Settlement

On June 18, 2012, I arrived in Canada with my kids to start our challenging life in a completely new country. Thanks to my professor in Taiwan, we got picked up at Pearson International Airport and driven to a nearby family inn by one of his relatives. When we got to the inn, it was already midnight. We were looking around, so excited and curious about what we saw around us. Next morning, my kids woke up early and played in the front yard, and this was the moment they saw squirrels jumping and chasing on the grass and in the trees, birds singing in the breeze…we enjoyed the sunshine and everything looked so wonderful.

Before moving to Canada, I had planned to settle down in Toronto, not only because of its job opportunities but also the convenient transportation system. So I had already spent lot of time looking for jobs in GTA when I was in my home country. Finally, after our arrival, I got a job interview in Toronto! When I attended the interview, my professor's relative took care of my kids, who were only 12 and 8 years old. Luckily I got the offer, so I could start looking for a place to live in and register schools for my kids. It was nearly two months from their first day of school in September, so I had to work from home and watch my kids at the same time. My kids were so bored and then I suggested them watch cartoons on TV. In the beginning, they were reluctant to do so, as their English was not good enough and it was almost impossible to understand the conversations. But to my amazement, after a week or two, when I asked them to turn off TV for dinner, they would not move a single bit from the screen! Suddenly, I realized how soon the kids can absorb and learn from TV to improve their English, which made me further believe that moving to Canada was a right decision.

Now, one of my kids is in Grade 8, and the other is in Grade 12. Both of them have caught up on their English skills, and now they are even better than me in conversations. I am thankful for the opportunity of coming to Canada, and appreciated that Canada has provided us this wonderful learning environment. Canada has already been our country in our heart. We love Canada and are proud to be Canadians.