I have come to Canada for an experience and I have decided to stay forever.

I am on ice hockey and I love to learn since I know myself. These two pathways have brought me to represent Romania as a coach with Ice Hockey Men’s National team beside two Canadiens. One of them has invited me to Canada for professional experience and, for three weeks, he made me to taste a bit from the Canadian way of being. Not after a long time, he offered me an opportunity to work in Canada and that is why I move here, temporary. Over time, I could see, not only the beautiful lakes, the fantastic forest especially on the Fall, the Saskatchewan’s prairies and its wide-open sky, but the life that Canadiens are enjoying. For example, in Summertime when  they are getting together on the lakes and they are storying funny tales, or in the Winter when they are ice fishing, it is magnific. Spending a few years here, I have sensed the soul and the mentality of these people.  They are socializing so open like they are all a huge family.  The Canadiens are so ready to help each other because it is in their DNA and their anthem “O Canada, we stand on guard for thee”[i]. All of these make me to take the decision to move here and to buy a house here. It was a long road and still going, but at 1a.m. on September 1, 2018 when I move into my house, I have felt that is the beginning of becoming Canadian. In those moments, I watched the sky, the trees and I took a deep breath, thinking, I love here, this is my home. It is not the real moment of moving, but the fact that I can call my home, with everything that including the Canadian way.

I can not say that I am Canadian 100 percent yet, because it is a process. More precisely, I have decided to follow a teaching career because I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education and Sport from Romania and I was surprised to find that I have to take more classes, here in Canada, in order to be certified. Now, after finishing courses such as ECS 100-397 Knowledge, Schooling and Society, EPSY 225-Assessing Student Learning, EPSY 322- EPSY 322 Students with Exceptional Needs in the Inclusive Classroom  and KIN 170-397 Lifestyle, Health and Wellness, not only that I understand why, but I feel that makes more part of this society.  

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[i] https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/anthems-canada.html#a1