Clearest

Though by now I must strain to recall it, my earliest memory was of a plane, and of my mother's voice saying the words Toronto (多伦多Duolunduo) and Canada (加拿大 Jianada). I was three years old. Not until ten years later would I ever see my so-called motherland with my own two eyes, but from the moment we left the airport, I was a Chinese boy in a foreign land.

Our new home was known by the Chinese for three things: for Mao's great comrade Dr. Norman Bethune (白求恩 Bai Qiuen), for comedian Mark Henry Rowswell (大山 Dashan), and for its plentiful opportunities. Though not as romantic as France nor as noble as the United Kingdom nor as free as the United States, Canada was a suitable milieu between them — a comfortable cradle for me and my twin sister.