Settling In - The Diary

Lake Ontario early February.

Before my application was approved, I’d been in Canada for a few months already. While this particular collection of entries isn’t entirely up to date (as well as some other drafts I don’t know if I’ll post yet), I still decided I wanted to share some of the thoughts I had throughout the whole process. 

September 30, 2022 

I am getting on a flight to Canada next week.

I have waited months to finally write this. And still, writing it feels a bit strange. Conceptually, I knew this would eventually happen. But it’s one thing to know and another to say goodbye to friends and family step-by-step.

Of course, only goodbye for now. We already have plans to return for Christmas, and we are still waiting on news about my PR - as a not-patient person, the process really is a lesson in learning to wait. 

I realize the weight of the decision. At the same time, I’m excited to start our life in Canada. I’m excited to make new friends. I’m excited to build new routines, discover new spots and visit old ones I’ve already learned to love.

This should go without saying, but I’m also excited to make the town that’s already home to my partner my home as well.

Canada, here I come!

November, 2022

It’s been nearly two months since I stepped onto a plane headed to Toronto. Two months seems like a good amount of time to get used to a place and begin settling in, right? Except the reality of it hasn’t set in yet. At all.

Quite a few people have messaged me over the past several weeks and asked how I’m adjusting. But it still feels like I’m on an extended vacation / school break - because I kind of am. My permanent residence application hasn’t been fully processed yet, which means I’m not allowed to work. I spend my days going to the gym, grabbing coffees with Sky during his work breaks, and going on fun weekend excursions or trips to the mall.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving the sleep-ins and freedom to spend every day as I decide, but I’m also lacking any sort of regular day-to-day routine. My partner and I don’t have our own place (yet), which also contributes to feeling like we’re in some sort of limbo.

I’m cherishing all this time, because, let’s be honest, I’m going to miss it once I have a 9 to 5 again. But it also means that this trip to Canada feels a little bit like an extended visit and not like a move. Although the shelves and drawers overflowing with my things in the basement would beg to differ.

Part of me wonders when the reality of it will fully sink in. Once I get my PR? Once I have a job? Once we have a place? Once I’ve been away from my family for months at a time?

I know moving abroad isn’t always a fun, rosy adventure and that there’s always a bit of a culture shock eventually - for the time being, however, I’m still in a honeymoon phase with my move here. And why wouldn’t I be? 

My partner is here, I’m beginning to explore, there are plenty of fun weekend activities, and it has started snowing!

Which I realize for some might be a rude awakening, but as someone who loves snow and rarely got any in all the places I’ve lived previously, I am incredibly excited. (Ask me again in a few weeks after some more shoveling and car scraping.)

To read more of my Canadian adventure, click here.