Vision of Canada
One could have dropped a pin and it would be heard, as there was silence as all eyes and ears were on International Women’s Day 2012 keynote speaker Angela Baines as she held a paper with those words. All at once, and while Baines was recounting her immigrant story in Europe and Canada, everyone started thinking about their own stories, their entry into Canada and the similar challenges that they faced as women.
Slice of Life
And it’s a fact disclosed to Filipino professionals – lawyers, doctors, accountants, architects, engineers, and many others — before they ever embark on a plane to Canada to claim First World lives.
But too often, these foreign-trained professionals refuse to believe it. They can’t believe all the hours they’ve spent in school, training, and work will ultimately mean nothing. They can’t believe their lives will change that dramatically, or that they won’t be given a chance, at the very least, to show what they can do.
Pacific Shores Resort and Spa
I did not always think so.
I ranted about fees, used it sparingly, suffered poor customer service, thought about selling it.
But very recently, RCI redeemed itself through one beautiful resort in Vancouver Island.
Enter Pacific Shores Resort and Spa.
Let’s start from the very beginning. The resort was in Vancouver Island, which is not in Vancouver, and we had to cross a body of water to go to it. And by body of water, I mean a large one, and by cross, I mean through a ferry. So we took the BC Ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island and brought our rental car to the island (our rental car on a ferry!). This was the first time hubby drove in Canada ever so he was not very pleased that (1) he was driving the car to the inside of the ferry (which was crowded with other cars) (2) the ferry, with the car (and us), will be sailing for more than an hour and (3) he was sticking his neck out and his driver’s license too by doing this. But after all is said and done, I think he did a great job. (whew)
The View
She had been cleaning the fireplace of one of the apartment she owns. She did not look the part at that time – but I was looking at one of the more financially savvy immigrant septuagenarian of Vancouver. Her eyes had confidence as it held mine, and kindness too, perceptible and palpable, the trait of ladies who have aged gently. I could tell life has been good to her, because maybe she has been good to it.
I was a prospective renter and I engaged her in conversation because her story – which I knew from people who knew her for some time – greatly interested me. She owned several apartments but she arrived in Canada without money, or possessions. I wondered how that could be, what’s her story, and can it be duplicated?
The Color of Happiness
We were going to beautiful Victoria in Vancouver Island and we overslept. There was a forecast of sun and I peeked to the window, apprehensive, because we have not seen the sun in days. It was out! And the world was beautiful! At once, I was filled with panic. It might disappear all too soon, as it is wont to do during these cold and dreary winter months (as we found out). Slivers of sunshine are all we get, and I was determined to get my sliver. I woke up everyone and hustled and bustled.
Looking Out Into the Great Beyond
What should I give up? I wore this during our anniversary, and this during that party, and this was given to me by a favorite friend, and that by a favorite boss. And the baby? What does baby need? Hubby… I wonder how many shoes he will bring (my Imelda man)…? And C’s violin, C must absolutely have her violin. And her lyre! I must not forget her lyre.
But what does one do when she has to pack her family’s life in just 6 boxes?
Giddy for Antiques
You love the history of the thing, or the imagined history. Which could be what you make of it, since history is written by the victorious anyway (those who lived to tell the tale), and it might be that the actual truth could be less rosy, or rosier, or be in the in-between (yeah, maybe not much there).
(fact could be fiction and fiction could be fact – but what is reality anyway?)
Well, I love them.
I have been fascinated by antiques since, well, I don’t really know. I have not been exposed to them since houses in our family were demolished with abandon and new ones constructed and the old stuff (furniture, clothes, bric-a-brac, pictures, vinyl records) were stashed away some place or thrown or burned even before I had the consciousness for antiques.
Enjoying winter
Family and I – we just moved to Canada. A country an ocean away, separated from us by 13 hours of flight time. A country of rugged beauty, incessant rains, warm winters (8 degrees is warm for them), trees with breadth longer than an arm span, quaint waterfalls and villages, deer that crosses roads at its peril, snow-capped mountains and seas in one sweep of the eye. A country we have only begun to know.
But before I move on, please allow me to look back.
Because there are some things that I will be missing in my home country, the Philippines.