Tom Robles - My Winnipeg: March 2012

Winnipeg

I was born in Iloilo City, Philippines and immigrated to Winnipeg with my family in 1973. With the exception of three years spent in Japan after undergrad, I spent much of my life in Winnipeg. It is a city of contrasts: in weather (scorching in summer and bone-chilling in winter), in conventions (multiculturally diverse but remarkably traditional), and in pursuits (artistically defiant but reprehensibly conformist). Yet, in its even-tempered way, the city accommodates differences.

I left Winnipeg in 2004, re-locating to Toronto, in search of life opportunities. Yet, I return each year to re-visit and re-connect. Each time I do, and despite my own conscious effort to resist, I always remember - people, places, and events - confirming the notion that no matter how far I go from this city of my past, I am only a rumination away.

Thursday, March 1, 2012