O Canada

From Far East, Southeast Asia,Gino has so many dreams in life , an American dream. He was fascinated with the luxurious life like what was shown in the movie. The snow season made him think of setting his feet one day in the land of promise. He was allured by the stories of his high school classmate Fred, who migrated in Canada five years ago with his parents.
One morning Gino received a call from Fred. ” Friend, how are you? When are you coming here? I want you to expedite your papers to come here because my company is looking for someone who could work full time. The benifits is good, there is salary increments every year , time in bonus of $5,000 .” said Fred .” But as of now the result of my medical test did not arrive yet, for sure it will take a month or two that my visa will be released” ,replied Gino.
Not long after a month, Gino received the final notice that his visa to Canada is approved as an independent immigrant. He was adviced to pay his landing fee, attend seminar and buy his one way ticket. He informed his friend Fred about his confirmed flight. Gino comforted him to feel at ease and not be afraid of his situation in Canada as apartments are well furnish. Only to bring the show money which is required just to be stable while applying for Social Insurance and looking for a job. The government see to it that you are not to be dependent to them. Hence it is winter time ,he told Gino to bring jacket as the temperature is negative and below zero centigrade .
The flight was Sunday and Gino was brought to the aiport by his family. ” Don’t worry mother, father, I promise I will be productive in Canada.” , comforting his parents. ” Good luck Son, happy for you that your dream is almost at your hand , take care”,replied his father. The mother embraced and hugged him and said, ” Praying for your success Son”
He arrived in Canada via Korean Airline and he felt the chill of the winter. The flight was delayed in the US because of the snow storm but they arrived safely inspite of the turbulence during the flight His friend Fred was there at the airport and some relatives to pick him up.
It took a week before he received his Social Insurance in order for him to start looking for a job. Fred’s work deferred hiring because of the recession. The promise to help him acquire a job seems inevitable as of the moment. He felt bored and helpless.His money is almost gone., he has to ask for more support to his parents in the Philippines then he decided to ask forhelp from Canada Services. The agency told him to surf through the internet the vacancy provided by the companies. And later he was sent by the agency for training about his skills . Luckily he got a job in a factory not an office work as expected. The work is hard labor , manual job not like in the Philippines, he was working as an Accountant. Canadian companies are not hiring those without Canadian experience so the position he picked up was an assembler operating a robotic machine For that matter he complained of body ache, having no life because of working even Saturdays and Sundays He was depressed, he never thought that life in Canada is that hard. He had selfpitiness, educational deprivation . He thought of being same level with the non educated ones .
It took 6 months for him to decide to return home to the place where he could be a professional .. the only reason to be proud of his country the Philippines , there’s no place better than home and Canada is not for him as it touches his ego to a more relevant future .

Vicente A. Valdez Jr.