User Story

By Michelle Ramos

Living in a tropical country, we always dreamed of seeing and feeling winter. We wondered how nice it would be to live in a country with 4 seasons, not just rain and summer.

Then I got the chance to work here in Edmonton. I heard that Edmonton, Alberta has one of the coldest and longest winters, which is approximately half of the year. In my mind, that's absurd! Impossible! One more thing is that the day is long and the sun still shines up until 10 PM. Again, in my mind, "Oh these people are exaggerating things!"

So, I came to Edmonton. From the window of the airplane, I saw a snow-capped mountain. Oh! What a wonderful sight! I didn't get to find out what mountain it is but I captured that moment. And when we stepped out of the airplane we were greeted by our employer. His daughter told me when she saw my jacket, "Oh, it's not that cold outside." Of course, I was already preparing myself for the worst climate.

As we stepped out of that door, a cold breeze swept by us. Oh wow! So it's not that cold here for these people? I wonder how cold winter will be. But then, it's just spring.

While they drove us to our apartment, wide-eyed, we were seeing Canada for the first time!

I can't believe that I am actually here. How long I have been dreaming of coming to Canada. The long wait is over and I am actually here! The wide streets, the quiet neighbourhoods, the houses that are almost alike and painted mostly with earthy tones. It seems every house is new, the spacing of their houses so evenly distributed, the clean streets and yards, the smell of the grass, and no traffic and horns to be heard. It’s incredible! Everything is new! And I am excited to explore more than what I’ve seen at that moment.

Months pass by, adjusting to new culture, new house, new friends, new housemates, new work, new directions, and learning bus schedules. Discovering Edmonton Public Library which is really helpful to newcomers when you don't know anyone and feel lonely. You could just block your loneliness for hours and indulge in books. But then, I was getting excited waiting for winter. I heard people complaining that winter is coming. I don't want to counteract their reactions, but I my emotions were growing tense waiting for winter to come.

One day my friend called me; he was telling me to go look out the window. I told him, “I'm taking a shower.” And he said, "You need to go out now!" Then I went to look out the window, "Oh my gosh! Its winter!!!!! My first winter ever!" What a beautiful sight to see. I only see this thing in movies and now, I could actually see them with my own eyes. It's like feather balls, like cotton. I went out to feel it. Oh this is so much better than rain. I'm not getting wet; I'm still dry. Just like having few drops at a time. I could still stand outside with white dust on my hair, on my clothes, on my face, on my hands. I was amazed to see how God really creates a beautiful world to live in. I saw the snow in each flake. It was beautiful! Amazing how He created the snow with a crystal spider-like form. What was God thinking?! Why does he need to create this kind of form when he could only create just white plain balls as snow? Oh, how lucky these people are that they could experience winter and the other seasons. They don't know how many of us were dreaming of winter.

Now, I was stepping on the snow like cotton-candy, they're drifting away one by one. It was a dream come true.