"I came back in a daze of mild culture shock. On a family member's recommendation, my parents enrolled me and my brother in a Christian private school, located in a rich neighbourhood at the edge of the suburbs in Winnipeg's south end. It was small, hadn't been around for very long, and was recommended as being full of nice families and caring teachers."
"The church half had a big cross and, out front, one of those signboards where you can move the letters, advertising the church's sermon series. The floors in that front half were carpeted, and there was a big lobby and a main auditorium, lined with cushioned pews facing toward a stage. I was overwhelmed by how wide and spacious everything felt, moving from a European scale to a Canadian one."
A seven-year-old moved back to Canada after three years abroad, having spent most early life in Bratislava, Slovakia. Parents enrolled the child and a sibling in a Christian private school in a wealthy Winnipeg suburb for perceived "good influences" and protection from bullying. The school occupied part of a large Baptist church, with a playground, flagpole, carpeted lobby, auditorium, cushioned pews, and a signboard advertising sermons. The child contrasted the spacious, corporate-feeling church-school with a previous concrete school with bars on the windows. Familiar Christian symbols appeared more overt and amplified, producing mild culture shock.
Read at The Walrus
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