Why Canada?

A gut feeling, the right place to be, destiny, coincidence, a leap of faith... All lines that could be used in my immigration to Canada, all lines that could be used in my coming here to Toronto.

I was looking at immigration since 2005 or so, study in Japan? Live in Australia? Go to Spain? The latest 2 common choices around Venezuelans, the first one because of my love for Japan, but Canada? hahaha, nah, thats too cold and I don't know anything about the country!

Around February 2006 my mom sees a newspaper ad for a Canadian immigration lawyer talking about the country, the process and her services and she goes "why don't you go and see?"... "umm... well, have nothing better to do that day, sure!" God's plan in process :)

So I go to the conference, and the moment she starts talking about Canada... wow... I.. start... crying... I admit it, I'm a cry baby, but come on! It just felt right! All the moments when I was a kid and wanted to buy a winter coat in Venezuela, or winter boots and my mom would go "where do you think you will use that?" clicked, me hating the all_year_warm clicked, this was the place I needed to go.

A week later I had a lawyer, and less than year and a half later I had a permanent resident visa. During all that year I read and studied Canada like crazy!!! Went to every single immigration forum I could find, and listened to Canadian radio stations online.

By fortune/chance/destiny the radio station I liked the most was Chum FM, a Toronto radio station; so a year of hearing about Toronto, the chances for the IT market, the english instead of french, the fact that is an amazing big city, all of them were in play for deciding Toronto would be my home.

Knowing no one here, being the first venezuelan blogger in Toronto, they were all part of the leap of faith, an experience I don't regret at all and absolutely love.

Zumba time!

I'm not a gym or sports person, I'm ok with them and enjoy watching some sports but I'm not a fan of practicing them xD

Having said that, I like to stay fit, and I need to exercise regularly for health reasons so I keep looking for the perfect exercise that I will love. Using the Bosu ball has been fun and I like it but is lonely doing it at home alone :) I like Yoga but haven't done it once in a proper yoga place, again I end up doing it at home (soon to change!), and then we have belly dancing that keeps calling me to try it out, and Zumba!

I love Zumba :) :) From the official Zumba site description it says "Zumba classes feature exotic rhythms set to high-energy Latin and international beats". Even though it changes from instructor to instructor, is basically exercising while doing dancing steps for salsa, cumbia, samba, bachata and merengue.

It wasn't easy to find places in Toronto for Zumba, but some gyms offer them, as well as the place I'm going: TorontoDanceSalsa. I really like this place, my instructor is an asian girl that moves really well, the dances and the music are fun and the prices are not bad!

Common Resume Blunders

I was checking out Linkedin and found this very interesting article of the 13 most common resume blunders people make.

Read and learn :) May help you if you are working on yours or trying to find a new job!

Three and a half years later

I'm here, three and a half years later and I think I'm very much used to the Canadian weather, I love the 4 seasons and the only thing that I still find a little weird is the drastic changes like the last storm we had this week, with hail falling on my car and the temperature at almost 40C :S

Back in Toronto life feels a little easier than in Mississauga, but all is relative, I'm sure if I had kids it would be another story... The reason I moved? People keep asking but just a few get a real answer, isn't it enough to know that is better for people that want a more dynamic style of life? :)

My mood goes and comes, and my blog shows it hehe, sometimes I write a few times a week, sometimes more than a week goes by without writing, but I'm still trying to find the right balance between what people want to read about, what I want to write, and the personal aspects of what I do. I thought I had that balance but somehow it seems like is not the right one right now and it may take a while until I find it.

In general I'm happy, I'm happy with my life in Canada and my friends, and everything that seems like an obstacle is just a bump on the way to teach me something and prepare me for the future. I still love this country and still feel like this is my country, I feel happy to be Venezuelan and will be really happy the day I can say I'm Venezuelan AND Canadian! :)

The meeting house, a different church!

I was raised catholic in Venezuela, but never with a close mind to other religions or atheists, everyone is entitled to believe in something and that something is not wrong just because is different to what I believe in.

The thing about my school catholic upbringing is that it was all about how God is going to punish me and how I HAD to do this and that, and not about the good things (at least they didn't concentrate on that), so I stopped going to church many years ago.

A few months back a friend invited me to a christian church, where things were a lot different, there is a pastor giving the service, no images, and the message was different, we all try to do the best we can and if we fall, we get up and try again.

I moved to Toronto and had to find a new church again, and this one is even more different than the other one hehe. I have been to this one twice already and love it!

I go to the movie theater, choose a seat and listen to the live band play songs, then I seat and listen to a short introduction by the local pastor, and read on the movie screen quotes from different places about today's subject, then a video clip from a movie, tv series or documentary comes on and next is the pastor talking from Oakville.

The message is great, the pastor is very easy to like, and you feel involved with the message and the people, you end up happy, maybe with a nice better view of things and, if you are like me, with the desire of coming back next week :) The local pastor talks again briefly and you go home.

Talking about their message and the way they think would be an every week post that I'm still not sure I will do, but if you are interested in any of what I just said, I encourage you to go to their site and find out more, is worth it!

Correction: The service from Oakville is not live, is a recording of last week's service there, so they are always a week ahead.