Bios

I am from China and I got to Canada last Christmas. It has been eight months since I came here as a permanent resident. I remembered the first day I arrived at St. John’s, when I came out from the airport with my husband, it was freezing and cold wind kept blowing on my cheeks, with snow covering the roads, cars and everything. That was the second time I had ever seen snow.

Since then I have begun a new life in a new country. I met people with different color and faces, speaking in English. I realized it had been difficult for me to speak English since I left school; and, I could have improved my English in some systematic ways. So I applied for the LINC Home Study program to overcome the shortcoming in my language learning. At the same time, I found a part-time job in a restaurant.

I was a floral designer before I came to Canada and before that I was a social worker. My major was social work at university. I chose this major because my dream was to help people in need. However, after I worked as a social worker for two years, I changed my mind and quit my job. The duty of social workers has been limited under the situation of China. Then I went to travel for half a year to think and looked for the meaning of life. When I got back from my journey, I got a job in a flower shop on occasional basis. It was a beautiful boutique shop with fine decorations, and my boss was a genius when it came to flower arrangement and design. I learned flower arrangement from him as well as the store management. That was challenging but I learned fast. After that I got another job as a floral designer in a wedding company and made customized wedding flower arrangement for married couples. Finally, I achieved what I always wanted by working with flowers, and with the pride of being satisfied by customers.

I am now working in the restaurant. My job is easy but busy sometimes. I talk with my colleagues and customers in English and adjust myself to a new life in Canada. Fortunately, I get help from LINC Home Study to improve English as well, and Rabia is a nice instructor. I plan to work as a floral designer again, that is what I have been crazy about. I have professional skills on different kinds of flower arrangement. However, language is the biggest barrier to me at the moment. I hope one day I can speak good English and handle all situations independently at workplace. My dream is to own a flower shop by myself in the future.