pose for this photo in front of a small Canadian flag. I wonder if it misses its poutine brothers? I wonder what a gathering of poutine cans is called? A flock? A school? A litter? A murder? A gaggle? The Bloc Québécois?

O CANADA!