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My co-worker always told me stories about his fishing adventures but I can’t relate to his story because I never did it in the Philippines. He has been telling me to try fishing for some time and he promised that I would not regret it. I was in the middle of completing my requirements for Permanent Residency and my driving exam, so it didn’t cross my mind to think about it. He told me that he would teach me driving on Saturday along with another co-worker and I never knew that it was a trick until we stopped at the frozen lake where he pulled out all his gear for fishing.

It was -35 degrees at that time in the morning and I hesitated stepping on the ice as if it was going to break. I got nervous because I had only seen ice fishing on TV and movies, never thought that it could actually happen I was still on my working visa and they didn’t allow me to have a fishing license. He tried to bore a hole in the ice with a manual auger but unfortunately it didn’t work. He talked to another person nearby who was also fishing to let him bore a hole for us with his motor auger and he did make five holes. All we could do with my other co-worker is was watch how he fished because we didn’t want to get caught by the Rangers and have a fine. At the end of the day we had to go home nearly empty handed until he finally got one and we all rejoiced because after a long wait and patience almost running out it paid off. It was one hell of an experience for me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. When I got into bed and looked out the window and watched a plane passing by, I said that when my family arrives here in Canada, I will definitely make sure they will experience it too.

Spring time arrived and finally my family arrived here in Canada. I got my driving and fishing license. My friend loaned us his gear for fishing as we set out on our summer family fishing adventure on the same lake. We got our first catch on the first throw and I handed the fishing rod to my youngest son and helped him get the fish. My younger son was 5 years old and his brother was 10; they didn’t need a fishing license because they were minors. My younger son said it was a big fish and he was really happy about it. His brother caught one too and another one and we had 4 big fish altogether. It was really amazing to have experienced this unforgettable adventure with my family and I fell in love with it. It was a really relaxing time and a good break from the everyday grind of work and life. We have gone out a dozen times since the first experience but only on in summertime. I have all the gear now and this coming summer we will all go camping and fishing as a family.