From England to Canada 
By Danita Johal 

It was the 22nd of December 2006; I can remember that day clearly. It was the day my sister and I found out that we were moving to Canada. When we heard, we had a smile from cheek to cheek; we were so excited to be moving. I couldn’t wait to get back to school to tell my friends. It was such mixed emotions though. We were happy but also apprehensive because we would have to leave the place where we had grown up in Derby, England. Also sad that we would be leaving close family, friends and our grandparents behind.

As soon as I got back to school I told a few of my closest friends that I might not be here next year and my friends were asking, “Where are you going?” I told them “I might be moving to Canada.” One of my friends said, “Wow, Canada, I am going to Canada in the summer for my cousin’s wedding, maybe we can meet up if you guys go there”. At this point none of us had any concept of how big Canada or in fact Ontario is. Ontario alone is way bigger that the whole of the UK put together!!!

I was dying to tell my other friends, but we wanted to wait to get confirmation fully before letting everyone know. As time went by, we started to tell more and more people that we were leaving. Everybody was always shocked and always asked the same question, “Why are you leaving, your parents have good jobs, you have a nice house here—why do you need to leave?” A month later my grandmother asked my sister and I whether we were happy about moving. We said, “Yes we are happy, but sad too. We are happy because it will be an adventure and total change from what we are used to, but we will miss you lots.”

It was March, we went to visit our Nan and while we were there some of my cousins and aunts came to see us. We were having so much fun until my mum said there was something she wanted to tell them. Everyone went quiet and after my mum broke the news some of them even started to cry. It completely changed the mood for the whole evening. They couldn’t believe we were leaving. We had this reaction pretty much every time we told people the news. In a way it was nice to know that people really cared about us and were genuinely sad that we were leaving.

Our permits came through in July and this started off the mad rush to get things sorted out. Our parents were keen to get to Canada in August, before the schools opened in September, and there was so much to do.

I told my friends that things were now definite and I would not be back for the new school year. They all told me that they were going to miss me. I told them that I would miss them all a lot too and told them I wanted them to keep in touch by email.

It was the start of August; we were trying to decide what we were going to take with us and what we were going to leave. My parents were busy renovating the house that my grandparents were going to live in. During this time we had lots of family come over to say their goodbyes. A week before we were leaving, the shipping people came and packed everything that we were going to take. This made everything seem so real and no longer a dream. Our house looked so empty, it was sad.

It was the night before we were leaving and we had a small gathering with some of my dad’s friends and close family. Everyone wanted to spend as much time as possible together. It was such a fun evening; definitely not one we will forget in a hurry.

When it was time to leave, I hugged my Grandparents and my Nan and Uncle. They were so upset. As we drove away all I can remember is my Grandma and Nan standing there crying. I remember my mum cried all the way to the airport and even a few times on the plane. I didn’t see my mum cry very often, so I knew she was really upset.

Once we arrived in Canada, the sadness had gone for the time being and we were all really excited. This was a new beginning.

My dad’s eldest sister had come to pick us up from Toronto Pearson Airport. We were going to spend a couple days in Toronto before driving North. Three days later we got up early in the morning and started the trip to Thunder Bay. It was such a long drive, but we managed to do it in one day. By the time we reached Thunder Bay it was dark. We didn’t have anywhere to live so we were going to be staying in a hotel until we found an apartment. This was a whole new experience for us as we had always lived in our own house.

We had a week to adjust to Canada before starting school. On the first day of school my parents drove me to school and my mum came inside with me. Everyone had to meet in the gym. It was the scariest day of my life because it was a new country, a new school and I did not know whether anybody at Churchill would be friendly. When I got there I took my seat and one girl came up to me and asked “Are you from India?” I was like “No, I am from England but my grandparents are from India,” and she said, “Hi, my name is Niharika.” I said, “Hi my name is Danita.” That day I told my parents that I had made an East Indian friend.

The past year has been hard, but there have been positive times. We moved into our own house at the start of the summer and we managed to get in a few trips to see family, which was nice.

There are times when I wish I could go back to England. I miss family and friends so much. When I sit in bed at night, I still remember all the fun memories I left behind in England.