I was really excited as I was going to experience snow for the first time in my life. Very first day of the school, it was storming. I probably fall couple of time on the way to school in that day. The cold was unbearable for me. Still I found it was fun to cope up with the weather. The most beautiful thing I enjoyed after coming here was the environment of the school. Everybody is so welcoming and helpful. I was involved with different cultural club in the school. That gave me the opportunity to meet lots of friends from different part of the world. I am so blessed to have my two best friends whom I met at the University of New Brunswick Saint John. One is from Canada another one is from UAE.

After I completed my graduation, I was involved with the Saint John Multicultural and Newcomers Resource Center. Here again I meet lot of people from different region through different activities. So after I have moved to Saint John, I had the opportunity to learn about different culture, food and I am enjoying it every bit of it.

 - Nazma in Saint John, NB

In 1964 my husband, 4-year-old son and I emigrated from Scotland to small town Ontario – Orillia, Stephen Leacock’s Mariposa. We were readily assimilated into the mainly white Caucasian population, many being second and third generation descendants of early settlers. It was an easy transition for us moving from one country to another. We were accepted and made welcome as there were several immigrant families from England and Scotland living there already along with a small, well established Italian community.

It was not the norm for aIl newcomers.

In 1967 I saw a young Asian couple with a little boy carrying their laundry to a nearby laundromat and commented to my husband on how strange and lonely it must be for them as they were the only Asian family in our small town. It turned out that the young man was a chemist who worked for the same company as my husband. He and his wife and son had just arrived from Seoul, South Korea so we decided to find out where they were living, and invite them to join us for a drive to show them the area. Their names were Yong and Jong Jin Song and their two-year-old son was named Sonny. Yong spoke English quite well but Jong, who was a teacher, spoke no English. They were living in a trailer park, having had difficulty renting suitable accommodation, due in part to their ethnicity.

After spending a delightful day driving them through the Muskoka area, a relationship developed that has lasted to this day. We laugh about that outing now. Jong and me sitting in the back of the car with our two small children, smiling and nodding to each other and not understanding a word either of us was saying, our seven year old son sitting between the men acting as translator for Yong as my husband had a very strong Scottish accent and Yong could not understand some words.  From that day we became their Canadian family.

We have shared their sorrow when Sonny was killed playing street hockey, their happiness when their three daughters were born and the day they became proud Canadian citizens. Over the years our lives and those of our children have been enriched through this friendship and learning of another culture.

It was our good fortune the day Jong and Yong said yes to that drive. Little did we know it was the beginning of a long and mutually enriching journey together.

- Audrey in Vancouver 

mwanamke katika shirika nanny kuweka vipande pamoja. Alikuwa tu kupokea maombi kutoka mwanamke mmoja aitwaye Grace ambaye alikuwa na watoto wanne ya yake mwenyewe. Grace alitaka kazi hiyo ilikuwa karibu na nyumbani kwake na kwamba itakuwa malazi familia yake inahitaji huduma. Ni alichukua moja tu kwa ajili ya mkutano wa Neema na mimi kuamua tunaweza kufanya kazi pamoja. Siku hiyo pia ilikuwa mwanzo wa urafiki maishani. Kama scouting maduka bustani pamoja katika siri Spring au biashara unataka orodha wakati wa Krismasi, we have enjoyed each other’s company and supported each other when we were needed.

Binti yake babysat watoto wangu; watoto wangu walikuwa wakunga katika harusi ya binti yake; Shangazi na Grace alikuwa mmoja wa kwanza walioalikwa graduations shule na kwa harusi ya mwanangu iliyopita majira. Zaidi ya miaka thelathini baadaye tumekula chakula Trinidad, mwenyeji marafiki na familia kutoka "nyumbani nyuma", na sasa ni hatimaye kwenda Trinidad na uzoefu "kurudi nyumbani" pamoja. Adventures yetu kuendelea! Mimi ajabu nini maisha yangu ingekuwa kama bila Grace ...

- Margaret katika Delta, BC