Canada has been my permanent residence for the passed 13 years and have enjoyed ALL my experiences while living in the great white north ! So much so that when I try to think back to when my family first arrived here it is not an easy task.
Hmmm, let's see what can I actually remember and try to paint a picture to you of my experiences when moving to Canada. August 20, 1996 was my parents anniversary (but I do not remember what number) so they had champagne on the plane to celebrate. This plane ride was my very FIRST experience of flying. I was close to 12 years old at that time and have been accustom to public transit since 2nd or 3rd grade but flying was a luxury to me. I stayed awake I believe all 9 hours during the flight because I was enjoying every bit of it! I am pretty sure it was exactly at this same time I decided to be a globe trotter for the rest of my future career.
I enjoyed everything about flying, even considered becoming a pilot (and if you do not believe me please ask my friend Jessica, because in high school we were both seriously contemplating on taking our flying license ha!) Ok, so back to flying, I loved the take off and landing the most (and still do!), I enjoy people watching during my transfer flight, the feeling you get when you are scrambling to find your gate for departure, or the excitement you feel when you are trying to manage your way out from luggage pick-up all the way till you get to the double doors and starring at you is a crowd of happy faces hopping you are their loved one. Oh even talking about it is a joy! So overall I enjoyed my first experience flying, and till this day I feel the same way about it :-)
Maybe this same reason why I am constantly on the road. There are people who collect things to get this same feeling, there are people who pick up all kinds of other hobbies to feel a form of excitement, I get it through my travels! But my excitement is not solely in flying and hanging out at airports... ha, that would become boring after a while, and imagine all the germs, yuck ! The part of traveling I love the most (which completes the experience of traveling) is arriving to a place where you know someone and they are greeting you at the double doors !
Since living in Canada, I had the opportunity to travel pretty much anywhere my wallet allowed me to. And each time I flew, drove, took a train or boat I was excited to meet the person I was going to see. I was looking forward to the reunion, the stories, the food we were going to eat while sharing our stories, and all the rest! I guess it's the social aspect which I enjoy. Also, the culture and history lesson you get along the way :-) (The whole package)
Now to clear up one other thought, this isn't to say that I only like to visit places where I know someone. I have done some traveling on my own and I don't mind it, but I prefer those places where I can meet family and friends. However, most of you know me and know that everyone I meet becomes my friend :-)
Ok, so back to arriving to Canada, as you may have expected, there were smiling faces waiting for us as well (which was wonderful because not many immigrant families experience such warm welcome when moving to a new country), these were my Dad's friends from Rochester, NY (friends of Marcus and Dad while they lived in the States for 5 years). They were greeting us and talking ....but like I knew what the heck was going on! I was exhausted, hungry, and I was smiling back at the happy faces but had a feeling words can't describe. I think being younger, and not understanding the language, I was hmmmm confused maybe? Not sure what the right word is when you are the above 3 descriptions: tired, hungry, and no idea what people are saying because it's a foreign language to you.
Skipping ahead a few weeks, we were in our family apartment, little furniture, and still excited to be in a new country, I was starting school on Sept 1, 1996 as a grade 7 student ! Ha, long story short, by the 3rd month in this amazing country, mom and I wanted to go home! BUT by 6 months, I spoke enough English to be happy and free to communicate, make friends, and got accustomed to life around here! I think once I was comfortable enough to pick up the phone and talk to the person on the other end I felt like I was home :-)
I think this is a pretty good insight into my very first experience when moving to Canada, but there was a whole year if not 2 years of "first"-s. I do try to think back once in a while (like, when did I actually started to understand English, or how did it feel to make new friends) but it's mostly a blur now. There are some friends who I still keep in touch with, who I would ask to tell me about grade 7 and the time I was a FOB. They just giggle to themselves but never actually remember.
R :-)
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