Settlement

I would like to tell you about my first week in Canada. We arrived in Canada on a humid, hot day. Unlike other airports, McDonald Cartier was distinguished by calm silence around, and everywhere it was gray. When we got home, we wanted to take a shower and go to bed as soon as possible, so we slept for two days. At night, we walked around the house and slept during the day. After that my husband drove off to New York for his car, which he left with his sister. I was alone, pregnant at the time, with a one-and-a-half-year-old and a three-year-old little kids, not knowing anyone around. I was worried because of doors made of wood and no other security like in our homeland. It seemed that any person could come, easily break into the house and no one would hear you. These two days I was on high alert and slept badly, thinking about the safety of my children. I couldn’t believe that I had moved to another country. We were so busy organizing our move, and it just seemed that I was going on a trip, like we did a few months back. Only now, sitting on the terrace in Ottawa, I realized that I had moved and this is a completely different country and here I have to start all over again. In a way, I already knew about Canada from my first trip a few months back, but this time it was not just a trip - we moved to live here. I believed in myself that I could achieve everything that I wanted a year ago, before moving to Canada. We came here because I wanted to see if I could live here and what this country is like. Then it was autumn, and we visited many beautiful places. I liked nature, forests everywhere, greenery and the lakes and rivers, friendly people, who always say “hello”, but of course this is not your homeland where you already have a good career, friends and family. However, for better prospects and for the future of my children, we found it better to be here. As my husband returned from New York, we started looking for kindergartens and making plans for our future, and with that my life in Canada began.