Confessions of an Immigrant -1

Life completely changes when you shift from your own country to some other country. You must be thinking why the title is Confessions of an Immigrant. Well yes, I am in Canada now, away from India. But now I am not that Canedawali. The moment I shifted here I was being called this. I even updated a picture and everybody thought I was changed. Come on guys, its been just a day since I entered this land and I am being changed..just because I straightened my hair or updated it with a coffee mug. I used to do the same in India as well. Only my background changed. If you ask any Canadian, for them we are like refugees or Immigrants who are neither a part of India nor a part of Canada. It is a difficult situation. An Indian born will always be an Indian, doesn’t matter if he lives somewhere else.

The above paragraph was written the very next day of my landing to Canada. Its been more than 2 weeks since I landed here. I felt I am a learner. I have to start everything from the scratch. It was a hectic task for me to know everything. At that time I was like that clay which anybody can mould the way they like. Life is not easy when you live away from your comfort zone. It is always a new challenge for you but you can’t get rid of the things saying that you are new in the town. This can work when you are actually naive but not always. In all this, one weird thing happened with me. When a person start anything new, he is excited about the things. I was neither excited nor nervous. I was just normal. In this course, I went to meet different people and all were in different cities. So I visited Brampton, Mississuaga, Markham, Scarborough, Stratford, Downtown. The people are different here. If Brampton has majority of Indians then Downtown has mixed breed and Stratford has been a peaceful place.

Some of the things are fast here like the quick service of Banks, Service Canada where you get your SIN number. Restaurants are good here and you can find Tim Hortins, Food Basic, Walmart, Costco, Shoppers Drug Mart in every nook and corner.People here are time bounded, practical and value education. If someone is rich then they have paid a huge price here. We can see from the lifestyle that they might be rich but things are opposite here. We cut down our needs but they are wise people. They believe in fulfilling their needs doesn’t if its through line of Credit.

Everything here is systematic. For them travelling to different cities is not an uphill task. They even come from different places to work in some other town. They get up early and sleep early. They look after their health. They know what to consume and what not. Moreover, they are not bothered about you. So, here nobody knows much about the neighbors because they are busy in their own lives. I noticed one more thing. People here are well mannered and respect others’ privacy.

A very important thing I learnt here. We should never forget those people who help us in any way or in the initial stages. If you value people here, they will value the most. So, after coming here, I realized how much my parents have done for me. I miss them every second. I never felt this before but now I can sense it. Now I understand why my hostel friends used to run to their homes in holidays. I wish I could do the same but the distance is too far.

The worst thing here is the weather. It is never same at places. Some place it is cold and the other end you can feel really hot. The internet connections are good and you can’t survive without any internet.

Coming to overcoming fears, I have overcome many of them. The first one was heights. I successfully completed my plane journey and I wasn’t scared at all. I was lured by the airport and the way the captain greeted me, ‘Welcome Ms. Sareen’. My name sounded so different. I quickly connected myself to internet on airports and could talk to my parents, relatives. They felt good too. Then I met some friends at the airport as well. We all were together during the stay. As I entered Toronto Pearson Airport, it took me one hour and more to come out of the airport. They have so many formalities like custom duty, immigration. The luggage comes at the belt where we can pick them up. It became so late because of some mental people who were making the officers irritated. There was a CHINESE Lady who started clicking pictures at the immigration which made the officer so irritated that he almost threatened her to break her phone. He thought she is a suspicious person so a big drama happened. Another one happened at the time of custom duty. There were some people who hadn’t sign the forms of custom in the plane which made the officer anxious and she asked them to go back in the line.

This is just a part of what I went through, I will get back with more updates on every Sunday, the Canadian Time. Stay Tuned.