A New Country, A New Life, And New Beginnings: Moving To A New Country

Upon reading the excerpt, The Road Past Altamont, by Gabrielle Roy; I instantly discover myself reminiscing the past when my family and I were on the airplane heading to a foreign country. All I could feel during the plane ride to my uncertain future was nervousness and excitement all at once. Nervousness, because I do not know what the future holds for me, and excitement as I will experience a different chapter of my life. My mother had decided to immigrate to Canada in search for a better life as the quality of life in my homeland were not as good as people think and my mother desires for us to experience the best living conditions possible. Individuals know the fact that moving to a foreign country that they know almost nothing about is like taking a massive leap into the unknown and head towards a brand new beginning. That was the case for me. As I was young when we had to move, it was difficult for me to leave the place where I spent my childhood and leave my relatives and close friends behind. But what I knew for sure is that immigrating to Canada would be the best choice for me even though I am uncertain of what my future would be like in Canada. After the exhausting and long ride, the plane finally came to a full stop. We had finally arrived in Canada. I stepped off the plane and walked the path leading to my uncertain future. A New Country, A New Life, and New Beginnings.

In the excerpt, Gabrielle Roy indicates that the grandmother of the narrator does not want to move out of her village as “she was attached to it”, and that she frets about the likelihood of an uncertain future. The speaker’s grandfather is the total opposite of the speaker’s grandmother as the grandfather loved adventures and is willing to take risks. At first, I could relate to the grandmother because we were both worried about our uncertain futures. That was the reason that holds us back even though we knew we had to leave due to our circumstances, but could not because we were both anxious about what the future holds for us if we were to leave. When realization hits me, I knew that I had to be like the narrator’s grandfather, adventurous and excited. I had decided that choosing to move was the better option because I figured life is full of uncertainty and that sometimes I just have to learn how to live through it. As much as I would like it, life does not come with a road map that guides me to my destination, to my future.

My first couple years living in Canada was difficult for me because I was uncertain about what my future would be like. I remember the first day we landed here in Canada, my sister and I had to go to our new school and the vice-principal toured us around. I was already one week behind at school as we arrived in Canada mid-September, so various overwhelming thoughts had flooded my mind. I would say, it was not bad as I thought it would be. I had made friends and got to experience opportunities I could not get if I stayed in my homeland. I encountered downfalls and huge successes along the way until I come out the other end improving, changing, and continuously moving towards my genuine self. Uncertainty is indeed a part of everyone’s lives and it cannot be avoided. I had experienced it and I figured the best way to handle it is to learn the methods that help me live with it, without the accompanying anxiety. As I finished reading this excerpt, I look back and I know that squeezing our lives into a suitcase and leaving our native land was certainly one of the best decision that I could have possibly made. I learned that when I turned my life into a journey filled with uncertainty, I grow up in unexpected ways. I would say, how I dealt with the prospect of having the possibility of moving to Canada was not bad at all. I got to experience a new country, a new life, and new beginnings.