"A kindergartner with a sword" ready to conquer New York (12/11/05)

"A kindergartner with a sword" ready to conquer New York

by Halyna Klid

EDMONTON - Seventeen-year old Elizabeth (Eta) Archer is in New York these days. For the next 10 months she will be living in the Big Apple, where she'll be studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) - alma mater of many well-known and much-loved names in the American entertainment industry.

Despite her tender years, the native of Edmonton, Alberta, holds an impressive portfolio of achievements as a student, musician and singer, community leader, volunteer and active member of the Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization.

She is also the compiler of a beautiful book of Ukrainian Christmas and New Year greetings in verse published under the title "Persha Zirka."

Below, Miss Archer talks about her new life in New York, where she sometimes feels like "a kindergartner with a sword" ready to conquer the city.

Q: What are your overall impressions of the Big Apple? The most and the least pleasant; people, places, mood, life on the streets, culture, etc.?

A: New York is exactly how you'd think it would be ... loud, brash, abrupt, bustling, stressful, magical and chaotic. One is as much a New Yorker after 10 minutes of being here as after 10 years of being here, I think. You walk down the street and can hear 20 different languages, see famous landmarks and your senses are just attacked by everything. It's hard to take it all in. Every neighborhood has a different mood and a different feel to it. Each little division is a country of its own.

Q: What are your plans for this big city? How are you going to conquer it?

A: My plans for New York City were initially just to survive here. However, survival is different than really truly living, and so if I can actually live in this big city, I will have been able to conquer it by my standards. I don't know if I could or would want to live here for the rest of my life. The grand life plan I created for myself when I was 7 has taken a few detours, so who knows where I'll end up?

Q: What was the biggest surprise of all?

A: The pigeons. They are wickedly fearless - almost to the point of being terrifying. Being around these vicious birds has awakened my dormant pigeon-hatred gene (which likely happened when one intrepid bird latched onto my pant legs and I had to literally shake it off my leg). I have become weary of their audacious antics now.

Q: Do you feel yourself a little girl in the big city or a strong individual ready to take it on? If the latter, then, what keeps you strong?

A: Sometimes I am a little girl, kind of lost and wandering around this giant playground, wondering why I ever came here. Other times I feel like I can take on this city with no problem. Mostly I am just Eta, a kindergartner with a sword, but the thing that keeps me strong is my family and friends.

Sometimes it's hard to get up in the mornings, knowing that they're so far away, but knowing that I have these amazing people in my life, having their love and support in my heart, I can keep going. I guess that's pretty cliché and trite, but it's the bald and sincere truth.

Q: Has being of Ukrainian heritage played any part in your life now, as a student in the Big Apple?

A: My Ukrainian heritage has played a huge role in my life, and living in New York is no exception. I've been to Little Ukraine a few times so far, and I find I feel really at home talking to people in stores or restaurants in Ukrainian. I was overly excited when I spotted Taras Shevchenko Place. I am eager to attend some Ukrainian plays and concerts here and have been delighted to see people walking around casually in "vyshyvani sorochky" [embroidered shirts] or using red dancing boots as everyday accessories. It's that link that ties me back to Edmonton and to my roots, which, in a new city, is rather nice.

I also find myself so much more patriotic, and so much more grateful that I can and will always call Canada home. I listen to CBC radio on the Internet and I watch CTV news on an online newscast, which gives me a little taste of home. I never thought Lloyd Robertson would make me so happy!

Q: Your book, "Persha Zirka," has been published. Is this project over for you since you became a student at the AADA?

A: "Persha Zirka" has been in my life for almost four years now, and I am so proud of what the book has become. The initial project is done. The book was compiled, edited and published. Now the next step has begun - a step that rests on the Ukrainian community - wherein people have to care about learning about and preserving their culture. If that is lost, then this undertaking will be finished. Here's to a never-ending project!

Q: What will we miss by not getting this book in our hands or on our coffee tables?

A: These "vinshuvannia" have been around for generations, their words have been said by many, and, with this book, you can hear the echoes of the voices of our past and pass them on to the voices of the future.

Simply put, the book is a celebration of tradition; it allows us to look back and see how people lived before us and, embracing that, we can, in turn, use it to create our own traditions and foster a pride in who we are and where we have come from.

Q: You are only 17. If you had to make a definite choice now, what would you like to be?

A: Obviously being an actor would be a dream; being able to do something I love for the rest of my life would be fantastic. I have begun to realize, though, that sometimes where you're going is not where you end up and, with that in mind, the thing I would like to be is happy.

I would like to be happy in whatever I do, wherever I am and with where my life leads me. If I can achieve that, I have done something right.

Halyna Klid is a graphic designer, writer and translator. She works at the Ukrainian Language Education Center, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, where she develops and prepares print and digital publications of Ukrainian language resources for bilingual education programs.

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