Moving away from your home country is an adjustment, no matter your age. It can be scary and daunting, but also exciting and full of opportunity. However, as is with most things in life, there’s always two sides to every coin. I’m here to tell you about my experience.
I moved to Canada from Brazil when I was 5 years old. It was quite an adjustment, but thankfully, I had the privilege of already being a Canadian citizen because of my mother’s citizenship. This factor definitely made things go smoother in terms of documentation. Regardless, moving to a new country always comes with challenges.
I landed in Canada without speaking a word of English. Learning the language was the easy part, but growing up came with its own set of difficulties. Some of my cousins and siblings were older when we made the move, so they continued to uphold their Brazilian culture, having been raised surrounded by it. On the other hand, my younger cousin and I were raised surrounded by Nova Scotian culture.
Growing up in a small town with very little diversity, I had a very small amount of exposure to other cultures. I rarely heard someone call me by my actual nationality, and some extremely out-of-pocket comments were made surrounding my culture. This heavily affected my perspective on being from another country. My family behaved differently from other Canadian families, and held different values. Because I grew up hearing so many comments about my nationality, I would suppress my Brazilian culture in attempts to fit in as well as I could. This is a common practice for anyone growing up with a mixed background; we try to assimilate ourselves to the dominant culture surrounding us in order to feel like we belong.
Moving away from your home country as a child is hard, as you are a sort of blend between two cultures. That was my problem; I never felt Canadian enough, nor Brazilian enough. Throughout my life, I’ve traveled back to Brazil for occasional family visits, but it wasn’t until I visited last month that I felt truly immersed in my own culture.
When I first started university, I encountered people from all over the world, people who incorporated their culture into their everyday lives. Social media also helped me become more informed on other cultures. On Tiktok, for instance, I was able to see a wider range of people with similar stories to mine. This is when I began to lean into my Brazilian culture even more.
I began shouting it from the hills, mentioning I was Brazilian when I introduced myself to new people. I also started to listen to Brazilian music on a regular basis. However, this wasn’t enough; I wanted to immerse myself even more.
My parents noticed my interest in the culture and my dad agreed to bring me with him to Brazil to visit family in November. The minute I landed on the tarmac, I let out a huge sigh of relief. It was as if I had been dehydrated for days, and had just taken my first sip of water. The sound of people speaking Portuguese was music to my ears, as I had grown up only speaking my mother tongue at home, and spoke English the rest of the time. I saw my family, ate all my favorite foods (acai, mango juice, churrasca, coxinhas and more) and got to explore my beautiful home of Sao Paulo. Suffice to say, I fell in love with it.
After coming home I began to reflect, coming to the conclusion that there must be a lot of people who felt the same way growing up as I did. I wanted to share some techniques I’ve been using to incorporate Brazilian culture into my life, as a way to stay connected to it since coming back from my trip. Here are a few of them:
Food:
Many places have international food markets and the ingredients to make dishes from all around the world. Learning family recipes and trying to make traditional dishes really gives me a taste of home when I’m homesick.
Media:
Following accounts from your home country, celebrities, etc can help you feel up to date with the events and culture of your home country. This has also helped me be able to carry on conversations with friends and family when I see them.
Music:
If you’re a university student who rarely gets the chance to speak your first language since you’ve moved away from home, try listening and/or singing along to music from your home country. This has helped me drastically.
Communication:
Technology has its ups and downs but video calls are a blessing. If you have family back home, try to call them if you’re able. It’s important to keep those long-distance connections alive.
This article is very near and dear to my heart, and I am so appreciative of the platform I have to share my experiences with you all. I hope to reach those who have shared the same feelings I did growing up, and to touch the hearts of everyone who reads this. Everyone has their own culture and it’s a beautiful thing in our world. Let’s honour it, and never tuck it away again.