My name is Indunil W. I immigrated to Canada, in April 2009, and it was a hard decision to make for me and many things led to this decision.
My family originally came from Sri Lanka but we moved to England for three years, for my wife’s higher education. After we came back, we went back to our former work places and did our jobs, and life went back to normal. After working for a year and a half in Sri Lanka, my wife decided to submit applications to migrate to Canada during May 2007. Our only son was in grade seven and we have a dream for him to become a successful doctor as my father, father in law, and his three cousins were. After a long working process, we got our skilled workers visas in January of 2009.
However, I had mixed feeling making this decision. As a person in his middle ages, it is hard for me to adjust to the Western world. I was a cricket fan but I am starting to convert into a rigorous hockey fan. On the other hand, our parents have already passed away and my brothers are settled in England. All my sisters are worried and disliked our decision to come to Canada. I have always reminded my son that he should put his studies first then he can get accepted into a prestigious medical school and eventually get a good job in the future. In Sri Lanka, I owned cinnamon cultivations and paddy fields which I had to give to other relatives to look after.
The decision I disliked the most was the early retirement from my job in government service after twenty five years of service. While collecting river and rainfall data, I travelled all over the country. My superiors, subordinates, and helpers were very apprehensive for me.
In the end, we came here in April 2009. We stayed at our relatives for a month and after a prolonged residence search, we moved into an apartment which was in close proximity to my son’s high school. After a drawn out job search I found a job in wireless industry.
I changed my career from a Hydrological Assistant to an Electronic Assembler. I bought a new house and started to settle in. After two years of hard work, I got laid off but I think of this as a new experience for me. With regard to our dreams for our son, they seem to be becoming a reality. He is currently in grade twelve AP class and he has an average of ninety five percent.
I have gained a lot of new experience from living in Canada for two years. I have grown accustomed to the Canadian way of life.
O Canada, our home and native land!
