I have predominantly shared my struggles and navigation around the challenges of being a newcomer in Canada in my previous posts because immigration is an uphill journey, and the learning curve is steep. However, there are many other things I celebrate. I will use this opportunity to talk about the things I love in Canada and how they help me better than anything else I’ve experienced before.
Feeling of inclusion
As someone who has lived in multiple countries as an international student or an expat, I have never felt so included in the daily lives of the residents of a country. Since day one, I realized that nobody would ever question my existence in this city or perceive me as “temporary.” I had always felt self-conscious about my accent or how my looks are perceived by white people, but on my second day in Toronto, I entered a Scotiabank branch to open an account and saw that the staff was another immigrant like me with their authentic accent and looks and immediately relieved all my concerns. Of course, there are still times I feel like my English skills are not perceived as sufficient, but that is another topic for another context.
Community
I’m one of the lucky ones because my closest friend has been living in Toronto for 5 years. She has been my rock since day one and my reason to be involved in some kind of community. Being all newcomers, we support each other more than any group of friends who spend their whole lives in the same place. We became like a family. In every up and down, they are right next to me.
On top of that, in my first year, I found the chance to get into the musical theatre scene. I met awesome people at an open mic who introduced me to their circle, and since then, I have been able to perform and meet new people. For me, the best part of performing is the possibility of meeting like-minded people, and thanks to the popularity of community theatre in Toronto, I’ve got to know plenty.
Activation
Culture defines how we spend our leisure time, and in my home country, it was all about getting together, eating, drinking coffee or beer, and chatting. For hours. I still enjoy it so much and the last summer I visited my family and friends, I couldn’t get enough of that.
This is definitely not the prevailing culture here. One of the reasons is that eating out is expensive, and if you want to spend four hours chatting with friends, you need to drink around four beers or cocktails; otherwise, you will get kicked out. Instead, you can do that in the parks or the beach, which is great for summer, but considering the summer is only 3-4 months, you have to find other activities to socialize.
This was when I realized that people here are more used to spending “quality time,” and it usually involves physical activity.
At first, this freaked me out because I am definitely not an active person. I don’t know how to ski or skate, and hiking doesn’t really make sense to me. Yet, as I delved deeper, I noticed that there were activities that I could get involved in. Musical theatre was one of them, but there are also beginner-friendly dance or painting lessons or events. Looking back now, I can’t believe how many different activities I tried in these one and a half years and how much fun it has been.
Positivity-first attitude
Back in my home country, what upset me the most was how people became very angry and hateful over time. I don’t blame them; life has been tough. So, living in Canada made a huge difference for me in that sense. I notice that here, people are “in principle” positive towards you. They choose to be nice at first sight. I cannot explain to you enough how good it feels.
Possibilities
It was my fourth month in Canada, and my op-ed was published by the Toronto Star. In my seventh month, I attended a press conference at Queen’s Park. At the end of my first year, I had met with twelve elected officials in bilateral meetings. These are the three things I would have never experienced back home. As a policy professional, it was incredible to see that I could actually deliver my points to people who could make a difference.
Despite my struggles getting my past experiences and skills recognized by employers, I still believe there are endless possibilities waiting for me here.
At times, when we face adversities, it is easier to focus on them and have an objective perception. Before I arrived in Canada, my friend, who is also a settlement coach, did an exercise with me and asked me to write down the reasons I decided to take this step. She advised me to take a look at those points whenever I feel like I want to give up.
I will top it up and add these five precious points to my list because they deserve at least this much.
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