Ana Lee: Away from Home

Away from home
Although living in a landscape breathtaking country has been my dream since I was a little girl, when the dream was coming true, the determination of whether I should move to Canada with my family was still a dilemma. In researching the pros and cons of moving, all the factors that would affect our life needed to be considered.

Peaceful nature is the first advantage of living in Canada. Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia, but there are only three people inhabiting each square kilometer. Plenty of lands and natural resources, lakes, river-filled forest, mountains, etc. attract a person who has lived in a very busy, modernized, and crowded city as Taipei. Learning English is the second advantage of living in Canada, especially free adult and children ESL programs. English is the most popular and powerful language in the world, so speaking fluent English would be an asset in all aspects of life events.

Nevertheless, there are disadvantages that needed to be considered. The far distance between Taiwan and Canada is the first disadvantage I thought about when I faced the dilemma. It is a twenty-hour flight from Taipei to Toronto. Most of my relatives and friends don’t live in Canada; therefore, it would be hard for us to see each other physically. The second disadvantage is losing our career identity. Although there is a shortage of experienced experts and skilled workers in Canada, it would be difficult for a middle-aged person such as me to find a job position as high as I held back home.

After considering the pros and cons we arrived in Toronto in the cold February of this year; I still wonder the rightness of my decision. Four years after arrival, over two thirds of the recent immigrants who participated in a study done by the Canada government said that their life in Canada has already met or exceeded their expectations. In addition, about half of the participants hoped to bring more of their relatives over through family sponsorship. If that is the case, I am really looking forward to the arrival of my four years.