Tuesday, April 20, 2010

20 Years in Canada

4/20 for me is completely different than what some other people celebrate on this day. On April 20th, 20 years ago, my family and I arrived in Vancouver, Canada. On a very cool spring morning, by the way. This week the weather is much warmer than it was back then. Yeah, perfect weather for whatever she's doing up there...

So I was quite a young'un when my dad told all of us that we'd be living for 3 years in Canada. So the first thing we did was to learn English as fast as we can in the short amount before we leave. I went to a couple of after school English classes. It's all a blur now, so I don't remember a lot of what happened in between that time and before we arrived. I did remember telling a few of my friends in Jakarta that I'd be moving to a much colder place.

When we arrived in Canada, my dad told us both that, we won't be moving back to Jakarta after 3 years, we'd be living in Canada permanently. As a young child, I'm sure that didn't mean much to me, but now that I think about it, it was quite a significant change!

5 years after we moved we finally traveled back to Jakarta for a month. That was the only time I returned home ever since we moved here... 10 years after we moved we finally got our Canadian citizenship, even though we were able to become citizens after 3 years of permanent residence.

The Lumber Gundam... The visual giant robot representation of my interest as an anime fan in Canada

I don't feel much after 20 years though. I've lived here longer than I have lived in Jakarta, so I'm used to living in Canada for a while. Yet I hear so many changes in Indonesia that would've made living with my interest that much more fun! I wonder though if I would still loved anime the way I do now if I lived there.

Anyway... this post was unplanned and I probably wrote some nonsense. I'm not one to be nostalgic, so I can't say much about my past, especially since I've forgotten a lot of my memories. We're celebrating it anyway though. No, not by consuming marijuana as other people do on this day ^^; We're planning for all-you-can-eat sushi tonight barring any change in plans. Maybe I'll update with photos after dinner :)

12 comments:

  1. "So the first thing we did was to learn English as fast as we can in the short amount before we leave."

    "As a young child, I'm sure that didn't mean much to me, but now that I think about it, it was quite a significant change!"

    This parallels my own experiences with moving to California, US in so many ways. This post made me think about my own childhood... I am the nostalgic kind.

    Anyways, it is kind of curious to think about whether you'd end up liking anime if certain aspects of your life is drastically different.

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  2. I feel as if You really miss your homeland .

    I've been to Jakarta once and its pretty different from Kuala lumpur . I always eat Nasi Padang there ^_^ .

    I always wanted to go to Canada since Its very cold there , which is a heaven for us Malaysians as Its always Summer all day long here . I heard that Canadians are much more Nicer than Americans ( I dunno lol )

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  3. Well, at least our G Fighter wasn't modeled after a dodo, right :p?
    You know what, you, me, radiant, chag, we should band together and make a Canadian blogging alliance! Just to spite all those anti-nationalists.

    I jest, but I can really relate to this. I've only been here since August after all - my memories of HK are still vivid. Lonesomely troubling, even, but I try not to think about it too much. It's a pleasant little memory of the past, and I try to keep it that way. I'll make new ones here.

    Likewise, I was way too young when I first came here, before journeying back to HK. I suppose picking up English was the first order, but like you I guess I had no transitioning troubles at that age.

    Weed day also happens to be Hitler's birthday. The significance of which should be decided on one's own. It might explain a lot... Nah.

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  4. Your childhood experiences during your first time in the first and currently only country you moved into, completely varies from mine.

    In Saudi, I didnt learn the language there,primarily since mostly everyone is good at english(fluent too) also we had a crappy arabian language teacher. I dont care much about the previous countries I lived i,they felt like a blur, except Canada,well your pretty right, this country is pretty homey.

    >> Ningyo: wait a dodo, I swear we were either a grizzly or a giant beaver,and I approve of your CBA!

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  5. @Yi: I have a lot of bad memories of my childhood, so it gets hard to be nostalgic. I tend to remember the bad memories more than the nostalgic ones unfortunately >_<

    Yea, I mean Indonesia has lots of anime influences now, but I wonder if I would've outgrew it if I stayed.

    @Densha Otoko: Hmm... I do miss it a bit, especially since there are a lot of family I haven't seen for a long time there. They're all grown up now. Jakarta is quite crazy even when I was there. Traffic was consistently heavy! I miss lots of food from there, lol. As for Canada (at least in Vancouver), it's not always cold. Actually during our heatwave last year, it was hotter than in Jakarta! Hmm... In general maybe, but Canadians and American really vary from people to people. So some can be nice, but not everybody.

    @Tim: Was it modeled after a beaver? XD I think one time we did a #FollowFriday Canadian edition with everybody you mentioned.

    Wow... has it really been only that long? It almost feels like you've been here longer than that! Pictures on Figure.FM and such of Indonesia interests me because of all the noticeable changes. I mean in just 5 years after I left, mall started sprouting up! Hahaha. I didn't know it was Hitler's birthday until you told me XD

    @GunStray: Wow, you used to live in Saudi, eh? I've wondered how I would've lived if I moved any other place where a relative lived. It was helpful when we moved here because a relative of my dad helped us with the transition from Indonesia to Canada. So there was no use for the Arabic language that you learned there at all? That sounded like a completely waste of time...

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  6. You celebrate 20 years, Hitler (if still alive) celebrates his b-day.... I celebrate my b-day... all's good 6_^

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  7. Oh, I thought you were naturally born in Canada.
    Well you are more canadian than ever.. ^^

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  8. I been to US myself for a good 20 years as well! I don't really miss Hong Kong too much cept everything is convenient back there, but I doubt I would have the same career opportunity back compared to here.

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  9. All of you have sooo interesting backstories and my old ass has been in germany for whopping 25 years without anything interesting happeneing ^^

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  10. hm this Summer I'll have lived in Colorado for 3 years I think. Sure it's still the same country but it's a lot different from the other places I've lived in the US. It's a shame that I still have never been to Canada... happy 20th anniversary :3

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  11. It's nice to remember things like that ^^ the only thing I could compare you learning English quickly is me learning to drive quickly... only with tears, accidents and panic attacks lol

    Wow 20 years... time sure flies huh? do you remember getting home sick? maybe you didn't since your family were all together; besides it can be fun. It hasn't been that long since I moved here, but so many things happened, it's a wonder.

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  12. @robostrike: Oooh Happy Belated Birthday to you then ^_^

    @phossil: LoL I do act very Canadian-like, don't I? XD

    @Wolfheinrich: Ah so we've lived on this continent for about the same time then :D I do think the same about back in Jakarta regarding career. Not too mention the economy isn't as good as it's used to.

    @Blowfish: Jealous? :P LoL not everybody have to have a back story ^^; At least I know one of your backstories now... that you're 25, lol.

    @Persocom: Thanks! The US of A is quite big so even moving just a few miles is quite different. Same here in Canada. I mean my workplace isn't snowing but an area just several blocks away is snowing heavily!

    @Yaku: LoL but you got a license, so you're good :D

    I think you're right. It was hard to get home sick because my family was here. And my mom is good at cooking Indonesian food, lol. Oh and I didn't miss the heat at all! Oh I know what you mean about a lot of things happening in just a short time. We had our first snow within our first year there! It was crazy, lol.

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