When I was still an idealist 14 year old high school, I made a firm promise in my head that "I will be good teacher of my country!" That I would never go anywhere else in this world but serve my own native land,.......that I would teach the young children in the rural areas of my town and maybe someday, could have a mobile school that could go around places where there were no schools,.....
What a dream of a young, patriotic, teacher-to-be! The first part of my promise became a reality- I was trained and aged to be a good pre-school teacher for 22 long years,....But never ever in my wildest dream that an opportunity to be somewhere else would happen: MIGRATION to Canada with the whole family. With the crazy economic condition of my own native land and with 5 children to raise, any amount of income would not be enough to provide them everything they need. So, I opened my door and processed it for 2 years. It was not a joke,...the processing would cost you a lot of money! I asked for guidance from our Mother of Perpetual Help. If it's God's will, God would help us find a way to get through it. And yes, along the way, my husband lost his job! But blessing in disguise, he got a separation pay, enough to process our papers to Canada.
Came March of 2010, we were approved! We could have left right away but it was never easy to leave behind everything you had half of your lifetime, and to condition my children of the great move,.... We got our plane ticket in June scheduled for September 14. Every single day counted for me. I wanted to make the most of my time because when we left, we knew that it would take some years before we could go back home again. And so it was made clear to each member of the family that our decision was for a greener pasture for the family.
So, we had our last preparations. We attended seminars about migrating to Canada. We heard a lot of great things about this country,...beautiful people, beautiful places, the 4 seasons, etc,... We were asked to bring all our credentials, school records, employment records, and all the money we could have to start a new life here. BUENVENUE! WELCOME TO CANADA!
It was Fall season. Our sponsors toured us on weekends- The Forks, Kildonan Park, downtown, fishing areas, eat-all-you-can restaurants,...My 2 younger boys were enrolled in the school a week after. Same thing with my 3rd daughter who is now in Grade 12. But my 2 older kids opted to work so they could help us survive in our new world!
Number one great here in the first world country is that Education for children is free till high school. But how about the parents? My husband was an AVP Director-HR back home and I was a school principal. We attended a seminar here for new professional immigrants and leaned that we could not find a job of our expertise here if we would not make ourselves qualified for the position in Canadian standards. In other words, better start searching for "survival jobs!" in the next 6 months. (janitorial, fastfood crew, dishwasher, nanny, etc,...)
A lot of professional immigrants, especially the Filipinos, would right away give up to this kind of life in Canada. No one told us that it would be this hard for us. It would take one a lot of humility to accept and face the new journey we have chosen after leaving the good life back home. A lot of people have been dreaming to come here. Yes, there are lots of jobs, that is, if you can leave your pride behind and try the new life ahead.If you really want to have the job that you like, start from scratch and make your way up. Migrating here is a way of God, I guess, to humble us and make us realize that if one wishes for a greener pasture, you have to till the land you own and reap the rewards later on. I never regret that I had to give up my promise that I would not leave my country and be a teacher there forever. I may not be able to do that here but I have found a new life,...I was offered to see the other side of the world and I'm liking it despite the hardships.
This is now the road most traveled- Canada! It's either you keep driving ahead, step on the break and reverse, or just change lane to see the road ahead,....
