By Shiromi Santhakumar
Published on December 8, 2014
[caption id="attachment_710" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Sri Lanka. Image submitted by Shiromi Santhakumar.[/caption]
In July 2004, my mother, sister, brother and I prepared for our departure from Sri Lanka. We packed the brand new clothes we purchased from the well-known stores in Colombo along with the dried fish we purchased from the local fishery.
Eleven years old at the time, I was going across the globe to reunite with my father after three years. Despite the excitement, I worried about what I was leaving behind in Sri Lanka. We said our farewells, and rode in the rented van to the airport.
Walking towards the boarding zone, we were ordered to line up at the security checkup. As I took off my shoes, I remember noticing that most people there had the familiar faces of people of Sri Lankan and Indian descent. Probably not so in Canada. I thought about how my life would change.
Air Canada was unlike the Sri Lankan Airline. The flight attendant did not speak Tamil or Sinhalese, but spoke in English and French. The passengers were diverse; I saw many people who were white, black, or Asian. I wondered how these people communicated with each other. Were they born in Canada? Did they immigrate like me? How will I learn French?
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Holding my hand tightly, my mother hurried towards our next flight boarding area, with my siblings following behind. I remember the people in Germany seemed hostile. The airport security was solemn and intimidating. The white travelers ignored my family’s presence and did not return my smiles. [caption id="attachment_709" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
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- Abeysiriwardena, Duminda. 2014. “Wadi Karawala Hodda (Dry Fish Curry).” Cook With Chef Duminda.
- Khanlou, Nazilla, Yogendra B. Shakya, Farah Islam, and Emma Oudeh. 2014. “Newcomer Youth Self-Esteem: A Community-Based Mixed Methods Study of Afghan, Columbian, Sudanese and Tamil Youth in Toronto, Canada.” In Refuge and Resilience, edited by Laura Simich and Lisa Andermann, 109–29. International Perspectives on Migration 7. Springer Netherlands.
- Krishnamurti, Sailaja. 2012. “Queue-Jumpers, Terrorists, Breeders: Representations of Tamil Migrants in Canadian Popular Media.” South Asian Diaspora 5 (1): 139–57.
- Tim Hortons. 2010. “Tim Hortons Coffee Commercial Welcome Home.” YouTube video, 1:00.
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