Who Am I ?
Welcome to Correr Es Mi Destino! I hope you enjoy reading, browsing and commenting. Get yourself a cup of tea (or coffee) and let me tell you who I am. I promise, I’ll keep it short.
I’m Juliette, aka Zhu. Yes, I’m aware of the fact that I’m not even remotely Chinese. I do speak Mandarin though, but it’s a long story.
Anyway… I’m French and I have been living full time in Canada’s national capital, Ottawa, since 2004. I first came in 2002 and lived between France and the other side of the Atlantic Ocean for a couple of years. In 2004, I got a Working Holiday Visa, and I applied for permanent residence in Canada in 2005… and it took only five months! I became a Canadian citizen on July 3rd, 2009 and now have both passports, French and Canadian.
Immigrating to Canada has been a very good experience so far. I experienced culture shock for the first few months but recovered quickly enough. Although I still don’t get how Canadians can walk around wearing only shorts and tee-shirts when it’s barely above 0ºC.
I have been working as a French teacher in Ottawa for almost four years. I always found it ironic I ended up teaching French after learning Chinese for 12 years…
I love travel and street photography. And I keep on thinking I should do something with my real passions, writing and photography… and traveling. I’m also a backpacker: once in a while, I just pack and go travel the world.
I chose to settle in Canada because I love this multicultural country, and because I wanted to belong somewhere — I had never felt I was meant to stay in France. Yet, I still have the urge to travel and discover the world. Was I made to settle somewhere? A part of me enjoy “normal life”: a job, a place to live, I city I now know well, friends, languages I master and a relatively steady income. But the other side of my brain just want to blow it all and pack. Pack and travel other continents, other oceans, sleep in long distance buses and trains and walk in a new city everyday.
Yeah, I’m not the easiest person to live with. I know.
Correr Es Mi Destino… isn’t it?
Zhu (珠）
Hi Zhu,
I have just discovered you blog as I’m willing to immigrate to Canada. You really did a nice job. I added you to my favorites !
Hey there,
:)
How come I didn’t come across your blog earlier!?!!!
I am myself kinda new immigrant, originally from Europe, but have spent the last 10 years living & working in Shanghai, so relocating to Canada gave me a HUGE culture shock. It’s been a year and I’m still not fully rooted in this culture.
And needless to say I sill feel more confident expressing myself in Mandarin rather than English. My partner is of Asian descent so he doesn’t mind me mixing up both languages, but when talking to others it sometimes can get pretty rough.
It’s not easy to find somebody here whom I can relate to, so finding your blog is just awesome!
Keep up the good job, and if you ever come to Vancouver, I’d love to meet you. (Hope I didn’t come across too creepy)
Cheers!
My dear friend Zhu,
I am propped up in bed with Susan and Smokey by my side, watching the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I am thinking of you , my Canadian friend, and supposing that you are watching this with us. I am very happy for you dear Zhu. You are living an adventure and are kind enough to share your experience with us. Let us pray for an exciting and successful Olympics. God bless you.
Your Friend from Oklahoma,
Bill
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