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International Day at CFB Borden – March 10, 2011
By Risto Stefov
[email protected]
March 13, 2011
On March 10th, 2011 the winter version of the bi-annual event known as “International Day” was again celebrated here in Canada at Canadian Forces Base Borden. I am happy once again to have been there and to report on this great event, which is improving with time and where more than twenty countries (24 during this event) participate and show off their culture and cuisine.
International Day is put on twice a year by CFB Borden to honour the countries that participate in the CFB Borden School for foreign military personnel studying English. And as one Canadian organizing officer put it during the last event, “It is an activity for the students to organize and participate in.” But I must say that it is more than just an activity and an exercise in organizing, especially for the people who attend the event regularly. For them it is a bi-annual International festival with shows, dancers, performers and a rich cuisine with foods originating from around the world. And it is all free.
This was the fifth International Day I have attended so far. But this time I was not alone. This time I brought my wife with me who for years had been unable to attend such events because of her problem with perfumes, scents and other petrochemicals. As usual the event was well organized and met my expectations with the exception that it was not well attended. But I guess I will have to blame that on bad weather; it was pouring rain all day and driving was treacherous. It was hard driving under such conditions, especially for the people making the 120 km trek from Toronto . I can’t say it was not well advertised, although some people, who got lost on the way, did complain about the instructions I had provided with the invitation.
Preparing the venues was a bit hectic; it always is, because there are so many things to display and so little space. This time there were 24 countries and some had to be paired up in order to be able to fit all of them in the same facilities. Unfortunately small countries were at a bit of a disadvantage. While Russia enjoyed the entire space of one side of the wall, Macedonia and Montenegro had to be paired up. When I enquired why, I was told that Russia had a bigger community. And as it turned out, the Base organizers were correct.
By advertising this event to my Macedonian readers I was hoping to attract even more Macedonians but unfortunately the bad weather was forbidding and I don’t blame anyone for not attending. I did see some new faces however, two being my own relatives who drove quite a distance just to attend this event. I hope they found the occasion, particularly the food and shows, interesting.
I was glad again to have met and said hello to the teachers from the base, the kitchen staff who organized and assisted in this event and the Canadian officers who made sure things went smoothly. There was an abundance of familiar faces at the event and not just the officers and staff but people from the various International communities who regularly attend this event. I was happy to notice that some who remembered me from past events came to say hello.
Knowing what to expect in terms of the various cuisines, I looked forward to sampling the food at every booth. But as my wife and I made it to the Bosnia-Herzegovina booth, to visit our Bosnian officer friend Elvedin, the Bosnian organizers insisted we try their cuisine, even before the booth was open. Upon their insistence, we gave in and sampled all their dishes including the baklava at the end of the table. Who could resist the variety of Burek they offered? I had to sample each one. This time unfortunately, they were missing the tulumbi and after enquiring I was told that one of their organizers had gone abroad and could not make it for the event. But I have to admit that the burek more than made up for the absence of the tulumbi.
After my “sampling” at the Bosnian booth, I was almost full to capacity, which was disappointing because there were so many other booths with so much more to offer.
The ladies auxiliary from St. Clement Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral arrived at the event with the food early but waited until four o’clock and opened the booth on schedule.
We arrived at the Base at noon and stayed with the Macedonian officers and our new friends until 1 pm at which time we headed over to where the event was to take place. This is the first event I have attended where the hosts were not at all nervous and had confidence in us and in our community to do their job.
Even though every officer from every country was new to this, there was no anxiety in the group. This was particularly evident in our Montenegrin neighbour officers and friends Blazho and Vladan who patiently waited for their community to arrive. The Canadian officers and catering staff organizing the event too were very helpful and guided the student officers with the preparations. Many times organizers came by our booth and asked if we needed anything and if we did it was promptly delivered. Many thanks to the CFB Borden officers and staff for their courtesy and contribution in making this International Day a great success.
Since this was my fifth participation at International Day, our new friends, the Macedonian officers, Lieutenant Colonel Zoran Mileski, and Captain Borche Stojanov had complete faith in us to help them organize the booth as planned. The Ladies auxiliary too was very helpful in this regard since this time they were there early.
Although it had been a wish of the Macedonian officers to have a Macedonian dance group perform at the event, we again found it difficult to organize.
The performances in this event were excellent, based on the audience’s reaction and the number of people they gathered. The first to perform were the Indonesians with a couple of traditional single performer plays. Next up was the Croatian Folk Dance Music Group with about a dozen young men and women performers who serenaded the audience with Croatian folk songs and music played on their string instruments.
Last to perform was the Russian Folkdance Music Group of about a dozen or so ladies and a young man who sang familiar traditional Russian songs and danced fast dances, thrilling the audience who clapped loudly in appreciation. I can say with certainty that the Russians ruled this event.
Going to the Base almost every weekend, I had met many of the foreign military officers but during this event I got to see them in their uniforms. The Macedonian officers are good friends with many of their colleague officers but are particularly good friends with the two Montenegrin officers, Blazho Gashich and Vladan Burich and with one Bosnian officer, Elvedin Duhovich with whom I always visit during my outings at CFB Borden.
Before the place began to get busy, my wife and I took a tour and visited and photographed all the booths. We began with the booths in the great hall starting with Albania , Croatia , Brazil , Argentina , Benin , Mongolia , Bosnia-Herzegovina , Uruguay , Thailand , Senegal , Korea , finishing with Ukraine . We continued in the smaller hall starting with Russia , Montenegro , Macedonia , Guatemala , Peru , Dominican Republic , Mali , Bolivia , Malaysia , Cameroon , Indonesia , finishing with Jordan . As I was interested in photographing and cataloging the booth my wife was more interested in the traditional valuables they displayed, particularly the Ukrainian booth where a number of ladies were demonstrating the fine art of colouring eggs, varying in size from ostrich to dove. Imagine all these countries competing for the attention of not only the visitors from the various communities, but also for the attention of every male and female Canadian and International officer and soldier on the base.
Although I love to mention that the Macedonian Community once again outdid the other communities in terms of good and plentiful food, the Croatians deserve the prize for best tasting food as they offered their guests a good size roasted pig, prepared and served by a professional chef. The Russians and Ukrainians were not far behind with their varieties of foods served. Best prize for dessert goes to Bosnia-Herzegovina hands down with second prize to Jordan for their delicious baklava. Montenegro takes the prize for best prosciutto, some of which our friends were good enough to share with us at the after party get-together.
The Macedonian officers would like to take the opportunity to thank all the International Communities of the various countries mentioned above for making this event a success particularly our Macedonian Community and the St. Clement Macedonian Orthodox Church ladies auxiliary headed by Marina and Julianna Atanasovski who were there early to decorate and take charge of the food.
We would also like to thank everyone who attended among whom were the Macedonian Consul from Toronto Ljubica Damnjanovska and her husband Dragi, St. Clements’s President Vlado Dimitrievski and his wife, the United Macedonian Organization’s President Mendo Bakalovski and his wife, the St. Clement Ladies Auxiliary president Marina Atanasovska, the Macedonian Priest from St. Clement Reverend Trajko Boseovski, the Wasaga Beach Community and many others.
Many thanks to everyone who participated for their hard work. Special thanks goes to the ladies auxiliary who prepared, delivered and served the food. Also a big thanks goes to all those who brought extra food, gifts and other items for our officers and for the display.
CFB Borden is one of a few military bases here in Canada which host foreign officers. The officers are brought here to learn English and some military lingo. Canada picks up most of the tab for countries that are not NATO members. Canada usually informs each country interested in participating in its programs of the number of officers it can accommodate and the country decides who to send. In Macedonia ’s case, officers who want to participate must first apply for the program. Participation was voluntary but some officers are now sent here on the recommendation of their superiors. After applications are in they are 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 and a half month long programs, Canada also offers short programs that begin half way through the long program and last a couple of months. Unfortunately Macedonia did not send a participant for the short course this time.
Canada provides all accommodation including recreation, outings etc. There is also a local gymnasium, soccer fields and a swimming pool available to the officers for physical activities. On weekends there are periodic planned outings and shopping trips to Barrie , Toronto and other places.
I also want to mention that International Day at CFB Borden is a military affair where all visiting officers and soldiers and our Canadian officers and soldiers dress in uniform, each wearing their country’s colour, flag, crests and emblems with pride. It is a wonderful sight to see.
The event this time lasted from about 4:00 pm when the booths were opened to the public until about 7:30 pm when people departed. Afterwards the guests who remained clustered in various common rooms in the officer’s quarters for an after party get-together. Most Macedonian community members, unfortunately, could not attend because of the bad weather so the Macedonians, Montenegrins and Bosnians combined our effort and together had one great party. Some of us later visited the Russian and Ukrainian community parties where we were welcomed as guests and treated to more good food, inspiring speeches, serenades and plenty of drinks. It was a memorable evening.
All in all this was yet another great event and again I was very pleased to have met many new people and to have seen so many cultures come together at the same time under one roof. Having my wife with me also made the trip back home less lonely.
Bravo Canada and CFB Borden for your contribution in putting together such a fantastic event.
Also many thanks to the Canadian Forces Base Borden officers and kitchen staff who worked tirelessly to make this event possible.
Other articles by Risto Stefov:
Free electronic books by Risto Stefov available at:
Our Name is Macedonia
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