Mr. Kim came to Canada; he had dreams; did he realize them?

 Joseph H Chung (정희수), Ph.D.

Professor of economics Quebec State University in Montreal (UQAM)

(지난 호에 이어)

One sunny day of June, Mr. Kim invited her to take a walk in a nearby park. Mr. Kim had though that time came to tell his wife about his plan.

"Nancy Omma (mother), you may have suspected about my idea of immigrating, but I like to know your view"

"Yobo (darling), I knew it all along, but I did not dare intervene. I am glad that you have decided to go to Canada. I agree!"

The next people to be convinced were his children. One day, Mr. Kim took his children to a nice Chinese restaurant. The children were excited to be able to eat their favorite dish, Zazangmyun.

The dinner was over, the crucial moment came. But Kim was not sure what to tell his children.

"Look, children, would you like to go to Canada?"

"Yoopie! Yes Dad! We would love it!" Shouted the children.

"When and for how long Dad and Mom?" asked the children.

That was it. Mr. Kim had to tell the truth.

"Children, we will go to Canada as immigrants."

The children were surprised and their reaction was not cooperative.

"I don’t like it. I will lose all friends. No, I will not go! I will stay with my grandparents!" cried Nancy.

"Dad, I understand your decision. But do you think that I will be able to make friends over there?, asked Paul.

Mr. Kim did not know what to say. But, he declared with authority "Yes my son, you can!"

I took some time that Nancy finally agreed to come along.

Mr. Kim had to ask the permission of his own parents. His mother agreed because she understood why his son has decided to immigrate. On the other hand, his father, retired college professor encouraged his son to go to Canada.

The last group of people Mr. Kim wanted to consult were his close friends. They organized a dinner in one of the best Korean food restaurants. It was a touching events, because they knew that they would not know when they could meet again. However, all envied Mr. Kim. They too wanted to immigrate to Canada.

"We wish happy immigration of Kim Sung-ho to Canada!" It was his friends' last wish which Mr. Kim cherished.

Mr. Kim left for Canada

It was middle of July 1977 when Kim and his family took a plane and left Kimpo airport and let the plane to carry away their dream.

The plane was full. The plane was to take Kim’s family to Tokyo, where they would take bigger plane of Japanese Airline. The Japanese plane was to take them to Vancouver where they were to take Air Canada to Montreal.

The flight was short; they arrived safely at Tokyo and they took a bigger Japanese plane. The plane looked more modern, more powerful and more comfortable. Once they settled in their designated seats and put their things safely in the self above the seats, Kim could observe the passengers.

Many of the passengers seemed to be immigrants. Very few of them looked joyful; Kim could see dark clouds of fear and worries in their eyes and faces. Yet, they showed strong determination as if they were ready to overcome any challenge waiting for them in the future. Some of them looked even sad. Kim thought that it was normal for the passengers to behave the way they did, because they were giving up so many things due to immigration.

Immigration means a profound change in life. It means leaving one’s country; it means departing from old friends; it means no more occasional gathering with old friends and spend hours of gossip; it means long separation from the hills, trees, brooks, birds singing and white clouds familiar to them.

It means that one can no longer appreciate the beauty of Korean four seasons. It means no more friends to make jokes about their high school teachers, the way girls dressed and crazy parties. It is indeed tough to separate from one’s past.

But immigration gives new hope. Korea was very poor; still, many had to be content with two meals a day. Korea was constant threat from North; one had to accept the violation of human right in the name of national security.

Korea was just coming out of absolute poverty; the Korea economy was just beginning to take off the ground. Indeed, for many, immigration was a solution; but many could not do so for lack of qualification. In a way, those who were on the plane were privileged people; at least they were going toward new opportunities.

They were in the economy class, but quite comfortable. Kim and his wife Sookja took two seats by the window; the two children took seats just behind their parents’. It was the first time Kim’s wife and children took plane; he himself once went to Hong Kong on business. Nancy who had shown fear during the flight from Kimpo to Tokyo seemed now to be all right.

Paul looked a little preoccupied with something; he did not say very much. Kim thought that he was thinking about his school class mates or school life in Montreal. The plane was approaching Vancouver.

“Look, Daddy, the big mountains!” said Nancy with excited voice.

Kim was really impressed with the beauty and the majestic Rocky Mountains with snow covered top. He could see the well balanced skyline of the Vancouver city.

The plane touched smoothly the landing lane and taxied into the terminal of Vancouver. Ten-hour flight from Tokyo was over. And they were on the Canadian soil.

Kim had a confused feeling. On the one hand, he was very much excited to find himself with his family in the country he chose as his second country and, on the other hand, he felt uptight in his stomach.

He felt heavy load on his shoulders; he was realizing how heavy was his responsibility to insure the wellbeing of his wife and his children.

With this mixed feeling, he followed the crowd toward the custom office. The custom officers were professional and polite, they were different from Korean government officials who were very authoritarian and have a tendency to look down the ordinary people.

Four of them approached the custom lady who examined carefully their passports and paper and said: “Welcome to Canada! I wish you happiness here!” (다음 호에 계속)

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