My immigrant life (first arrival in Canada)

My immigrant life is the same as that of all new immigrants who have just arrived in Canada. Everything starts from scratch, renting a house, looking for a job and learning English ... My husband and I are lucky. After 1 days in Canada, he started working. I found both FULL-TIME and PART-TIME jobs a month later. In the fifth month, my husband found his professional job, with an annual salary of more than 3 thousand, and his job position was technician.

I wrote "My Immigrant Life" to let my friends at home know about the real situation, customs and human feelings abroad, and everyone's specific situation is different. I just follow our life.

The first month (October 2-November 2)

On May 3, 1999, at 1 am, my husband and I walked out of the Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong excitedly. We couldn't restrain our inner joy and stood by Lake Victoria looking forward to our future immigration life, because our immigration interview was officially passed.

It took us a year and a half to apply for immigration, during which we made full preparations for going abroad. Before landing, I read our friend Wang Youxin's letter, and got a rational understanding of immigrant life, and I was prepared both materially and spiritually. My previous fantasy of living abroad has also been replaced by a real plan. I bought a lot of daily necessities (mainly in the kitchen), clothes (formal and general), school supplies and so on. It's ridiculous to think about it now. I even brought my broom and dustpan (in a shipping carton), but at that time, I thought it was convenient to have everything without buying anything when I moved into a rented house. So we didn't buy any daily necessities at first after arriving in Canada, and we also used some consumable daily necessities for 3 months.

On October 2, 1999, at Beijing Airport, my friend suddenly came from Shanghai to see us off. At that time, I felt that I could not bear to part with my family and my confidante who grew up together. I cried goodbye at the boarding gate and boarded the plane with mixed feelings. When I got on the plane, I saw many immigrant families, mostly with children. Everyone was very excited. Because I was a preschool teacher before going abroad, as soon as I saw the children, I thought if only I could work in education in Canada! After flying for several hours, we got off the plane and changed planes in Seoul, South Korea, and chatted with the China people who changed planes together. At 1: pm on October 2th, my husband and I arrived at LESTER B. PEARSON International Airport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Korean Air flight KE72. One out of every four people in Canada lives in Ontario. Toronto is a busy big city and one of the favorite places for new immigrants to settle down. Toronto is located in Canada's most economically developed Great Lakes Peninsula, with an urban area of 97 square kilometers and three international airports. It is the second largest city in Canada, an industrial and commercial city and the capital of Ontario.

Our excitement before going abroad has been bumped by more than ten hours of air flight. As soon as I got off the plane, I stood in line to get out of the customs. There were many people going through the customs that day, and we waited for an hour to get out. The new immigrants who landed for the first time need to see the immigration officer of the Immigration Bureau. A black female immigration officer met us. First, she showed her our passports and immigration papers. Then she asked our names, checked our passports and immigration papers, and then directly asked, "How much money did you bring to Canada?" How much money did you bring to Canada? The husband said, "About fifteen thousand Canadian dollars." The immigration officer wrote this number on our immigration paper. Because many new immigrants are from China every day, after going through the customs, a Chinese staff member specially sends all kinds of information and makes a brief introduction, such as everyone needs to apply for a social insurance number card, apply for a health card three months later, and families with children (under 17 years old) can apply for government milk subsidy, etc. Finally, the luggage was picked up. Our luggage was rotten in many places at that time.

I finally walked out of the airport, feeling a little like winter. I stood up my collar and got into the car and hurried to Wang Youxin's house. It was already : in the morning.

We are very lucky. Because we met two friends on the plane, one of them picked us up at the airport by car and took us with him, but we paid 2 Canadian dollars, which saved us the trouble of finding a taxi. These two friends were asked to show all the dollars they brought when they went out to see the immigration officer. They put the money in the safe place, so they had to go to the toilet to take it out and show it to the immigration officer one by one. It took a long time. In the car, I got excited again, kept asking questions and looked at the night view outside. My friend who was driving talked about the relationship between Greater Toronto and Little Toronto, and pointed out some tall buildings to us from time to time. I also saw the CN Tower for the first time in the car. Soon, we arrived at BLOOR Street. Suddenly, I saw two or three homeless white people lying on the ground, shivering with cold. My relaxed mood suddenly became heavy and I leaned on my husband's shoulder and said, "I will start looking for a job tomorrow!" , provoked everyone to say that you can't beat the jet lag tomorrow! I smiled, and then my friend who was driving said that our address had arrived. After getting off the bus, I thanked them again and again, watched them go away, took a deep breath and thought: finally!

Our friend Wang Youxin came to the downstairs, and (having told him the approximate arrival time by driving his friend's mobile phone in the car) helped us move our luggage into the lobby of the building one by one, and then took the elevator to his home. As soon as I entered his house, I suddenly felt like summer. After taking off my coat, Wang Youxin brought out the rice and vegetables prepared in advance and told us to eat them quickly. Before thanking him, he said that he still had a lot of information to give us to help us arrange the schedule for the next day, such as applying for SOCIAL INSURANCE NUMBER CARD (SIN card for short) and saving money. Wang Youxin was very considerate for us and sent us a map of many cities. Tell us to apply for a SIN card at the HUMAN RESOURCES CENTRE, which is very important. We must have a SIN card for our future work. He also introduced the environment around his home, where the bank is, where the MALL is, and so on. After everything was arranged, it was very late. Wang Youxin and my husband filled the air cushion bed bit by bit, so I took out the bedding I had with me and spread it on it. He advised us to sleep even if we can't sleep, and try to get over the jet lag earlier. After taking a shower and lying down, we really couldn't sleep. Seeing the CN Tower in the distance and the quiet neighborhood, we thought that there were still many things to do the next day, so we had to lie down, close our eyes and sleep.

the next day, it was sunny and sunny. We first walked to the HUMAN RESOURCES CENTRE (Human Resources Centre) and applied for the SIN card. We also met many squirrels along the way, running around in the grass on the street, not afraid of pedestrians at all, and living very comfortably. The human resources center in Canada has all kinds of materials. The application form for SIN card is on the shelf. You should fill in the form first, and then give it to the staff together with your passport and immigration paper. The staff will return the passport and immigration paper after registration, and the SIN card will be sent to the address filled in your form in two weeks. The application procedure for SIN card is simple and free.

Then we took US dollars to the bank to deposit money, because Wang Youxin once said that you can't deposit money without a SIN card or other documents (except passports and immigration papers, such as health cards and driver's licenses), but it can be explained that you just landed in Canada yesterday, and some banks will accept deposits. After we explained to the receptionist, we showed her passport and immigration papers. She called the office for instructions and refused our deposit. We think of another trick that Wang Youxin also told us, try the bank in Chinatown. The transportation in Toronto really extends in all directions. There are all kinds of trams, buses, subways and taxis. You can find the nearest station wherever you go. We took the subway and then took the tram to Chinatown in the Central District (there are three Chinatown districts in Toronto, the West District, the Central District and the East District, and the most lively one is the Central District. ), walking into the same bank is still explaining and showing the passport immigration paper. I didn't expect them to really accept our deposit, and the service attitude is particularly good. It seems that the special service of the bank in Chinatown must be very popular with new immigrants.

We were relieved after saving money. We couldn't wait to walk into the Chinese supermarkets in Chinatown. There are many Chinese supermarkets in Chinatown, such as Hualong, Dajiang and Jinshan. There are all kinds of vegetables and fruits in the supermarket, regardless of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and all kinds of China specialty foods are also dazzling. Adults and children are clamoring to buy food, which is very lively. After shopping for a while, I bought Sing Tao Daily and went back to my friend's house. I thought of the tramp I saw in BLOOR Street last night. First, I found out the special edition of the job information. At first glance, it was almost all manual labor. Before we came out, we had made hard preparations, so we didn't criticize the type of work, as long as we gave higher money, and it would be good to have a job at first. I found an advertisement for accompanying the elderly. Although it didn't cost much an hour, I think there is no big difference between teaching children and accompanying the elderly anyway. Psychologically, the elderly and children are similar in many aspects, and I am still interested in it no matter how much it costs. I called a Hong Kong woman and asked me if I had any experience and age (generally foreign employers don't ask this question). Finally, I asked if I could hear Cantonese. I was surprised. I had always practiced English hard before going abroad, but I didn't know that I wanted to hear Cantonese when I came to find my first job in an English-speaking country. Fortunately, I did understand some Cantonese, but I couldn't speak it. Women in Hong Kong are still quite satisfied with my relevant experience (teaching children) and age, saying that it is enough to accompany the old man to listen to his nagging, and spend 6 hours a day (2 pm-8 pm) at $9 per hour, and invite me for an interview the next day. If the interview passes, I can go to work on the same day; Later, I called to find a job that collected money in the supermarket. I also wanted to speak Cantonese and asked me for an interview, but it was too far, and I refused. I carefully put away the address for the interview the next day, and prepared to ask my friends how to get there at night. At this time, my husband and I really couldn't support our sleepiness, and we fell asleep in a chair.

I slept until about 6 o'clock, and Wang Youxin took the children home from kindergarten. I quickly told him that I got an interview opportunity and asked him to help me determine the address and introduce my experience. Sister Ding (Wang Youxin's wife) also got off work, and everyone chatted and cooked dinner. After dinner, Wang Youxin helped us to contact a basement rented by Changchun people, 45 Canadian dollars/month, which is 3 to 4 minutes north of his home. We decided to move on the same day. I really don't want to disturb them. In order to save money, Wang Youxin found a trolley from the supermarket by bike and put it under the building. We moved our luggage to the corridor one by one. After taking the elevator downstairs, we just put all our luggage on the trolley and will leave on the spot. The trolley was only used for a section of the road from his home to the subway station. Later, we all moved it up and down by ourselves. Fortunately, there were only three big boxes and one small box. I carried a schoolbag, my husband collapsed a briefcase, and with the help of Wang Youxin, the three of us took the subway first, took a bus, and finally arrived at our destination-North York.

North York is a relatively rich district in Toronto. Most of them live in white-collar workers with annual salary, and the schools here are among the best, so parents are constantly moving here for their children. It's far from the city center, so people who don't have a car go to work by subway or bus, but it takes longer. Our landlord is the L family from Changchun. They have been in Canada for almost 1 years, and their children are sixteen or seventeen years old. Their house was bought with a loan. It is very big, with a small yard on two floors. They live upstairs and the basement has been rented out. There are three rooms in the basement, a common kitchen and bathroom. There are a dining table, refrigerator, stove and range hood in the kitchen. Two of the rooms have been rented to a Shanghai student Y and a couple of Fujian immigrants who have just landed for a few weeks, and the remaining room is ours, about a dozen square meters. To tell the truth, we really didn't expect to live in a fixed rented house the next day after landing. Although it is a basement, the conditions are not bad. We are very grateful to Wang Youxin. It's getting late. Wang Youxin has to go to work tomorrow. We sent him out and asked him to help us collect our SIN cards and letters. He readily agreed and hurried home. We closed the door after talking with the landlord about the specific rental conditions, and finally we had our own small world. There is already a bed and a desk in the room. Take out the bedding and spread it on the bed. We have to have a good rest, because I have an interview tomorrow, and the place is far away.

I passed the interview, but I didn't think the conditions were suitable and refused. I bought some food and milk on my way home. In the next few days, we went to Chinatown to buy many things, such as rice, meat, fruits and vegetables. My husband is a northerner who likes to eat pasta, but I am a southerner who can't cook it. We decided to take rice as the staple food, so we bought a rice cooker. Here, I found that foreigners and northerners in our country have many habits in life. They all like pasta, but they don't like spicy food. The practice is very simple. Generally, the kitchens in foreigners' homes are well-equipped, such as stoves, ovens, microwave ovens, etc. The processing tables and sinks are all made of stainless steel, and there are many drawers and cabinets with reasonable design. Complex kitchens make simple dishes. Although we live in different places, we are very satisfied. After all, we have only landed for two days.

Y Cheng, a Shanghai student in the other room, goes to school every day, leaving early and returning late, so we seldom meet each other. The couple in Fujian had only been here for a few weeks when their wives started working. She found it through Sing Tao Daily. In a Shanghai restaurant, it was a long way to work, 8 hours a day. The boss asked for 2, dumplings a day at $7 per hour. In China, she and I are colleagues. We have a chat and exchange information when cooking dinner every night.

We decided to move to a place near the city center, which would provide more job opportunities and make it convenient to go to work anywhere. Later, I met C from Hunan by chance. He has been in Toronto for two years and has his own shop on BLOOR Street. His friend, a new immigrant couple, X shared a big apartment with his family, so the house rented by X was empty. On ST.CLAIR Street near the city center, the landlord was Greek, and he suggested that we go and have a look. Later, we went to see it. The terrain was good, and the conditions were better than those in L's house. The hall, bathroom and kitchen were all for our own use, so we decided to move there. X also introduced my husband to work in a factory warehouse where he works, at $8.5/ hour, 8 hours a day, with benefits after 6 months. Before the plan to find a job was launched, his friend introduced him to work, which is very rare for new immigrants. Looking at the calendar, we have been landing in Canada for 1 days before we know it.

The first thing to do after moving is to install a telephone, which plays an important role abroad. The' BELL CANADA' telephone company in Toronto has a free Chinese installation hotline-187151888. If you ask to speak Mandarin, the service staff will serve you in blunt Mandarin. I am very satisfied with the service attitude of this hotline. You can ask anything you don't know about the telephone, and you will definitely get it.