Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Here is an essay from Ruby Bissett, written as an assignment in her Grade 10 English class a few months ago.
My Family
Welcome to the Bissett family. We’re big, loud, and pure Aussie pride. I’m the only Canadian on my mum’s side, but that doesn’t stop my heritage from coming out.
I live in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, with my mum and my cat. We live in an apartment complex off of Commercial Drive, a spunky area in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver. The area is very multicultural, inhabited primarily by Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Canadian families. My mum moved out of her parents’ house in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, when she was 22 to begin traveling around the world, and moved to Vancouver permanently when she learnt she was pregnant with me!
Neither of my parents are Sikh. My father is Christian (his dad was a priest), and while my mother does Kundalini Yoga she doesn’t follow a religion. When she was a child, she went to a Catholic all girls’ school, and my Nana brought my mum and her 9 other siblings up as Catholics, although they were never baptized. These days, the Bissetts aren’t very religious, but we all remember our spirituality and beliefs.
My entire family (on my mum’s side), aside from me, are from Australia. I’ve been to Australia twice, where I visited the twenty-something Bissetts inhabiting Geelong. The central meeting point is my Nana and Papa’s house, which my Pap designed and built himself in his earlier years. My family is a classic Australia family. All our pictures together are at a barbeque (or ‘barbie’), the men usually holding beer cans, and cricket is mandatory at every family gathering.
My father’s side is a touchy and generally unknown subject. I was born as a surprise to my dad, who wasn’t even there when I was born. I never knew this man very well. I’ve had a few encounters with him which weren’t the most pleasurable moments of my life. Nevertheless, I have faith that he will be able to change and I will perhaps be able to have a relationship with him.
My family is very complex but at the same time ridiculously similar. We come from many different worlds but we all have our “biscuit-brain” reputations to be recognized by. Some would say that I’ve had a tough upbringing but I’m grateful for what I’ve got.
My Family
Welcome to the Bissett family. We’re big, loud, and pure Aussie pride. I’m the only Canadian on my mum’s side, but that doesn’t stop my heritage from coming out.
I live in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, with my mum and my cat. We live in an apartment complex off of Commercial Drive, a spunky area in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver. The area is very multicultural, inhabited primarily by Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Canadian families. My mum moved out of her parents’ house in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, when she was 22 to begin traveling around the world, and moved to Vancouver permanently when she learnt she was pregnant with me!
Neither of my parents are Sikh. My father is Christian (his dad was a priest), and while my mother does Kundalini Yoga she doesn’t follow a religion. When she was a child, she went to a Catholic all girls’ school, and my Nana brought my mum and her 9 other siblings up as Catholics, although they were never baptized. These days, the Bissetts aren’t very religious, but we all remember our spirituality and beliefs.
My entire family (on my mum’s side), aside from me, are from Australia. I’ve been to Australia twice, where I visited the twenty-something Bissetts inhabiting Geelong. The central meeting point is my Nana and Papa’s house, which my Pap designed and built himself in his earlier years. My family is a classic Australia family. All our pictures together are at a barbeque (or ‘barbie’), the men usually holding beer cans, and cricket is mandatory at every family gathering.
My father’s side is a touchy and generally unknown subject. I was born as a surprise to my dad, who wasn’t even there when I was born. I never knew this man very well. I’ve had a few encounters with him which weren’t the most pleasurable moments of my life. Nevertheless, I have faith that he will be able to change and I will perhaps be able to have a relationship with him.
My family is very complex but at the same time ridiculously similar. We come from many different worlds but we all have our “biscuit-brain” reputations to be recognized by. Some would say that I’ve had a tough upbringing but I’m grateful for what I’ve got.
# posted by MPA Student Work @ 8:22 AM 
