2022 Feb 10, a new journey begins.
I took a 21-Hour flight a few days ago and have already arrived in Calgary. I was born in a tropical city so it’s extraordinary cold here to me! I’ve finally realized why some people use the word “fucking” to describe the weather. Whatever, I will only stay downtown for 3 days, to apply for a Social Insurance Number(SIN), Alberta health card(AHCIP), create a bank account, and pick up some groceries, then I will go to the final destination, where I will work for the following months.
Why I Move to Canada?
When talking about “Why”, it could be discussed from two aspects — cause or reason. Cause is sth./sb. to trigger/inspire you. To me, the root cause is not something fun, it’s a long story and I believe no one would like to see a person murmur for over one hour about his tragedy. Reason is something you intend to do or have planned to achieve. Before revealing the reason, I have to share one thing at first.
Keep a Diary
I started writing diaries 8 years ago in order to keep the thoughts, feelings, and what happens at the moment. No matter how busy I am I always keep at least once a week, sometimes takes me a couple of hours and pages, sometimes just ten minutes and a few lines. Only one rule to follow, keep the diary privately and write down your real feelings and emotions. As time goes by, the efforts put in have shown.
When I feel lonely, read the trip we went on together.
When I feel tired, review the events I’ve achieved.
When I feel frustrated, repeat the positive affirmations.
When I have arguments with someone, the diary could remind me not to do the same mistakes again.
When I lose myself, it helps me not to forget my dream.
In addition, that could be a tool to discover your true color.
Do yourself a favor please, the more you write the better you know yourself.
So, you probably already guessed that I’ve written something about going aboard in my diary. Exactly! I said to myself 6 years ago. If she leaves me, no matter how hard it does, how much it costs, I will be working or studying in another country for a while. I wrote down the ideal country, which was Australia.
But why I didn’t go to Australia? Since the border was closed due to the pandemic when I was applying for the visa. What a pity! But always remember that “When one door shuts, another opens”. The working holiday application of Canada just opened a few days later! I joined the candidate pool right away and waited for the draws. Who knows one month later, I was drawn in the first round of the second half of 2021. I started applying for the working holiday visa and everything went smoothly, two months later…
My application to work in Canada has been approved on Nov 09, 2021. So I decided to move to Canada.
About Working Holiday Visa
The program is issued by the “Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada”, work and travel abroad with International Experience Canada. It gives people an opportunity to work in Canada for a limited time, with a limited quota. It might have slight differences from country to country, like Taiwan, we have age limitation, only people who are between 18 and 35 years old can apply for it, the working period is 365 days, the quota of each year is about 1000 people. That’s why I should join the candidate pool, not everyone could get the invitation from IEC.
The visa type is open, which means it doesn’t need a specific employer or occupation, you can almost find any job you would like to do, such as cash register, barista, chef, tour guide, engineer, etc. I am not sure is it eligible to apply for some profession that needs a certificate. BTW, it’s not valid for employment in businesses related to the sex trade.
Except for Canada, we still have dozens of choices such as Australia, Japan, England, Germany, Netherland, Hungary. For more information can refer to the website of foreign affairs.
Most countries have defined their own regulations about working holiday visas. For instance, France offers Canadians who are between 18 to 30 years old to work and travel in France. It is usually much easier than applying for a study permit and always costs less money. So, why not give it a try if you are a person who is looking forward to traveling abroad and exploring the world.
Border Restrictions During Pandemic
The Covid-19 isn’t over yet, don’t forget to read the border restrictions of the country you are heading to. Canada requires all travelers must be fully vaccinated and provide proof of negative results(PCR/NAT/NAATs/RT-LAMP) taken within 72 hours of your scheduled flight or land entry.
After landing, there is a random covid-19 arrival test, the customs will tell you are selected or not(or just mark on the receipt), after going through immigration and picking luggage up, go ahead, you will see A/B lines which are divided by retractable belts, then continue to follow customs instruction. I am selected so I have to go on “A” and take an arrival test. The test results will send to your email in 24hrs, the person who is chosen can’t reach people and must stay at your home or the hotel of the final destination.
What if I have a connecting flight? Yes, like me, my entry port is Vancouver but the final destination is Calgary, I can still check in and board the domestic flight. But after I arrive in Calgary, I have to follow the same rule, stay at home or the hotel I’ve booked.
Three Days in Calgary
Firstly, I have to beat jet lag. In the first 3 days, it was a nightmare to sleep at 11 or 12 pm, I kept waking up at 2 or 3 am. And it’s so tough to stay awake in the morning. I tried to have energy drinks and exercise, then randomly walk around for at least two hours in the late afternoon. It helped but didn’t solve it completely. I have no idea how to deal with it. Until the first day of working, it just disappeared.
In order to talk to local people, I tried as much as possible to ask questions, but I found that is extremely awkward, especially when you’ve already known the answer. Besides, they talk so fast that I normally can’t catch them, I have to require a repeating. They are certainly friendly and try their best to help me, but I believe seldom people would like to have a long talk with a person who always needs yours more patience.
So, I changed the strategy. I prepared some questions and went to each information counter I saw or dialed the phone call of customer service. That was 10 times better than randomly approaching strangers, I can learn Canadian English as well as solve problems.
To be continued.
