January 12th, 2023
From New York to Vancouver, From Vancouver to Mississauga.
When I landed on Vancouver airport with my husband and young daughter, I was astonished at how hushed it was. It was a far cry from the hustle and bustle of New York. There were no crowds, no rush, and no disarray. We were promptly escorted to a booth where we completed our immigration procedures and were allowed to leave. We had a quick lunch; our first sushi. Yum!
Sleeping on the floor. We arranged to pick up our rental car at the airport and straight from there we went to rent a small moving truck. We were planning to pick up our belongings that had arrived a few days before from New York. When we got to a truck rental, it turned out, however, that they didn’t have a truck on hand that day and we had to wait until the next day. We had no choice but to spend our first night sleeping on the floor with nothing in our apartment but three suitcases. We slept on our coats, our little peanut between us, and covered ourselves with sweaters. I remember we were all trembling with cold and exhaustion. The next morning, we managed to rent a truck, brought our stuff from the storage facility and started to set up our new apartment exploring the city in the meantime.
Vancouver. We chose to come to Vancouver because it is a stunning city with temperate climate and majestic snow-covered mountains growing over warm waters of the Pacific. I have never seen such lush vegetation and so many beautifully landscaped gardens. Nobody told us, however, that between the months of September and March, the sun sometimes forgets to shine there. The Vancouverites stay mostly in because everything is always dump ‘in the winter.’ Since we moved in February, the city seemed a bit ghost-like. Every time I took Maya to a playground, I had to wipe the swing and slides with paper towel. Nevertheless, being outside was a source of great pleasure to us. We strolled the streets and enjoyed the many parks in Vancouver. The air was so fresh and sharp, I experienced vertigo at first. Food was also a highlight. When I first tried lettuce, I remember thinking that it actually had a flavour, rather than taste like paper.
Toronto? I already started planning my career in Vancouver, arranged for a credential evaluation and went to a college to search for work, when, one day, my husband announced that he ‘absolutely cannot see himself here because it is hard to find a good job and everything is so expensive, and it is so far from Europe, and that we have to move.’ Even though in my mind’s eyes I already saw us having a beautiful house and an expertly designed garden with constantly moist garden furniture, I had to agree with him. So, we got out of our lease, booked a flight to Toronto, and packed our suitcases. We were moving! Again!
Mississauga. Back to Square One.
After doing some research, we decided against moving to Toronto and chose to settle in Mississauga instead. We lived in my husband’s friend’s basement for the first three months and then bought our first home! We couldn’t be happier. We thought ‘we were finally going to live a normal life.’ Nothing further from the truth. Canada is not like America. It is harder to find a good job without connections and Canadian job experience and it takes longer to build a client base. With me not working as my immigrant mom’s heart ached at the very thought of sending my one-year old daughter (so small) to daycare, we struggled to pay the bills and we almost went back to Europe. Our immigrant journey was particularly gruelling; almost nothing went smoothly for us here during the first few years, but when I finally found a job and my husband’s business became more profitable, we started enjoying a bit more stability. We had more financial freedom as well. We started making regular vacation trips to Europe and the Caribbean. We also made some friends, which helped up feel more at home. Better late than never.
What is your immigration story?