Greetings to you my dear hivers, I've been away for a couple of weeks, getting busy with the adjustments to my new surroundings and school. For today's content, I will be sharing with you my journey from the Philippines to Canada.
I did all I needed to do to be eligible to apply as a student in Canada. I was feeling nervous and excited while processing my papers, hoping I would get approval because I was denied the last time I applied.
My aunt and I went to Nuestra Señora de Regla Parish in Lapu-Lapu City to light a candle and pray that we may have what we've been praying for. We have to ride the ferry boat. Although they had life jackets on the boat, I was a little anxious because it was my first time riding the ferry boat and it was windy that day. I can't swim.
We had to ride it again to get back to the city, but the waves were huge and unavoidable, and when we came to a stop in the middle of the sea, my aunt teased me that we might have to swim because the boat couldn't go any further. Thankfully, it started again, so I felt better. For the first time, it was nice.
I was finally permitted to travel to Canada after waiting for several months. I was ecstatic and happy after hearing the news. We returned to every church we had been to when I had been praying for results, and we lit candles as a sign of our gratitude and appreciation for getting such good results.
Since I only have a small group of friends, it was easy for me to meet up with them before I left for Canada. We went out to eat and chatted while making fun memories because it would be a while before we would see each other in person again, but we could now make video calls.
I also visited a doctor to make sure I was healthy enough to travel. At this point, I began to feel anxious about traveling alone for the first time. When we were counting down the days until I left the country, my grandmother went through something that made me even more concerned about how things would turn out. Thankfully, she is no longer in serious condition. Despite this, she is not improving as quickly as we would have liked.
As we pulled up to the airport, I was anxious and apprehensive. I was trying hard not to cry, and I managed to control my emotions. While I was waiting for my time to get inside the airport, my family and friends arrived. We were just chatting about anything when I started to worry about them again and felt the urge to cry because it would be some time before we could see each other in person and give each other hugs.
I told them I was going inside because I didn't want to spend too much time with them outside. I worked so hard to contain my tears as I gave them all hugs as we said our goodbyes, and I succeeded! Although my throat hurt, like when you're about to cry but you stop yourself. I checked in, paid my travel tax, and completed my e-travel paperwork.
After all that, I was shaking with anxiety as I made my way to immigration, worried that I wouldn't be able to answer if they asked me a question. Thankfully, everything went well.
When I first noticed the airplanes outside my gate while waiting to board, I began to get excited about my upcoming, exciting journey. My stomach started to churn, and my heart began to flutter as I made my way to the plane's door. As I sat down on my seat, which I was very happy about because it's an aisle seat and I don't have to worry about getting up, I said to myself, THIS IS THE START OF MY NEW JOURNEY; GOODBYE FOR NOW, MY HOME COUNTRY.
My first flight was four and a half hours long, and I had a layover in Korea for three hours. I was thrilled because I love Korean stuff and movies and my plane was Korean Air, so even though I was only in the airport, Korea was still Korea. I was supposed to be the only person seated in the aisle row, but two boys moved into the two seats to my right. They were both Koreans, younger than me, and incredibly polite throughout the entire flight.
At 3 AM, breakfast was served. I was surprised, but I ate anyway—how could you say no to food?—and it hurt my stomach for the rest of the flight. When we landed in Korea, I was happy and eager to see the country. As I was hurrying toward my next flight, I noticed everything that was written in Korean, so I made an effort to read it all. In addition to being excited, I wasn't feeling well because I had a stomachache.
They had an incredibly large and well-kept airport, and it took me 30 minutes to find my gate there. Every set of seats has a place to charge your devices, both wirelessly and with wires, which is nice because it means you won't have to worry about them running out of battery while you're waiting. I was simply admiring what I was seeing outside.
My next flight was a 13-hour, 20-minute trip to Toronto. I decided to just watch a movie because I couldn't move around much without disturbing the two seniors next to me. Yes, guys, it's still an aisle seat, so I won't have to worry about using the restroom. And because the flight was so long, I slept for two hours before watching a movie again, falling asleep again, eating, and repeating the process. It was exactly that way. But my stomach continued to hurt the entire time I was seated.
Our lunch, a chicken salad with bread, yogurt, sliced fruit, and water, was on the left. The sandwich and snack, a chicken bulgogi rice ball, were on the right. It was delicious, and I'm glad I gave their bulgogi a try. Even though I was incredibly tempted to accept an offer to go to dinner, I declined because I was worried that eating too much would cause my stomach to explode. It was also a long flight, and I was already in pain.
I kept checking where we were—are we almost there?—and how many hours we would have to wait until we landed because my stomach was going crazy.
After landing, I immediately went to get my luggage, but sadly, as I struggled to lift one of them with two hands because they were so heavy, I broke the side handle. Fortunately, I had help, and my other luggage was not harmed. Then I went to immigration and then went to drop off my luggage and was instructed to take the train to get to my terminal. At this point, I was like, "Oooh, train," as I had never been on a train before.
The funny thing is, I got lost trying to find the train because the place was so big and I was moving around like a baby. After a few minutes of back-and-forth walking while looking for the signs, I found it. I guess I was too exhausted because I couldn't even see properly as I kept walking past the escalator to the train. My next challenge was trying to find my gate because it wasn't specified on my boarding pass, it was just a letter. I went to find and look at their boards where flights were listed to find my gate, and when I did, I went straight to look for it. However, some things are just confusing because some signs are lacking and only contain French phrases, and the place itself is huge. However, I was able to find my gate and began to feel cold while I waited, possibly because I was unwell.
Although this was only a one-hour flight, I was surprised to see how much smaller the plane was than the other two I had ridden. My favorite out of all of them is the window seat. Despite my stomach's best efforts to ruin the moment, it was still enjoyable because I could see the scenery. A pretzel was offered to me as a snack, but I once again turned it down due to a stomachache. While enjoying the Canadian landscapes below and the clouds that were directly overhead, I was also desperately hoping for the plane to land at this point because of my stomach.
When we landed in Sudbury, my aunt, younger brother, and cousin picked me up at the airport. My aunt hugged me right away after I entered. A small airport, but one that was very clean.
We patiently awaited the arrival of my luggage, but unfortunately, only one bag—the one containing all of my personal belongings—came with me. Before going to my aunt's place, we filed a report, and we were told it would arrive within 24 hours. However, three weeks have passed, and we have heard nothing.
We picked up my aunt's food orders from her friend en route. We had Filipino dishes like sisig and lumpia, as well as my favorite cake—strawberry.
Throughout my entire trip, I liked the feeling of the plane taking off than the feeling of the plane landing. I also enjoyed looking for my gates and letting my eyes wander around the large airports when I was unsure of where to go. While this was stressful at the time, it was one of my favorite parts.
On my first solo trip, a lot of things happened. It was not a perfect trip in the sense that I had envisioned it, but it was memorable, and I'll always treasure the memory of going somewhere by myself. As I begin my new journey in Canada, I will make every effort to complete my studies here and gain some experience that I can apply to my future career. I thank all the people who helped me achieve my dream.
What do you think? Comment down below! Thank you for stopping by. See you in my next post.
Some photos were edited using Canva
About The Author
Melria is a book lover and a storyteller. She loves to explore various things beyond her limits. If you like her content you may drop a comment, upvote, and reblog her post.