Today is a very special day for me. Yes it is my birthday and all birthdays are special, however this birthday marks a very important milestone in my life. Eighteen years ago I came to Canada at the age of eighteen. Today is the day when I spent an equal amount of time back home in Poland and in Canada. It is a day of reflection and celebration.
I spent a lot of time trying to analyze what this day means to me. I even started writing this blog post more than two months in advance as I knew that the process would take a long time. I went through historic moments, changes, achievements and my feelings of the past thirty six years.
Born in December 1978 in Warsaw, Poland and I was from the beginning a part of changes that were happening around me, even if I was too young to understand. I was born shortly after John Paul II became pope, which started an avalanche of changes in Poland. I turned three years old just a day after martial law was announced and when tanks rolled onto the streets of Warsaw. I do not remember much from that time besides spending hours with my mom in line trying to buy something for dinner, never knowing what and if anything would be available before reaching the counter.
I think about myself as a quiet kid, especially in my early years. I often preferred to stay home and occupy myself with different activities than spend time with other kids at the playground. I had some dolls in the house to play with but I often played with cars with my brother. I remember we taped batteries and small bulbs to the top of the cars and drove them around the floor in the dark.
This reminded me of the time my brother and I moved a 3 piece wall segment furniture from one side of the house to the other in about two hours. That included emptying the shelves and putting everything back together at the end before parents returned from their night out.
My mom taught me how to read early and I was reading smoothly by the time I went to kindergarten. I even impressed strangers by reading the newspaper.
From that time I do not remember much besides my first time ever going to school alone which ended up to be uneventful, except for the teacher accusing me of being a troublemaker and instigator (ed: She has not outgrown this).
From my first communion the most memorable time was when the organist asked anyone that would like to sing at the altar to come over and have a short audition. I was rejected and I ended up sitting at the back of the church because all the closer seats were already taken.
When I was still in grade school, the Chernobyl disaster happened. The radioactive cloud moved through Poland to Sweden when it was first detected. At the beginning, the Russians denied that anything had happened. It was few days later when they finally decided to give kids iodine. I remember going to school during a pouring radioactive rain to have a drink of a brownish mixture.
In Poland you do not just go into secondary school. There are three types of schools: trade, technical or high school. The trade school teaches you some trade and allows you to enter the workforce in 3 years. Technical school is for students that would like to obtain trade skills, but also after 5 years be able to continue education if desired. High school accepts only the best students, who are planning to continue their education at the university level. Some high schools and trade schools want to attract the best of the best to make sure their programs are challenging, guarantee university entrance and be recognized between universities. These high schools have an entrance exam. I applied to one but I did not get in. I settled for the high school that was closest home and it saved me the long commute in the city.
In high school I transitioned to being a rock and metal fan and I was hanging around with the hippies of that time. Twice during that time I spent my vacation on a walking camp where we walked from one hostel to another enjoying surrounding scenery and fresh air.
On one of the trips we went up to one of the high peaks in Tatra mountains and were bombarded with strong winds and hail in the middle of July.
While I was a teen my parents made the decision to move to Canada due to economical reasons. We already had some family over in Ontario, so joining them felt like a natural step. After countless hours spent on paperwork, medical tests and waiting, we received permanent resident visas for Canada in 1996. We sold our tiny 39m2 apartment and bought one-way tickets to the unknown.
On December 14th, 1996, for my 18th birthday, we boarded the plane and arrived in snow covered Canada on December 15th.
Arrival in Canada was a big change. We soon started to explore what Ontario had to offer in terms of culture and nature.
We initially settled in Meadowvale in Mississauga and I signed up for second term of grade 12 at Our Lady Mount Caramel. The adviser wanted me to start in Grade 10 as my English was not that great, but I convinced them to give it a try with allowing me to take Grade 12 advanced math. I proved to be successful by finishing at the top of the class.
It is in High School where I got my first computer and started to discover what this new technology had to offer. I ended up spending a lot of time exploring the internet at the time and meeting people on-line.
I completed my OAC a year after (Ontario Academic Credit -- OAC -- was still a thing back then). It involved me taking English grade 12 and OAC which I did have some troubles with. I think the teacher just gave me 75% because they did not want me to stay an extra year just for that. For the rest of the marks I had to work hard (OK, maybe OAC class in Polish was not that hard) but I received good enough grades to apply to Universities.
I had to do some English tests such as TOEFL but I did not get a good mark in them which limited my University choices. I ended up getting into York University in Toronto for a Pure Math major. Within a year I realized that Pure Math was not for me and, after some research, I found a different major that was offered: Applied Math. I moved to study Applied Math and Computer Science double major.
I stared to work as a hostess for a new home sales office while still in University and later in a call center as Technical Support for a dial-up internet provider in the US. The second job gave me the money to be independent and I decided to keep the job while I transitioned myself to be a part time student. After being let go from that job, I worked downtown Toronto for about 3 months as a telemarketer and I did not enjoy that job at all.
I was always interested in arts and crafts and I enjoyed making new original things. When I had time I worked on drawing and paintings.
I was working downtown on September 11, 2001 when the attack on World Trade Center happened. All people were let go from work at the same time to return to their homes. The streets were a mess.
In 2002 I applied and got the on contract job at EMC. Later, in 2004, I was hired for a full time position and I have been working there since.
With help of my friends I learned the basics of downhill skiing and I enjoyed it a lot, however due to back injury and associated pain I had to put away the skis. They are still buried somewhere in the closet.
I continued to work full time and study part time through the rest of my undergraduate study at York University and I graduated in 2006 after 7 years. At that time I was not sure if I wanted to pursue any further education but I realized that if I did not apply, I would never do it. I was accepted to a Masters of Science program at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
At the time when I started to study at McMaster, I bought my first place I could call my own. I moved to Burlington and I completely renovated the townhouse before selling it 4 years later.
I successfully defended my Master thesis. Yey!
I met my now husband Ian at work and soon after, we decided to move in together. We bought a condo in Mississauga and a couple days after we moved, we left for China.
In 2011 we visited Poland. It was my first trip back home after I arrived in Canada in 1996. We did a whirlwind tour and visited Warsaw, Gdańsk, Malbork, Częstochowa, Oświęcim, Wieliczka, Kraków and Zakopane in three weeks. We had a great time and it was nice to finally see family I have not had a chance to see for a very long time.
After coming back from Poland I was surprised to find out that Ian managed to buy me an engagement ring behind my back. He asked me to wait at the Amber Museum in Gdańsk because he forgot his phone. At that time he ran to the museum store and got me a ring with amber in it. I did not find out about it until I was presented with the ring. We got married a year later on September 1st, 2012.
We were unable to go for our honeymoon right after the wedding. We ended up postponing it to the next year when we went to Ireland and spent a week in Dublin. We loved the city and we enjoyed the numerous places with great food and beer. Throughout the week it did not rain at all and we managed to get sunburned in Dublin.
I took some courses at OCAD and enjoyed the photography course as well as the drawing course that gave me a lot of inspiration.
In 2013, I joined Mississauga Festival Choir. I had always wanted to do something like that but I was not confident enough to join an auditioned choir. Once I found out that MFC rehearses just walking distance from my house, I had no choice but to come out to the practices.
That year MFC recorded a Christmas CD "Gloria" and I was for the first time part of professional music recording. It was an unforgettable experience.
During the summer 2014 my husband and I joined the choir for their European tour. We loved touring and singing in Budapest, Vienna and Prague.
http://ewaromanowicz.blogspot.ca/2014/07/budapest-mississauga-festival-choir.html
I'm especially thankful to all people that I've met along the way and helped me become who I am today. Those current, lost and forgotten friends, all made their impact on my life. I especially wanted to thank anyone that helped me when I needed it.
The first 18 years and the last 18 years were filled with happiness, anger, helplessness, sadness and sorrow, and many other emotions that one can think of. Reflecting back made my realize that all the cheerful moments of my life made up for any sadness that I encountered in the last 36 years.
Cheers to the next 18 years and whatever they bring!
Ewa
I spent a lot of time trying to analyze what this day means to me. I even started writing this blog post more than two months in advance as I knew that the process would take a long time. I went through historic moments, changes, achievements and my feelings of the past thirty six years.
Born in December 1978 in Warsaw, Poland and I was from the beginning a part of changes that were happening around me, even if I was too young to understand. I was born shortly after John Paul II became pope, which started an avalanche of changes in Poland. I turned three years old just a day after martial law was announced and when tanks rolled onto the streets of Warsaw. I do not remember much from that time besides spending hours with my mom in line trying to buy something for dinner, never knowing what and if anything would be available before reaching the counter.
This reminded me of the time my brother and I moved a 3 piece wall segment furniture from one side of the house to the other in about two hours. That included emptying the shelves and putting everything back together at the end before parents returned from their night out.
My mom taught me how to read early and I was reading smoothly by the time I went to kindergarten. I even impressed strangers by reading the newspaper.
From that time I do not remember much besides my first time ever going to school alone which ended up to be uneventful, except for the teacher accusing me of being a troublemaker and instigator (ed: She has not outgrown this).
From my first communion the most memorable time was when the organist asked anyone that would like to sing at the altar to come over and have a short audition. I was rejected and I ended up sitting at the back of the church because all the closer seats were already taken.
In Poland you do not just go into secondary school. There are three types of schools: trade, technical or high school. The trade school teaches you some trade and allows you to enter the workforce in 3 years. Technical school is for students that would like to obtain trade skills, but also after 5 years be able to continue education if desired. High school accepts only the best students, who are planning to continue their education at the university level. Some high schools and trade schools want to attract the best of the best to make sure their programs are challenging, guarantee university entrance and be recognized between universities. These high schools have an entrance exam. I applied to one but I did not get in. I settled for the high school that was closest home and it saved me the long commute in the city.
On one of the trips we went up to one of the high peaks in Tatra mountains and were bombarded with strong winds and hail in the middle of July.
On December 14th, 1996, for my 18th birthday, we boarded the plane and arrived in snow covered Canada on December 15th.
Arrival in Canada was a big change. We soon started to explore what Ontario had to offer in terms of culture and nature.
We initially settled in Meadowvale in Mississauga and I signed up for second term of grade 12 at Our Lady Mount Caramel. The adviser wanted me to start in Grade 10 as my English was not that great, but I convinced them to give it a try with allowing me to take Grade 12 advanced math. I proved to be successful by finishing at the top of the class.
It is in High School where I got my first computer and started to discover what this new technology had to offer. I ended up spending a lot of time exploring the internet at the time and meeting people on-line.
I completed my OAC a year after (Ontario Academic Credit -- OAC -- was still a thing back then). It involved me taking English grade 12 and OAC which I did have some troubles with. I think the teacher just gave me 75% because they did not want me to stay an extra year just for that. For the rest of the marks I had to work hard (OK, maybe OAC class in Polish was not that hard) but I received good enough grades to apply to Universities.
I had to do some English tests such as TOEFL but I did not get a good mark in them which limited my University choices. I ended up getting into York University in Toronto for a Pure Math major. Within a year I realized that Pure Math was not for me and, after some research, I found a different major that was offered: Applied Math. I moved to study Applied Math and Computer Science double major.
I stared to work as a hostess for a new home sales office while still in University and later in a call center as Technical Support for a dial-up internet provider in the US. The second job gave me the money to be independent and I decided to keep the job while I transitioned myself to be a part time student. After being let go from that job, I worked downtown Toronto for about 3 months as a telemarketer and I did not enjoy that job at all.
I was always interested in arts and crafts and I enjoyed making new original things. When I had time I worked on drawing and paintings.
I was working downtown on September 11, 2001 when the attack on World Trade Center happened. All people were let go from work at the same time to return to their homes. The streets were a mess.
In 2002 I applied and got the on contract job at EMC. Later, in 2004, I was hired for a full time position and I have been working there since.
With help of my friends I learned the basics of downhill skiing and I enjoyed it a lot, however due to back injury and associated pain I had to put away the skis. They are still buried somewhere in the closet.
I continued to work full time and study part time through the rest of my undergraduate study at York University and I graduated in 2006 after 7 years. At that time I was not sure if I wanted to pursue any further education but I realized that if I did not apply, I would never do it. I was accepted to a Masters of Science program at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
At the time when I started to study at McMaster, I bought my first place I could call my own. I moved to Burlington and I completely renovated the townhouse before selling it 4 years later.
I successfully defended my Master thesis. Yey!
I met my now husband Ian at work and soon after, we decided to move in together. We bought a condo in Mississauga and a couple days after we moved, we left for China.
In 2011 we visited Poland. It was my first trip back home after I arrived in Canada in 1996. We did a whirlwind tour and visited Warsaw, Gdańsk, Malbork, Częstochowa, Oświęcim, Wieliczka, Kraków and Zakopane in three weeks. We had a great time and it was nice to finally see family I have not had a chance to see for a very long time.
After coming back from Poland I was surprised to find out that Ian managed to buy me an engagement ring behind my back. He asked me to wait at the Amber Museum in Gdańsk because he forgot his phone. At that time he ran to the museum store and got me a ring with amber in it. I did not find out about it until I was presented with the ring. We got married a year later on September 1st, 2012.
We were unable to go for our honeymoon right after the wedding. We ended up postponing it to the next year when we went to Ireland and spent a week in Dublin. We loved the city and we enjoyed the numerous places with great food and beer. Throughout the week it did not rain at all and we managed to get sunburned in Dublin.
I took some courses at OCAD and enjoyed the photography course as well as the drawing course that gave me a lot of inspiration.
In 2013, I joined Mississauga Festival Choir. I had always wanted to do something like that but I was not confident enough to join an auditioned choir. Once I found out that MFC rehearses just walking distance from my house, I had no choice but to come out to the practices.
That year MFC recorded a Christmas CD "Gloria" and I was for the first time part of professional music recording. It was an unforgettable experience.
During the summer 2014 my husband and I joined the choir for their European tour. We loved touring and singing in Budapest, Vienna and Prague.
http://ewaromanowicz.blogspot.ca/2014/07/budapest-mississauga-festival-choir.html
I'm especially thankful to all people that I've met along the way and helped me become who I am today. Those current, lost and forgotten friends, all made their impact on my life. I especially wanted to thank anyone that helped me when I needed it.
The first 18 years and the last 18 years were filled with happiness, anger, helplessness, sadness and sorrow, and many other emotions that one can think of. Reflecting back made my realize that all the cheerful moments of my life made up for any sadness that I encountered in the last 36 years.
Cheers to the next 18 years and whatever they bring!
Ewa
I think my first comment got deleted so I hope I can express my thoughts again.
ReplyDeleteIt was wonderful to read this post, as we are still getting to know you. You have overcome many challenges and it has made you who you are today. Happy Birthday on this special day and thank you for sharing so much. May you have many more experiences to share and may they all be good ones. I am proud to call myself your mother-in-law and I am so glad that you and Ian found each other.