Going to Canada, Part 3

By Tess Guieb
INQUIRER.net
Posted date: May 19, 2009

Editor’s note: This forms part of a series on Tess Guieb’s personal journey moving her entire family to Canada. You can check out her earlier related stories, part 1 and part 2.

CANADA—After all the stressful days of packing and last-minute shopping, we were off to Canada. With our flight scheduled to leave at 11 a.m., we were at the airport before 9:30 in the morning.

I had some clothes packed on the carry-on suitcases just in case we may need to change as we were traveling with our 2-year-old daughter. When we lined up for the package check-in, some were overweight so my husband had to make the hasty repacking of our stuff right in front of the counter. When we finally went past immigration, we were informed that the flight was delayed due to engine problems. I thought the delay would only last a few hours but the wait took so long that most of the passengers were already arguing with the ground crew.

There was no way to get a booking for the same route in the next two weeks. We had no choice but to take our chances of getting a connecting flight in Hong Kong. With the assurance that airline staff there would take care of us, we finally left Manila at 8 p.m.

When we landed in Hong Kong at around 11 p.m., we were told we could not be billeted in a hotel as they were all fully booked because of an ongoing celebration. The only thing they could offer us was the VIP lounge, where we spent the night while they made arrangements for our connecting flights.

We put together a few couches to sleep on and were given some blankets to use. I had to ask the crew to pull out some of our checked-in luggage so we can get some clothes to change into. We were so tired we did not even have the strength to take a shower! At around 7 a.m. the following day, we were told that they had booked us a connecting flight but with a stopover in Japan. Since we were left with no other option, we agreed on the arrangements.

In Japan, it was another four-hour wait for us. It was a good thing my husband speaks fluent Nihongo so we had a bit of an advantage when we got there. My kids were all tired and the little one was getting cranky. When they saw some cup noodles in the kiosk they begged us to buy some because they did not like the food on the plane. What a scene! They sipped the soup with a straw. They all looked like homeless children being fed for the first time.

When we got on the plane, my youngest daughter started crying and became inconsolable. We cannot even get her to put her seat belt on. A fellow passenger, a Japanese guy, became irritated and rudely motioned her to stop. Being so exhausted myself, I got up and berated him and told him to just shut up. Despite the language barrier, he sure got the message loud and clear.

So finally we’re off to Canada! The kids enjoyed watching movies during the flight and hardly slept. When we landed at the airport, we made sure all our suitcases were accounted for. It was a good thing that despite the many transfers we had, nothing was missing. I made my kids watch over our stuff as I made my way to the immigration office. My husband and I were asked some questions by the officer and we all had our pictures taken for the permanent resident cards. I cannot imagine how we would all look like in the pictures, having gone through such a long and exhausting trip!

After going through immigration, I decided to call my godmother who was supposed to pick us up at the airport. Turned out they had to rearrange their schedule to meet us since they were expecting us a day earlier. It was a nice, sunny day when we arrived but we found the temperature at 10 degrees to be too cold. Looking out to the beautiful trees and flowers, the trip from the airport was nice. We could not contain the excitement we all felt.

We all thought our being stranded was over. Were we wrong! We had to stop by the house of my godmother’s friend because he needed to change cars with his son.

Finally, we were on our way to my aunt’s house. It was a good thing my godmother had brought food for us because we were all tired and famished. We exchanged pleasantries while we ate lunch. After they left, we unpacked some of our stuff and got some much deserved rest knowing that the following day was going to be a big day for us…a new beginning…a new life...a new home.