Karen and her husband, Kobus Jordaan, currently live in British Columbia, Canada. They moved to Prince George in November 2012 after living in Frobisher, Saskatchewan for five and a half years.
Karen has some advice if you consider emigration to Canada. She shares their memories of emigration with Worldwide:
A matter of prayer
In the first case it must be a matter of prayer. If the Lord did not prepare your heart, it is difficult.
You must be prepared to be far from your loved ones, no matter how much you love and miss them. Unfortunately, this is the hardest part of the entire decision. But thanks to technology, one can keep in contact worldwide.
The climate shock
This all depends on where you plan to move; the climate can make or break you. We were offered an opportunity in Canada, so we didn’t even look around to decide where we would like to go. Moving from +30 to -27 within a week was a huge shock to the system. We have never seen snow in our lives, and here we got off the plane and everything was WHITE… And it didn’t stop… For at least six months of the year the snow is here to stay, sometimes metres deep. Here you usually have two sets of tires for your car: one for the winter and one for the summer. You need two types of liquid to wash your car’s windows: one type for summertime to get rid of the beetles’ gum, and the other for wintertime to prevent it from freezing immediately when it hits the window.
The culture shock
I believe it’s the same everywhere. No matter where you are – Australia, England, the USA or Canada – South Africans seek out and contact each other. Nothing can be more satisfying than visiting with true friends. They understand what you’re talking about, so you don’t have to explain who “Jan van der Merwe” is! I don’t have experience with other countries around the world, but we soon realised that Canadians’ sense of humour differs from ours. Although they are friendly and helpful, it was (and still is) difficult to make friends here. We were used to getting in the car right away and visit “Piet and San” for coffee; here, you must first make an appointment instead of just showing up.
Children are adaptable
The sooner you move them, the better I think. Although our children have easily adapted and made friends, they still have contact with their peers in South Africa after 11 years. Emigrant children also get teased and bullied a lot here. That happened especially on the school bus shortly after we came here. But our children were lucky; we quickly put the bullies in their place by reporting them to the principal, who treated our children mercifully. As they grew up, they also realised that many of the values found here are not what they learned from us. One can only stay on one’s knees, praying that the values we taught them will build their character.
Job opportunities
Here are many more jobs and a future for everyone. If you don’t have a job here, you don’t want to work. Whatever your heart’s desire, you can do it, and it’s made possible by the availability of abundant sources. There is a great demand for tradespeople, and you will always be assured of work if you are qualified in some trade. The older people retire and there are not enough younger ones to replace them.
Let’s be honest
Honestly: every country has its difficulties. You’ll never get a country where everything is 100% prosperous. In the economy and politics something is always brewing that will make people either happy or dissatisfied. It’s your choice: accept what you cannot change, and do something if you can make a difference.
Bloom where you are planted
Spread your fragrance wherever you go. We are blessed with the most wonderful friends here in Prince George. And when we arrived in Canada, we became part of a small community of South African families whom we still regard as our Canadian family. We visit them in Saskatchewan once a year, remember each other’s birthdays and chat as often as possible.
