Nicole

=Nicole=

Interview with Nicole
media type="custom" key="8171420"

Geography/Biography
Canada, year long, is much colder than the United States, which means they have a lot more snow. Canada is surrounded by many bodies of water including the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Hudson Bay, and the Great Lakes. Canada was ruled by France until 1763 until they won their independence. They became a self-governing dominion in 1867. In Canada, they speak English as well as French. Nicole can speak English and French. The population of Canada in 33,759,742.

Nicole previously lived in the town of Montreal, city of Quebec, and country of Canada. She lived in Canada for all of her life, but moved in 1999. She was thirty-five years old when she drove to Ohio with her three year old son and her husband. She found a house in Ohio three months before she moved and sold her house in Canada one week after she moved. When she moved she left most of her relatives behind including her two sisters and her mother and father. One thing from Canada that she missed the most was the food. Nicole said that the food there was more of French food than anything else.

Creative Writing Piece
= The Move From Canada = // by Mitchel Hairston //

It was mid-day when I was putting the last things in the car. The temperature must have been ten degrees with snow, but that is the case every winter in Canada. So far, this has been the most mournful day of my life. I just can’t believe that I am leaving my parents and sisters, but I know that I have to do this.

“Nicole, did you get the booster seat for your son?” mom asked.

“Yes mother, I already told you ten times,” I said. My mother walked away. I started to put Andrew in his booster seat when I hear my father talking behind me.

“Nicole, your mother was just making sure. You know how your mother feels about her first grandson moving fourteen hours away,” dad said.

“I know. I know,” I said as mom walked back with tears in her eyes. “Aww mom. I’m sorry,” I feel so bad for making her cry. She has been so emotional since we first found out that we were going to have to move to Ohio.

“Come on. We have to get on the road. We are running late,” my husband says.

“Alright, bye mom. Bye dad. Love you guys,” I said.

“Alright sweetie. Bye and love you too,” mom said.

“Love you Nicole and be careful on those icy roads, ok?” my father said.

“Alright,” I say. As I started to walk to the car, all that I can think about right now is not to cry, but I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I ran back to my mom and dad and gave them both hugs. My mom and I start crying as my dad is comforting both of us. As I pull myself together, I start to let go of the hug and head to the car. I remember waving one last good-bye as we headed off toward the interstate. Driving down the interstate, I looked around at all the snowy white trees and my husband, in the passenger seat, sleeping and my son playing with his toy. After hours of driving, we reached the border. I know this because I saw a huge American flag on a pole and traffic. I woke up my husband.

“What? What? Oh, we are at the border. Where are our passports?” he asked.

“They are in the white bag next to my purse,” I said as he looked around the car for it.

“Oh, here they are. There is mine. There is yours. And there is Andrew’s. Alright we are all set,” he said.

“O.K. good. I was worried that they would get lost and we wouldn’t be allowed into the United States,” I said.

“So how long do you think it will be until we get there? I have to go to the bathroom,” he said.

“Probably a long time because of all the traffic,” I said with a big yawn.

“Do you want me to drive?” my husband asked.

“No, I think I am fine,” I replied

“Are you sure?”

“Actually I could use a nap.” I pulled the car to the side of the road and we switched seats. As soon as I sat down, I fell asleep.

Later my husband woke me up and I wondered why he woke me up, but I then notice that it’s our turn to enter the United States. There were two lanes up ahead that cars go to after they talk to the policeman. One lane went toward a big building and the other lane just continued straight ahead. My husband started to head toward the policeman.

“Good morning. Can I have your passport and immigration forms?” the policeman said.

“Yes, here you go,” my husband says.

“Alright,” He pauses for a while. “O.K., go to that lane please,” he said, pointing to the lane that goes straight ahead.

“Is that it?” my husband asked.

“Yes,” the policeman said.

We drove off, down the interstate in the United States. Andrew was dead asleep and within five minutes so was I. I woke up to the noise of honking everywhere. I guessed we were in a city, but in what state?

“Where are we?” I ask my husband.

“We are in Pennsylvania, about to go into West Virginia,” he replied

“Oh. What time is it?”

“It’s about six o’clock. I was about to wake you up to ask where you want to eat.”

“I doesn’t really matter. Let’s just go to McDonalds so Andrew can have some chicken nuggets,” I said

“Alright,” he said

We got off an exit to go to McDonalds. When we step out of the car we noticed someone. We walked up to the door at the same time and he opens the door and lets my husband, Andrew, and I go in first. I thought to myself, well that’s weird. Nobody in Montreal ever does that. Everybody is always rude in Montreal. When we got in line and the man walks in the bathroom I start to ask my husband about the man opening the door.

“Honey, do you know him or ever seen him before?” I ask.

“No. I think he was just being polite. I have noticed that on the road, too. People don’t ever cut me off or honk at me. I guess people are just nicer in America,” he said.

“Oh,” I replied

After we eat and get back on the road, the GPS says that we have about three hours left. I realized what my husband said at McDonalds was true. Everybody stayed in their own lane and going six miles over the speed limit. Hours later, we get off an exit.

“Are we almost to our new house?” I asked.

“Yes. We just have to make a right and then another right and then another left,” my husband replied.

“Did you hear that Andrew, we are almost home,” I exclaimed.

“Yah!” he said excitedly.

We made all the turns and pulled into the driveway. It looks the exact same as when we last saw the house as when we were looking to buy a house. Andrew ran into the house and so did I, while my husband took the luggage in. This house will be perfect, I think to myself.

Transcript
Mitchel: Hello

Nicole: Hello

Mitchel: So, what was the name of your country?

Nicole: I am from Canada, but the province is Quebec, and the city is Montreal.

Mitchel: What things did you bring with you when you came here?

Nicole: We basically brought all the furniture that we had and all of our souveniers and clothing and we had a moving van and packing was not too bad because the company had paid for all the packing (laughing) so it was a good transition when we came here.

Mitchel: Did you have any problems with moving any of your furniture here?

Nicole: Nope. We were kind of scared that things would get bumped or nicked, but nope our movers did a very good job and we got all of our furniture in good condition.

Mitchel: Why did you come to America?

Nicole: I came to America because my husband got a job opportunity and it was the same company that he worked with in Canada, but they got a job offering here in America so we decided after thinking and praying we decided to come here and make a move.

Mitchel: Did you feel any pressure from family members back home?

Nicole: Ya, they wanted us to stay because my son was just three and it was the first grandchild in the family so the grandparents didn’t want us to move for them and they would miss us and if we go back it would be fourteen hours of driving so it’s quite of a long distance so they were kind of sad, they didn’t want us to move.

Mitchel: Do you miss anything from Quebec?

Nicole: I miss a lot of the certain foods that I can’t find here in the stores, but I discovered not long ago that there a store named Jungle Jim's close to Cincinnati so I found a few things that we find in Montreal and some of the foods that we were used to aren’t here in the restaurants and that’s the hardest part (laughing).

Mitchel: What would be the main difference in foods here than Canada?

Nicole: In Montreal the foods there are kind of similar to Paris. There is more French food. Also, it is multi-cultural, so there are a lot of different restaurants from different countries. Less frying stuff and more natural and more healthier.

Mitchel: Would you ever move back to Canada?

Nicole: If I have to move back it would be because of family issues, but I may go back to see my parents. Otherwise the United States is good for us and we feel comfortable here and it’s a good way of living and (pauses) I am very blessed to be here.

Mitchel: What could have been done to keep you in Canada?

Nicole: If my husband would have found another job down there (laughing) as much interesting that the one he was offered here maybe we would have stayed there, but Indiana was a good move for us it was an adventure at first because we have the country for work. It was a leap of faith (laughing).

Mitchel: What was one thing that is better in this country and vise/versa?

Nicole: Number one is Medical (laughing). We don’t have to wait twelve hours in the emergency room. That and I find that the people here are sociable and nicer. They also care more. When we go back to Montreal, we see the difference. When we are on the street driving the car or the grocery stores people will not hold the door for you. When you are on the street driving, people are going to honk or cut you. They don’t have as good manners.

Mitchel: How long did you adjust to life in the U.S.?

Nicole: It was very easy (laughing). It was very easy because people were very welcoming and as soon as we came here our neighbors came to greet us right away and offered food and they just made us feel very welcomed and asked us if we needed anything. It was just a very good experience.

Mitchel: Was there a language barrier when you came here?

Nicole: I had learned English at school, but I would speak English in Montreal because it was a bilingual. The fact that I was coming here I knew that I couldn’t speak French to people which is kind of harder. In Montreal at least people know the two languages and if you talk to someone and can’t find the right word they’ll know the word if you are saying it in French. Here that’s what I find harder because I need to think twice of what I want to say and sometimes what comes out is not what I want to say. It is a bit of a barrier, but it is much better than it was.

Mitchel: When you said you learned English in school what school were you at?

Nicole: In elementary school. In second grade I started.

Mitchel: Was it easy learning English?

Nicole: Ya, because the grammar was quite different than French. French was harder than English and the transition was easier.

Mitchel: Where you ever discriminated or denied anything because you are an immigrant?

Nicole: Nope. At first, when we moved here, we didn’t have our green cards so we couldn’t work, but several months after I was given that so I would say that would be a barrier. I was not going to work; I was going to stay home with my children. That worked out O.K.

Mitchel: Did you already find this house when you came here?

Nicole: We started our search three months prier. We came down a few times and had a real estate agent that showed us different parts of Beavercreek. We went to Springfield and Huber Heights I believe and we made our choice in Beavercreek because it was similar to what we were used to in Montreal and we really like the area here. It took us three or four visits for us to come here. Between the time we started to look and moving here was about three months. It went quite fast and we sold our house fast, in one week in Canada so that helped (laughing).

Mitchel: Did you receive an education in the U.S. when you arrived here?

Nicole: No. I didn’t go to school here.

Mitchel: What did you like better about Canada than here?

Nicole: I liked the fact that my family was there, but the looks of Montreal were very European looking. Big city and I liked that because I used to work downtown Montreal so I was used to the fast pace of things and when I arrived here it was kind of very slow so that for me was a bit hard to get in the groove.

Mitchel: Was it colder in Canada than here?

Nicole: Oh yah (laughing). We had a lot more snow and which I liked it because I like all winter sports, but here I find it a bit hard because I used to just take my ice skates and go at the park and go ice-skating you know whatever I wanted. Here you need to go to certain spots. We had more snow; several feet. A lot more to shovel and weather was in the minus twenties for at least the month and it was hard. Here the weather is much better.

Mitchel: Do you like the weather here better?

Nicole: Ya, I like it better here. The winters don’t seem as long. If it snows it’s just a little bit, but what I found funny was that as soon as there is an inch of snow then kids have snow days and it was just funny that back home we had a foot or two of snow and I had to go to work or I had to go to school. It wasn’t an issue; we were more equipped with more trucks that would clean the snow.

Mitchel: Did you live in any other part of the U.S.?

Nicole: No. Ohio is the first state that we moved to.

Mitchel: When you moved here and you said your husband stuck with his original job, did he have to get a green card?

Nicole: Yes. He had a working Visa to come here and then we had to apply to have a green card. That came right after and a few months later, so that with the green cards we can give us the opportunity to work here, but the fact to just have a green card and we are not citizens means that we can’t vote on anything, even for schools or to elect the president. So that’s one thing that’s not to good (laughing), but that would be nice to.

Mitchel: Do you plan to become a U.S. citizen?

Nicole: I think so.

Mitchel: When would you do that?

Nicole: When? After talking with my husband and family. We find that the United States is our home now. It should happen soon (laughing).

Mitchel: Has your husband stayed with the same job still?

Nicole: Same company. Ya. We had have different changes in the ten years and he travels a lot, but he enjoys it.

Mitchel: What does he do for his job?

Nicole: He is part of a company that does overhead cranes and he runs the circuits with it. Their main office is in Finland, so the travel is international.

Mitchel: Do you have your green card?

Nicole: Yes.

Mitchel: Do you plan on working at any time or are you right now?

Nicole: No. I am at home with the children. I have two children and one of them is now fourteen and that was the one that was three when we move here. So it’s like eleven years that we were here. He has a green card too. We had another child when we were here, the second year that we were here, so she is American. We have dual citizenship for her so she is kind of American and Canadian. She could go either way.

Mitchel: Do you ever plan on working?

Nicole: Maybe when they are older.

Mitchel: How old is your youngest child?

Nicole: Ten.

Mitchel: Are they girl or a boy?

Nicole: It’s a girl. I am trying to teach her French, but it’s kind of harder for her (laughing) or maybe I am too lazy. But my son understands French and he speaks it.

Mitchel: Did he speak it when he was three? Was that his original language?

Nicole: Yes. The first years that he was born I was speaking to him in French and my husband was speaking to him in English so that he knew both at an early age.

Mitchel: Do you any of your relatives in Canada speak English?

Nicole: Ya, they do. Some of them speak very well and some of them you can understand them, but the accent is worse than my (laughing).

Mitchel: Do any of your relatives plan on moving here since you moved here?

Nicole: We would like them to, but it entails a lot because if there is not really a company that would kind of hire you for you to come here it’s hard for the medical. They need to get insurance and it would be kind of hard for them to come here. It would be very expensive. It would be good for them to come here; I would like that (laughing then pauses), but they come visit us two to three times a year. We see them when they come here and then we go there a few times as well.

Mitchel: Do you go over there more often then they come here, since you have a green card here?

Nicole: No, it’s about equal. They come once during the summer time and well we go at Christmas time and in the summer and then they come in the summer and the fall.

Mitchel: Do they have to do any special because they are not U.S. citizens?

Nicole: They have to have a passport. Last year I think or the year before I think it was mandatory before you could just show your driver’s license or just your birth certificate, but now you need your passport to cross the border and when they come here they need to purchase special insurance, medical if they get sick. They need insurance that they bought in Canada before coming.Mitchel: Do any of them have a green card?

Nicole: No.

Mitchel: Why does your family have to purchase insurance when they come here?

Nicole: Because the rate here for medical if you get sick it’s very expensive and what the province of Quebec will pay is just a percent of what the cost will be so then they have to fill the gap of that and pay extra to be covering the extra. Let’s say for example my husband’s grandmother came and she is in her eighties; for two weeks she had to pay almost two thousand dollars just in case she gets sick. Then they would cover anything. They also had to have permission from their doctor that’s say that weren’t sick in the past year before they come here so that they won’t have an existing illness as if they knew they were sick before that said heart problem and then they come and visit here and they have a heart attack here they kind of knew that they were having problems. They have to be clear; no illnesses.

Mitchel: For a year?

Nicole: Ya.

Mitchel: From Canada to here is there any currency change?

Nicole: Ya. There is Canadian money. The dollar is almost equal, but the things that you purchase in Quebec are high in tax. There is a total of fifteen percent of tax. So if you want to purchase something down there you have to know that you have to add fifteen percent over whatever you are buying so in the end it is cheaper to buy stuff here. When my parents come over or visit they always wait and buy their clothes here or anything that they need they will buy it here except there has to be a certain time for you to purchase for a certain amount of money; like for forty-eight hours I think its three hundred dollars that you are allowed to bring back from here

Mitchel: Without the tax, which is cheaper?

Nicole: Here, still here. There is something here, for example, a video game that we wanted was twenty more dollars in Montreal than here plus tax, then you have to add the tax, but I am not too sure why there is tax. Even the food is more expensive there too. Overall here is cheaper (laughing).

Mitchel: With the money here being cheaper, did you have any money problems when you came here?

Nicole: No. It was good (laughing)

Mitchel: When you go back to Canada would you normally buy anything there since it is more expensive?

Nicole: If there is different things that I can’t find in the U.S. then I will buy it there and bring it back here, but if not, it’s not worth it. It is better to buy everything here.

Mitchel: Since the food is different there from here would you buy food there.

Nicole: We have to be careful because certain foods aren’t allowed to pass at custom they won’t let you bring some fruits or meats, if you’re driving there not as severe, but by plane you can’t bring anything. If you try to bring something they will take it from you and take you to jail if you lie about having it and it is serious. We thought they were kidding (laughing). If I could bring some food I would bring some back, but I learned how to make some of the food like the crapes that I like so much I learned how to make them and my family enjoys them and I can invite friends (laughing).

Mitchel: What are crapes?

Nicole: Crapes are like pancakes, but really thin and bigger. You can put anything in them. You can put ham and cheese or fruits with whipped cream or maple syrup.

Mitchel: Do you know any other foods besides the crapes that you know how to make?

Nicole: Ya (laughing). My husband’s family is Italian so we make a lot of Italian foods and some French foods and we mostly eat at the house because we find that there is not too many restaurants that we like that much. If there is something similar to Montreal, then we will go (Laughing)

Mitchel: Are there any stores here that have some of the food in Canada?

Nicole: There is Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati and the market. It is more expensive though. It’s okay. I have learned to live with different concessions (laughing). What I find different here is the fashion to. The way people dress. The way people dress in Montreal is more like a European style. They wear more of the designer and city fashion, but here it’s more relaxing. I guess it’s not a big city so (laughing).

Mitchel: Do you like the fashion there or here better?

Nicole: I can find some nice clothes here, but they are more expensive if I want to go for more of the designer style and look like I do in Montreal, but its ok.

Mitchel: So you haven’t been anywhere else in the United States?

Nicole: Oh ya. We have visited many places, but didn’t live in any other state. We just came back from South Carolina and Florida and Virginia and Washington and Maryland and Pennsylvania. When we drive down to Montreal we pass through Pennsylvania. Hawaii too.

Mitchel: When you go to different states do you notice anything different like the foods or clothing.

Nicole: If you go to a city they look more like Montreal, but in smaller cities it’s more relaxed.

Mitchel: When you go back to Canada do you where the same style of clothes here or do you wear the Canadian style?

Nicole: I usually bring the ones from here. There almost the same, there is not a big difference

Mitchel: Have your children ever been to Canada?

Nicole: Yes they go with us every year and they enjoy it. Just my daughter has a bit of a problem understanding French.

Mitchel: From what they know of Canada, do they like the culture here or there better?

Nicole: I think here because all of their friends are here and they are established here and if they didn’t have their family down there I don’t think they would go there.

Mitchel: I think that’s all I have for today.

Nicole: O.K.

Mitchel: Thank you

Nicole: It was a pleasure.

Analysis
I have learned in social studies many immigrants had problems coming into America, but my interviewee did not experience any of those problems except for being healthy. Immigrants have to have a doctor’s note stating that they haven’t been sick in the past year and if you weren’t you have to pay extra insurance and that is what Nicole had to do. The insurance was very expensive. For example she said, “They need to get insurance and it would be kind of hard for them to come here. It would be very expensive. For example my husband’s grandmother came and she is in her eighties; for two weeks she had to pay almost two thousand dollars just in case she gets sick and that is just for medical insurance.”I also have learned that some immigrants had trouble getting to America, but Nicole had just a fourteen-hour drive and then went to Ohio. Many problems that immigrants faced Nicole didn’t experience, but the emotions she went through were the same as almost every other immigrant. That is what I connected from social studies to my interviewee’s experience.