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Nostalgia - n. - a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time

“There is a girl named Spike from Degrassi High/?She had a baby when she was real young?/Her best friend is a skinhead chick/ She knows an Asian boy named Yick” --From the song “I’m in Love with a Girl Named Spike” by ‘90s ska band Skankin’ Pickle

A belated Merry Christmas (and Happy Boxing Day, to boot!) and a pre-emptive Happy New Year! I hope everyone is finding time to be with family, friends, and/or enjoy a little alone time as needed.

With the final Chapter Two column of 2011, I will once again step aside from the usual consideration of movie sequels for an extended jaunt to the Great White North. I will be pondering the concept of nostalgia (definition above supplied by dictionary.com) vis a vis my life in relation to two sequel-based exemplars of Canadian pop culture: Degrassi Junior High, the second in a seemingly endless progression of series built around the lives of Canadian adolescents and/or teens, revolving around their academic and social lives in junior and/or high school; and Souvenir of Canada 2, a 2004 coffee table-esque book by Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland that was a sequel to his 2002 book. Both are part of an art project of sorts that he initiated in order to answer his own question of “What is uniquely Canadian?” or “What makes Canada, Canada?”

The fact that this may strike some (most likely those from the United States) as a ridiculous query testifies not to any seeming silliness for a question of nationality and nation pride to be broached, but rather the stereotype that Canada is some sort of extension of the USA, or a distant family member - maybe second cousin on the mother’s side - that one remains just aware enough of to take for granted but never cognisant of to consider separately in the scheme of things. (Coupland discusses these and many other misconceptions, preconceptions, and plain old lack of conceptions concerning his native country in great detail.)

I may fall prey to such behavior on occasion, but if anything, I tend to romanticize Canada more than almost any other country (outside of New Zealand). It remains one of only two countries I have ever visited, and this was with my elementary school grades K-6 for the World Exposition on Transportation and Communication - Expo ’86 in British Columbia - a quarter of a century ago. I remember very little about the event, outside of standing in line with my classmates for about an hour and a quarter to have my name signed in Arabic, and some particulars involving nightly stays in youth hostels where all 22 of us kids and the several teachers and adult chaperones would be plunked down inside sleeping bags on auditorium floors, fitful nights of sleep remedied by having (being stuck with?) first dibs on the communal showers before the water had had a fighting chance to upgrade much past brrrr from its resting state of goose bump inducing liquid frost.

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