My Definition of Success
by Juanita Craig
The truth of the matter is, I often skip the
Success Stories part of the VEQ newsletter.
The reason being is that my presence here in
Québec, does not conform to my general
perception of what it means to be successful.
I have been fortunate in my life, in that, I
had been successful because of my belief in
the adage “you can achieve anything if you
put your mind to it.” However, shamefully
in some way, while I have been here in
Québec, I have focussed heavily on what is
not going well here and my struggles versus
the strength, hard work, determination,
persistence and commitment it has taken me to be here in the first place.
You see, my saga is this, I come from the Antipodes, in fact, there is nothing further
south on this planet except for Antarctica. Yes, I come from Middle Earth, New Zealand.
As far as I know, I am the only New Zealander in Québec City. As of a month ago, I
discovered that there are at least two other New Zealanders in the province of Québec. So,
as you can see, a fairly small representation of my kinfolk appear to live here. For the most
part, that would be okay, except for when the clutches of homesickness reaches out to
smother me. Given the location of my homeland, a weekend visit is not a viable option
(unless of course you intend to spend the whole weekend sitting on a plane flying there).
Even Mr Bell's wonderful invention is fruitless during the week, when you have to add 17
hours to the clock to estimate what time you are calling your loved ones. Let alone the fact
that phone companies here charge like wounded bulls to make International calls.
To make this sound more like Days of Our Lives, when I broke up with my Québecois
boyfriend(someone with whom I saw myself growing old) in November, just two weeks
shy of returning to New Zealand for a holiday, I became acutely aware of how isolated I am
over here. Isolated in the sense of, who do I turn to here when the proverbial hits the fan?
Are you crying yet? If not, quickly go and grab that box of tissues!
Strangely enough, several people came out of the woodwork and I realised that with
substantial time and investment in those relationships, I can have an amazing network of
friends over here too. For me, that is success.
Thankfully I do speak French, for that I am glad and it is one of the reasons I chose
to live here. So, if you hear about some crazy foreigner telling her life story to strangers on
the street, good bet it is probably me!
Being able to communicate what I want or just finding the words to express myself
in French is an achievement. Every time I walk away from talking to someone in French
and they have understood what I have said, it fills me with joy. I am absolutely delighted
when someone asks me if I come from Montreal. Yaye, the English accent is fading away
slowly, yet another victory.
My intention here is paint a picture of my perception of myself here and the sense of
a lack of success, albeit an unfair and inaccurate one. It has been over 16 months since I first
sent my qualifications to MELTS to be evaluated. I am a qualified, high school languages
teacher. Despite wanting to teach in high schools here and yes, pay taxes, as well as the
need here in Québec for native English teachers, I cannot get a job in the schools. My hands
and the School Boards' hands are tied, until MELTS come up with the goods. Part of my
frustration stems from being head hunted in New Zealand because of my qualifications,
experience and expertise and paid accordingly, to being a nobody and having to prove
myself and to show that my qualifications are legitimate and weren't found on the back of a
Rice Crispie’s box. Yet, I hold a job which I thoroughly enjoy and challenges me. Success.
I have dispelled the concerns of my boss, who originally didn't hire me because she
was worried that my students wouldn't understand me because of my Kiwi (New Zealand)
accent. Success. I have met so many interesting, entertaining and inspiring people through
this job who I take great delight in teaching. Success. I have an apartment to myself, close
to downtown and five minutes walk from my job. Success. I furnished my apartment from
scratch and repainted it before moving in. Success. I have learned how to dress for winter.
Success. Take into account that on average it is around +5-8 degrees celsius during winter
in New Zealand. I smile and greet strangers in the street in true Kiwi fashion, so
incorporating my culture into my new culture. Success. I know who my neighbours are
and I communicate regularly with them. Success. I have learned how to cook typical
Québecois dishes. Success. I am becoming more aware of what I need to do to integrate
well into the Québecois culture and the organisations out there that can help me to do that.
Success.
So, I don't know about you, but my definition of personal success has altered since I
have been here. For that reason, I am no longer waiting for the day that I have won a Noble
Peace Prize, become a millionaire, changed the world nor be enlightened with pearls of
wisdom to pass onto other immigrants here to speak about my (own personal) success.
Why? Because every moment of every day, that I am living here is proof of my success. It
would be so much easier for me to accept defeat, pack up my bags and head back to New
Zealand. However, I am not ready to hang up my gloves, because I don't feel that I have
given my best yet. My best is yet to come and how that looks I don't know, but I am really
excited to find that out.