Life as a Newcomer in Canada

Many people have a romanticized idea of what it means to be a newcomer in any city. Not only in Canada, but in many other countries, millions of immigrants arrive in the hopes for a new life and beginning for their families. I am a newcomer myself and have met several other teenagers in the same situation.

Many of us relate the idea of moving to a new country as the “American dream” and shared worries like “will I be able to make new friends?” “is school going to be hard?,” and especially “am I going to be happy?” I am sure some of us even did hours of research about what it means to be a newcomer, but never found something humane and concrete.

If you are someone thinking about moving cities/countries or an immigrant who wants to relate, this article is for you. I hope I can answer some of your questions, and give you an honest review about what to really expect when moving to a new place. Of course, I’ll be talking about my own experience in Canada, but don’t be afraid to read even if your heading to a different country.

Meeting New People

One thing that most people want to avoid when they arrive in a new place is meeting new people. The thing is, we are a social species, and we depend on others to be happy and feel “fulfilled.” Some people can argue that they are shy, and this is totally acceptable. Sometimes the challenge of facing an environment in which you aren’t comfortable can turn a completely outgoing person into a timid individual. For example, on my first day of school, I had already met a nice girl who introduced me to most of my friends today. If I hadn’t given her a chance, I wouldn’t be with the people I am today. You need to put yourself out there, smile, show interest, and be open-minded about people.

If it helps, try to search for people who share your culture, join clubs or teams, or connect with people in your classroom. I’m sure you will find “your person” in no time.

Self-Love

Moving countries is hard. It’s harder than any article covering this subject will reveal. It’s harder than what your friends, YouTube, or teacher tell you. It’s even harder than you already think it is. When we are facing a challenge in life, it is really important not to beat yourself up. Things will go wrong, people won’t like you, your family will fight, and there is nothing you can do about it. For instance, at the start, I was really worried about making friends. I began to do anything to make people like me, and that led me to be untrue to myself on various occasions. This means that even though you might face problems and feel like you are alone, you need to remember that the most important fact is your happiness. Thinking about yourself isn’t wrong and placing your health first is a matter of common sense. Don’t be afraid of walking away from toxic relationships and saying no to people.

Teach yourself to acknowledge when something or someone is bad for you. Being accepted into your new society should never cost you your happiness or your true personality.

The “Lunch Problem”

I feel like many teenagers who are moving countries (especially going to Canada or the United States) are worried about lunch time. All we have for reference are the general American teenager movies in which the newbie, on their first day, has to eat her lunch in the bathroom because they don’t know anyone. Even though this is a myth, I still feel like we need to address this “issue.” In my first week, I was completely worried about what I’d talk about over lunch, if I would have to “befriend” the girls at the table, and if they would welcome me there every day. If you didn’t notice, I do think a lot, so please don’t worry as much as I do! Sometimes life just has something planned for you and you can’t control everything. One thing to keep in mind is that we didn’t pass through all the pain of moving countries to simply settle for second best.

People come and go. If I think about it, now I lunch with completely different people then who I started out with. The best moments of your life are the ones you don’t plan, so don’t worry about getting it right in your first attempt.

Sometimes, Things Work Out!

This seems kind of obvious, but it took me more than 3 months to figure this out: starting a new life can be rough. For the first few weeks, I felt like I had thrown a perfectly good life in the trash and I would never get it back. Apart from feeling like I was the one to blame, I remember that when life got hard here, all I wanted to do was stop. The thing is, there’s no “stop” button. There’s no way to go back. I don’t know if you are an immigrant or if you are on a student visa for 6 months, but you can’t give up. Fortunately, this fact doesn’t need to be a negative aspect of your new life. If we keep going, keep waking up every day having faith that things might work out, they will eventually. I’m not asking you to be blind about your life, just believe in yourself. If you value yourself, give yourself more credit for your efforts, and look out for people who actually deserve your time and attention, I guarantee you everything will be worth it.

Just before I moved to Canada, one of my cousins (who had lived in London for a year) told me something interesting: “Overall, one year in a new country was made of the worst 4 months and best 8 months of my life.” At first, I thought it was cliché, but it gave me something to look out for. I’ve lived off of this quote and, I can assure you, he was right.

This blog was written with hopes to answer some of your questions. All of the examples listed above are only some lessons I learned in my four months here in Canada. You can use them as a reference, but know that every journey is different. Depending on your personality and the reason you came to Canada, the whole experience will be different. One thing is for certain though; it’s always worth it.