A Canadian in Sweden

Canada is missing from me

As someone whose French is littered with anglicismes, one of the phrases that always trips me up is: "Tu me manques." In English we say "I miss you" and so I always feel like I should say "Je te manque" in French even though I know full well it is incorrect. I'm thinking of this since arriving back from my very short séjour in Québec, because while I'm having an exciting time here in Umeå, I am of course missing many things: family, friends, home.

But when I say "I miss home," it doesn't quite do those feelings justice. It kind of makes me think of some Jane Austen character staring wistfully out the window. Sort of weepy-cheesy.

I kind of prefer the French construction: Canada me manque. It's like that: home is missing from me... It's not that I'm actively missing certain people and places all the time; it's just that those people and places are missing from me and my everyday life.

posted by Jeff @ 1:53 PM