The 'DAY'

Now I am officially a Canadian Citizen. On June 6, 2005, I and 109 others were sworn in by Judge Peter Vecchiarelli at the Federal court of Scarborough Town.

The ceremony wasn’t that lengthy. We were asked to line up and the welcoming committee received us by checking our landing papers and required us to relinquished our PR cards. Then we were seated according to our seat numbers. My number was 59. A song card identified our seat numbers. I was seated at the aisle. One by one the seats were filled. After all the 110 candidates were inside the courtroom, the presider let all the guests go in. There weren't many. About 2 rows of 15. So Os was seated near the front row.

The ceremony started when the judge stepped in the court. He looked like jolly old St. Nick rather than a judge. Being an immigrant himself, he gave us a nice analogy of what it is to become a citizen of Canada. He said that all of us in the room are like a cloth that is about to be sewn into a quilt. The thread on our cloths are the steps that we took to become someone who can contribute greatly to the country. Together when sewn, the cloth becomes a quilt. And the quilt represent the unity of the new Canadians.

After his short and sweet speech, we were sworn into oath. First in French then in English. I wanted to laugh when we started to read the oath in French. But I kept to myself. When the English oath started, everyone read aloud. It’s like a sigh of relief for everyone. Being able to read the oath is one thing. But reading it is French?!?!? Anyways, we were then called one by one to line up on the side and get our certificates after our names were called. We then shook hands with the judge as he congratulated us and handed us our citizenship certificate and our card. Then we went back to our seats. He again congratulated all of us and then we sang the national anthem O canada. Then we waited for a while before the judge came back and we took pictures with him. My camera went off course so I was able to have only one shot! But it's OK. :) The judge advised all of us to go home and celebrate and eat a piece of cake! He he

All I can say... it took a lot of moxie to be able to attain this stage. Reflecting the events before I set foot in Toronto 4 years ago, I don’t know how I did it. From leaving my home country and leaving my family behind, I accepted the challenge to embark into another horizon. I know I made the right choice. It’s a dream that is realized and materialized. Dreams do come true after all.