Term 3 Blog #93

Saturday, June 7th, 2008

...dedicating this to my immigration to canada.

Immigration to Canada

Coming to Canada wasn’t an easy transition for me. I struggled with English for three years, which meant three years of isolation from the “normal” kids.
I immigrated to Canada on April 8th, 2000. I was in grade one back then. On one of my assignments, I accidently wrote “My Father is a Dragon” instead of “My Father’s Dragon” as the title of an assignment. I suppose I didn’t understand that words ending with and apostrophe and an s meant possessives back then. My teacher sniggered at it when she saw it, and I remember wondering about what she was sniggering at.
I switched to Weir school at the beginning of grade two. The kids started passing around “Wendy Germs” when they realized I was different. That part of grade two was particularly frustrating and heart-breaking.
One particularly embarrassing incident that I remember was when I tried to make up a joke as a class assignment. I didn’t understand the meaning of the word “joke” at the time, so one of my classmates told me that it was basically a funny question with a funny answer. I decided on one question and decided to tell it to the class.
“So…what do you think is the smallest animal on earth?” I asked. Then without waiting for an answer, I shouted enthusiastically “AN ELEPHANT!!” and laughed.
There was dead silence.
One kid raised his hand up and decided to comment. “I don’t get it,” the kid said.
I didn’t think it was embarrassing at the time, but once I understood what a joke really meant (some months later), I turned beet red inside.
Grade three was a better time for me. I found a friend that was able to relate to me, and we were able to do things together. My English finally improved in grade four, and I stopped going to ESL.
Now, my English is as good as any ninth-grader born here, though I can’t say the same for my social skills. It has been a pleasurable time, here in Canada. I wouldn’t go back to China even if catching up in schoolwork in China is possible.