| Chapter 1: | Autobiographical Self |
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This space has a hope for educational enunciation, the negotiating of double voices within in-between spaces, “based not on the exoticism of multiculturalism or the diversity of cultures, but on the inscription and articulation of culture’s hybridity” (Bhabha, 1994, p. 38). In this space, we can move from the familiar to the unfamiliar and from the unfamiliar to the familiar; from the known to the unknown and from the unknown to the known; from rejection to acceptance and from acceptance to rejection; this bidirectional interplay occurs within ourselves in a place that is neither native nor foreign soil. If the aim of education is to promote the idea that we can be better human beings who are free from prejudices, then this is the space in which we walk in another’s shoes. No matter how different we are, we cannot stop dreaming of understanding each other in a deeper sense. However, there can be no utopia in a realistic sense, so we must dwell with tensions that emerge from this in-between space.
My haiku is my third space in which to sing, dance, and fly, dwelling somewhere between ambiguity and clarity, unable to reach both, while searching for the voice of women.
I came to Canada in 1994. Since then, I have never regretted my decision to come alone at the age of 50. In the first 2 years, during which I suffered considerably (e.g., having my root Canal dental work become damaged and fall out), I was extremely miserable. For the first 2 years I lived in a dark, prison-like dormitory in which I shared a bathroom with a younger girl who left her hair all over the bathroom, and I did not know how to voice my complaints. I do not know why I ended up in such accommodations, but it was what was offered to me so I took it, again, without complaint. I did not fit into the ESL program easily, due to my writing style and inability to comprehend the teacher’s expectations.