Immigrants!

Bloody immigrants, immigration, et al!

As an immigrant, from South Africa TO Canada, from Canada TO England, from England back TO Canada, I feel that I have the right to speak poorly of immigrants and of those who speak poorly of us.

Its fair to describe us as a sorry lot. We arrive in clothes that don't quite "match", we drive erratically, crossing over all the lanes while we adjust to new road signs, crazy local drivers and learn the unspoken rules of the road through trial and error. We settle by finding jobs that allow us to contribute to the economy and find our way in society but can generally only find customer facing, entry level jobs which enrages most locals and other settled immigrants because again, we don't quite "fit in" or they don't understand our accents. We attempt to arrange for loans and credit cards in order to establish a credit rating so we may purchase homes and cars and finally "match", "fit in" and "belong" only to be turned down for lack of credit.

And amidst all this, we feel it is important to hold onto a bit of our culture, which we left, not because we hated it, but because our government isn't as good as yours, our health care system sorely lacking and our education system less promising. We know that we are the minority, we do not need to have it thrown back at us time and time again. We know that we need to adjust to a new sense of humour, a new social value system, a new government, a new workplace and a new way of doing things.

But its hard. We have left good jobs, promising careers, partial education, homes, family and friends. We have made a commitment to start from scratch, wanting a life with more promise, as you do too.

So next time you see a crazy driver in front of you, please do not yell out "immigrant", (its probably a rich woman with a large car with very little spacial awareness). Next time we request to maintain a cultural value in the workplace or in a school, knowing that we are in a new culture by choice, please respect us for having values.

This is not an invitation to cite extreme cultural practices or to give one example of one individual's unkindness and anti-Canadianism. Its a call to patience. We impatiently seek to be settled so that we can get on with our lives. Cut us some slack and we'll have one less item to cross off the list.