Out of Stock

The weekend advances apace and grey mist shrouds the firs on the other side of the Inlet. I want to finish my ruminations then move on to other topics.

I’ve pretty much covered Canada’s good points although I should add that, in these parlous economic times, I’m grateful for my job despite its less than fascinating aspects. I’m sure some of you have the words “Safety!” and “Democracy!” blinking red capitals in your brains. I have to say that in all my years abroad and in all my peregrinations to places like Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey, there was only one very brief episode in Cambodia that I would categorize as dangerous. In general, if you practice caution and possess commonsense, the world is literally your oyster.

China, of course, does have a totalitarian Communist government but, during the five years I lived there, the government told the people foreigners were honoured guests and should be treated accordingly. I was free to leave whenever I chose, to travel around the country at will, to worship at churches off bounds to Chinese citizens, and was more or less unaffected by the soul-numbing regulations that can sap the joy of existence. Either exempt from these rules or assigned a Chinese person to take care of them for me, I actually felt freer there than I usually do in Canada.

Most of the restrictions here are financial – most of us are caught in a web of debt, high cost of living and wages that barely exceed our expenses. We are free, yes; we can say and do as we please, yes; we are surrounded by a glorious cultural and artistic heritage, yes; but in reality our access to these freedoms is greatly impeded by our financial realities. My wages in China, a third world country, even at their lowest, allowed me a life style – a sense of comfort and security – that is absent in Canada. Once again, the adhesive tentacles of the western economic trap have wrapped themselves about me. They’re often seductive, but I certainly can’t say I’m enjoying myself.

Another thing I’m missing is the freewheeling camaraderie of expats. If society is a sort of honeycomb, everyone here is tucked into separate cells while expats manage to launch themselves into a sticky sea of togetherness. That’s an incredibly bad metaphor, but I’m going to let it stand.

And so the Great Debate rages, daily, within me. To go or to stay?