A strange place I call home

I arrived in Canada last September 24, 2008. I flew in from the Philippines on Cathay Pacific Cebu-Hongkong-Vancouver. My final destination was Edmonton but I had to go through the Canadian Immigration Services in Vancouver first because Edmonton Airport is for domestic flights only. There they had to inspect my identification documents (i.e. passport with visa and confirmation of permanent residence) since I came in as a landed immigrant from the Philippines.

     I was picked up from the airport by my husband at Edmonton airport. He has been here in Canada for almost three years now. He told me before that there are many nice things here in Canada that I need to see for myself because he can’t fully describe them. When we drove out of the airport, I could not help myself but be amazed at how different everything seemed to me. I came from a province in my home country which is to me, quite wonderful but then there I was, in a strange place about to call it home.  Almost everything is different from what I was used to. The streets wider, the architecture and size of the buildings and houses are different  from where I came from.  The people are so diverse, the plants and trees are of different species, too.  Yet though all of those strangeness, I felt the warmth of home.

     I felt at home because  I had been so looking forward to this moment when I can finally reunite with my husband. He went to the Philippines every Christmas season just to be with me but this time, we will be together not only during Christmas but everyday of the year. I felt a positive kind of high being in this strange land because this is my home, where my family will be from now on. I have always loved the place where I came from but this strange place which offers us a better life is so easy to love. There are so many wonderful things to enjoy here, nice people, clean environment, better opportunites and best of all, this is where the love of my life is, my husband.

     Home really is where the heart is. It is the place where you can be at your best. Home begins with the inside. With my husband around, the place doesn’t feel strange anymore because he is there to make me feel at home and in the end, that’s all that matters.