It looks like we won't own the podium after all. At the moment, we're in fifth place in the medal standings, which isn't bad, given our population and all that, but it's nowhere near what we had hoped. Never mind - as much as this blast of Canadian spirit has taken us all by storm and brought us together, it's worth remembering that with few exceptions, most of us came from somewhere else.
Tonight in Olympic hockey, Canada takes on Germany in an attempt to get back on that podium. I can't help but think of my brother, who has lived in Germany these past 20 years, and whose girlfriend is so German she wore a dirndl (traditional Bavarian folk costume) to our Christmas dinner last year (with or without irony we'll never know). Will he root for Canada or Germany? I would suspect the latter, given that that's the side that polishes his helmet. In addition to a German brother, I have a French sister, who married a Parisian some 18 years ago and disappeared into the land of baguettes, precise grammar, and white flags. Of course they live in Amsterdam now, so I guess they're big on speedskating. I have another sister who lives here, but spends a lot of time in the U.S., Iceland, Ireland and Puerto Rico, so I guess she roots for whatever country has frequent flyer programs. John's dad came from Czechoslovakia, and used to coach his son in hockey, a nice tradition John has carried on with Aidan. My dad's from Ireland, but they don't play hockey there. Hell, they don't even put ice in their drinks. My mother is 10th generation Canadian by way of Quebec, and her mother was a champion curler. My mother-in-law is also 10th generation Canadian by way of Quebec, but I suspect her ancestors oppressed my mother's, something we avoid mentioning at family dinners, particularly when we're dealing with a guest wearing a dirndl.
In other words, We. Are. Canadian. As, I suspect, are you.
Go team.