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It seems to be an ongoing trend these days: Americans moving to Canada and Canadians moving to the U.S.
After living in Atlanta for almost two years, I naively thought I would never meet another Canadian, let alone a Torontonian. But I have noticed that the population of Canadians in Atlanta is growing in leaps and bounds. Sometimes, I wonder why. I mean, why would anyone want to leave the Great White North? I know my reasons were family-related; it was more of a push-coming-to-push situation.
I have lived in Toronto for more than ten years and am homesick every day. The States simply don’t cut it for me compared to Toronto. I make due, but I always reminisce about days past and all the wonderful people I’ve met and left back home.
Moving to Atlanta, I can honestly say, scared me at first. Then I learned to like it. Atlanta has grown on me for many reasons: the warm temperatures, the hospitality of its people, and all the landmarks, museums and tasty restaurants that I have explored. With all of this, I still find myself missing Toronto every day like an old lover, daydreaming of the subway rides, the walks down Yonge Street, going to the lake, and the list goes on. Lately, I have also missed freedoms, free healthcare, having a government that actually believes in democracy, and population diversity.
When I first arrived in Atlanta, the first thing I did was to try to find all things Canadian. While searching the net, I came across a Canadian expat group. “Wow!” I thought. “This is great!”
The Expat Group meets several times a month. The group consists of many different kinds of people: students, businessmen/women and some married couples. Many of the Canadians I talked to in the Expat group and many that I have met outside of the group, (the majority hailing from Toronto and surrounding areas), all agree that they are homesick. They were all here for various reasons: job transfers, promotions, family, the most common being marriage to a U.S. citizen. I’ve also met others who graduated from top Canadian schools and lacked quality employment while living in Canada. There were a few who simply felt that life would only be better for them if they moved to the States. I guess leaving everything and sometimes everyone you know can leave you in a state of shock. You’re bound to get over it. You have to once you settle into your new home. That is if you decide to make your stay in the U.S. permanent.
I will always remember those famous lines from The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy proclaimed, “There is no place like home.” Being away here in Atlanta has taught me that Toronto is my home, even with the snowstorms and the crowded subways.
Until the moving day arrived in 2008, I will keep chanting those famous words: " There’s no place like home.”
