International Day at CFB Borden

On March 6th, 2009 I first wrote about this; a little known and even less publicized bi-annual event that takes place here in Canada at the Canadian Forces Base Borden. I am glad once again to have gone and to report on this event. I am talking about International Day at CFB Borden, which this time took place on October 1st, 2009. This is an event that takes place twice a year where more than twenty countries participate and show off their cuisine, culture and wares. This event is put together to honour the countries that participate in the CFB Borden school for foreign military personnel studying English.

This year was my second visit to the event so I had some expectations and those expectations were more than met. Since I wrote about it last year, more people became aware of the event, at least in the Macedonian community, and I am happy to say that this time I saw many new faces and met new people. I also knew what to expect in terms of the foods so this time I began my tour by sampling the desserts first. I knew that the ladies auxiliary from the St. Clement Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral would be coming soon and would be serving all kinds of food but since Bosnia-Herzegovina had already opened their booth, I found myself right in front of their famous baklava. And I can tell you the taste was delicious. The Jordan booth also served baklava but the pieces were smaller, dryer and less sweet but none the less equally delicious with a lot more unique spices and an aroma that made them irresistible.

I arrived at the Base around 12:30 that afternoon but the place where the events were to take place did not open until 2:00 PM, that is, two hours before the event was to open to the general public. Immediately after the doors were opened, everyone busied themselves setting up the booths and making sure everything was placed strategically, geometrically and perfectly for viewing. After the booths were set up, organized and reorganized a certain anxiety began to creep in, the kind of anxiety actors and performers experience right before the opening of a live play. Would there be many visitors? Would they find the displays satisfactory? Would the food arrive? Remember this batch of military officers is new to the Base and had no idea how things would play, so we can´t blame them for being a bit nervous.

Since they knew this was my second visit, my friends the Macedonian officers Lieutenant Colonel Toni Stojanovski, Lieutenant Colonel Sasho Ivanovski, Captain Toni Kaevich, Lieutenant Dejan Janevski and Lieutenant Gotse Stevanovski kept asking for reassurance that indeed things would happen as planned. But right around 4:00 PM near opening time, I too became a bit anxious when the food had not yet arrived and the place was almost empty. It must have been the bad weather, the rain that was delaying things; I kept reassuring myself. I decided to take a stroll and look around.

I had met many of the foreign military officers over my last two months of visiting but it had always been in their civilian dress. Today I was happy to see them all looking handsome in their military best. I met the Ukrainian officers on the way and then the Montenegrins Kole, Rade and Vuk whom I happened to know by name and had photographs taken with them. I must have been gone no more than five minutes, but when I returned the place was bustling with people. The food had arrived and everything was as it should be. I could see my officer friends with smiles on their faces as they eagerly greeted the guests, some of whom they had met before and some for the first time.

Relaxed about how things were shaping up, I decided it was time to take a tour, visiting and photographing all the booths. I began with China and continued with Montenegro, Chile, Senegal, Benin, Malaysia, Bolivia and Jordan in one hall and then Albania, Macedonia, Croatia, Cameroon, Mongolia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Korea, Thailand, Mali and the Ukraine in the grand hall. Now imagine all these countries competing for the attention of not only the visitors from the various communities, but also for the attention of every Canadian officer and soldier on the base. Every visitor I spoke to was impressed and enjoyed the food and being there.

When I came back to the Macedonian booth I too met and greeted our Macedonian compatriots but most impressive was to see a new item added to the display. It was a real, genuine spearhead. But this was no ordinary spearhead, it was the tip of a sarissa, a spear used in ancient warfare by the ancient Macedonians more than two millennia ago. It was brought there by the Macedonian General Consul Martin Trenevski who together with his wife and Consul Branko Trajkovski and his wife, were guests at the event. Among the Macedonian delegation included were also St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Cathedral´s Pop Trajko Boseovski, Committee President Vlado Dimitrievksi and of course the various other visitors and participants including the Ladies Auxiliary who not only prepared and delivered the food, but happily worked tirelessly to serve it. Thank you to everyone for their hard work and participation. Also a big thanks to all those who brought extra food, gifts and items for our officers and for the display. I happened to notice that Jimmy Shmagranov, the St. Ilija Macedonian Church President was also there.

CFB Borden is one of a few military bases here in Canada that plays host to foreign soldiers from over twenty countries. The soldiers are brought here so that they can learn the English language and a bit of the military lingo. Canada picks up the tab for countries that are not members of NATO. Canada informs each country interested in participating in the program of the number of its soldiers it can accommodate and the country decides who to send. In Macedonia´s case, soldiers who want to participate must first apply for the program. Participation is voluntary. After the application is put in it has to be scrutinized and approved by the chain of command. The names of those approved are placed in a queue until their turn comes. The program is held twice a year; January to June and August to December. Besides the four-month programs, Canada also offers a shorter program that begins half way through the long program and lasts a couple of months. Last spring I was fortunate to have met Marija Jolevska, a young Macedonian lady, a civilian working for the Army of the Republic of Macedonia who attended the short program. This time I met the recently arrived Sashko Jovanovski, Deputy Head of Sector for Policy and Planning from the Ministry of Defense from the Republic of Macedonia. Welcome to Canada Sashko. Canada provides all accommodation including recreation, outings etc. There is also a local gymnasium, soccer fields and a swimming pool available to the soldiers for physical activities. On weekends there are periodical planned outings and shopping trips to Barrie and other places.

Twice a year the Base invites local ethnic communities to participate in - what can only be described as – "multicultural events" where each country participating is given a booth to display its wares and serve its choice of food except alcohol. I think this is what our Macedonian venerated revolutionary hero Gotse Delchev had in mind when he said, "I envisage the world only as a field for cultural competition among nations." Delchev would have been proud of this event.

Imagine all these countries serving their national dish, each attempting to show something unique about their culture and imagine you, a visitor, attempting to sample free foods from every country. Believe me it is a connoisseur´s paradise.

In my opinion Bosnia-Herzegovina had the best baklava but I am biased because I love the stuff so I asked my friend Tsena, who came to the event with her husband John, to sample the dishes. Unfortunately Tsena too appears to be biased because she favoured the Macedonian sweets. She found Bosnia Herzegovina´s sweets too sweet, so she says.

Romania did not participate this year so no hot peppers for me to sample. The most food served award is a tie between Macedonia and Albania. When everyone else had run out of food, the Macedonian and Albanian booths were still going.

After I had my fill with everything I could taste and I could eat no more I drew my attention to the various cultural displays; to the artifacts that ranged from dolls to dishes to pottery of all shapes and colours. Everyone had something unique to show. There were also books, booklets, cards, pamphlets, pictures and most booths even had one, two or three laptops with various videos of cultural demonstrations with all sorts of stories to tell.

But there was more. Once again I was happy to see familiar faces in the Croatian cultural group which put on an excellent performance for us. There were more performances that followed, including one by a couple of ladies from Thailand who I am told are students at this base also.

Last but not least, I want to mention that this after all was a military affair with all visiting officers and soldiers and our Canadian officers and soldiers dressed in uniform, each wearing their country´s colour, flag, crests and emblems with pride. It was a wonderful sight to see.

The event lasted from about 4:00 pm when the booths opened to the public until 8:00 pm when the facilities were promptly evacuated.

When the booths closed most visitors left the base. Those who remained clustered in various common rooms in the officer´s quarters for an after party get-together.

All in all this was another great event and again I was very pleased to have seen so many cultures come together at the same time under the same roof.

Bravo Canada for offering such a program to all these countries and for making events like this possible. Also many thanks to the Canadian Forces Base Borden officers and kitchen staff who worked tirelessly and were happy to be of service and assist in such a fantastic event.

After the formal event many groups got together for a party to visit more informally with their countrymen. I too stayed late with my officer friends and enjoyed their company and the company of their friends. It was a day to remember.

You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com