People and Places – Burke 2 – And then they went to Europe

People and Places – Burke 2 – And then they went to Europe



Download audio file (burke2.mp3)

Mark: So you came to Toronto when you were about two and a half?
Burke: M-hm. Yep.
Mark: And your parents, were they Canadian or?
Burke: Yeah they were both Canadians. They were simply … They were trained as teachers and so they joined the government program called CSIS.
Mark: How do you spell that?
Burke: C-S-I-S.
Mark: Uh-huh.
Burke: And it was in order to help developing countries train professionals, in this case, training them how to teach.
Mark: So they worked in Ghana as teachers?
Burke: Yeah. Teaching teachers how to teach, so methodology…
Mark: Ah teacher trainers. Right. Ok.
Burke: Yep.
Mark: And then they went to Europe.
Burke: Yep.
Mark: They were doing the same thing in Europe?
Burke: Ahm Europe.. they were just seeing the country with… My sister would have been like five or six and I would have been, as I said, about two at that time so they traveled with two children just to show us I guess..
Mark: Right.
Burke: …a taste of Europe and…
Mark: That must have been wonderful. Do you remember very much?
Burke: Actually the only memory I have of Europe is a green beer bottle and a window sill in Amsterdam.
Mark: Wow!
Burke: And the beer was called Oranjeboom. I remember just looking down on this intersection and there was this kind of cobblestone kind of look and I just have that imprint and a sort of a feeling with it but I do not really have any other extended memories from that time.