Johnys Week 10: Moving Countries

 


If you asked me 2 years ago where I would think I would be in life now, my answer would definitely be far from what it became. During the terrible covid year of 2020, my parents began having talks about leaving Canada. They both were truly tired of the lifestyle we had in Toronto and wanted a change. It was in the summer of 2021 when I found out that my parents decided to officially move to Florida. During my first reaction, I was honestly excited. Regardless of the fact that I was pretty happy with where my life was during my time in Toronto, the idea of a complete reset sounded amazing. However, I did not realize that a complete “reset,” is a lot harder than it seems and that there are a lot of obstacles that come with making the life-changing decision of moving countries. The biggest hardship that came with leaving was being far from my family, specifically my grandparents and cousins. I was fortunate enough to have one of my grandfathers come live here with us, but everyone else stayed back. Back then we had huge Shabbat dinners at our house with over 30-40 family members. Now we only get to have those when family visits; apart from that we have it with family friends which just isn’t the same. Also, I had not expected the school system to be this different from what I was used to.  When I first came, I was completely lost. It was a rough first few months for me because of the fact that I didn’t understand how the system worked and it took me a while to really get used to it. The hardest part that came with moving was something that I didn’t expect at all, but the feeling of being far from home. When we were just preparing to leave, I was in the mindset that I'm officially done with this country, I don’t want to be here anymore and it was time to start a new life. However, as I came back during the summer after not being there for a while, there was this strange feeling; a missing feeling. Personally, I don’t miss it at all and am thankful that I left, but for some reason, this feeling still exists in me today. Any time my family has discussions about the past, I get that feeling and at first, I was confused as to why my emotions were reacting this way when I really don’t miss it at all. I’ve understood that this is simply because I grew up there my whole life, and a part of me is always going to be in that city. Overall, I admit that there are so many things that come with leaving your hometown for a new start and it's not easy at all. However, if a change is what you need, moving is an excellent opportunity to reset your priorities and be able to pursue your dreams.

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