In one of her extremely lyrical novels, the French writer Anna Gavalda states that what matters is not the place where you are, but the state of your soul. Those who have tried to live or work abroad will understand what this is about. Although stories of cloudless foreign reality are usually eagerly retold, however, children understand that building life from scratch is not easy. A citizen of Zhytomyr Olha Zarudina, Certified Translator, Vice-President and Secretary of the Canadian International Club of Entrepreneurs, Director of Public Relations at the Hillcrest Community Center (Vancouver)

«When I firstly came to Canada, what could be difficulties, I didn’t think if I would be ready for them – I just went. I live in Vancouver now. It is a beautiful city, western Canada. It doesn’t get cold at all seasons. For three years in a row, Vancouver was the number one city for comfort. We have mountains and the ocean, everything blooms – just a botanical garden. We have a lot of Ukrainians»

«It was hard to get used to understanding personal space, which is extremely large. I do not know what this has to do with: it may be the largest country, distances, but you will not contact the person right away – you will not meet or call. You must first write a message: «When can I call?». A visit cannot be just that way, even if it’s close relatives. Even mom should be warned by a message: «We’ll come to you next week. Is it ok for you?» But in general, everyone is happy there and everyone is full. I think that differentiates Canada from America: there they look on emigrants as emigrants, and in Canada it doesn’t matter what your accent is or how you speak English. You will still be understood and will be helped. I like it a lot, and I think that openness and kindness are the result of the fact that many Ukrainians came there once. (Laughs) Such hospitality is probably from us»

«I live in a mosaic city: if I want to try Malaysian cuisine today – please buy coffee from Africa tomorrow – here it is, all right. But at the same time, it is the culture of different countries, and that, as we have, to come to someone to embrace, such is not enough. Everyone is there for themselves, and it is most felt when you are there alone»

«In any country, under any government, change should start with yourself. Dissatisfied with pay – change jobs, study, go to courses or find two or three jobs. To be honest, Ukrainians like to complain. When you have two to three jobs, you don’t even have time to think about it, not to complain. Yes, change takes a long time, but you can’t just sit around complaining about waiting for your life to be changed by someone else. People lack activity and motivation. Yes, you should not be afraid. If people have a worldview at the level of «still without me, everything will be resolved», we will have nothing to change»

«Man is responsible for his own life, his own destiny. And there I realized that if I worked at a regular job, I would never be able to afford to buy real estate where I live. So she went to study for a realtor, and did so at night. Everyone is there for themselves, there are no parents, godparents, and this is a huge plus»

«I do not want to say that we still have a post soviet approach somewhere, we do not want to combine this concept with Ukrainian society, but I see it. Nevertheless, little by little changes occur. Especially in young people who travel and see that somewhere in the world life can be different. They get acquainted with the stories of others – those who have gone, for example, in politics and whom they support. I have many acquaintances under the age of 30 who are ready to return to Ukraine. They understand that there are opportunities for them in Ukraine, they already have experience, and they really want to change their lives»

«I ran for the Vancouver City Council election, and no one had any questions. They all have equal opportunities, equal – who wants, then they go. Please join the party or become a self-nominee (there is a law there) – no questions asked. Fill in the application and all. I had a time when I needed to make more money and I worked on construction. And no extra attention just because I’m a woman. Of course, I did what I could and got equal pay for men with equal pay for everyone»

«There is a diversity of different cultures, because it is an expat country. However, if a woman is in a dangerous situation, she calls the 911 rescue service and knows exactly what the emergency will come and help. The important thing is that in Canada, violence cases are not silenced and they are not afraid to talk about it. They draw attention to the problem and it helps to solve it. There, women feel protected and sometimes even funny stories happen. The boy called the 911 Rescue Service and said he needed help with math. When asked if he understood where he was calling, he said, «Yes, I do. My mom told me that if I ever needed help, I would have to call 911. So you will not be ashamed of math and help me?»

«Canada is a country of active people, especially when it comes to the needs of the community, and there is something different about volunteering. A person who does not have volunteer experience will not enter a prestigious educational institution. Moreover, the experience of volunteering should not last one or two months, but four to five years. The volunteer experience is not just respected, I would say that it is literally out there. I quickly realized that engaging in an active community life is at least entertaining. Volunteering can be different. At the Board of Directors of the community center, I work on a volunteer basis and at the same time promote the interests of the community. As a volunteer I use my knowledge, skills and experience: I work as a translator at the NGO «I am back». We are collaborating with Daria Shevchuk, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. She has created a training program for psychologists who need to work on rehabilitation of ATO veterans in Ukrain»

«In cities in Canada, nearly every area has community-built centers at their own expense. They are different: one may have a swimming pool, another – a skating rink, there are after-school activities. For children who visit them, the fees for classes and sections are low. In Vancouver, I joined one of these centers and joined the board of directors responsible for public relations. There is a certain hierarchy in management: the center is subordinate to the Parks and Recreation Council, but may also be controlled by the City Hall. We, the volunteers, were not very satisfied with the situation of such separation of management functions. Since we do not receive money for work, then we do not have to take away powers and we can decide the issue of subordination ourselves. The situation that existed did not suit us, so we had to change it. Then we made the decision to nominate candidates to the local council, and from our Board of Directors four people ran for office»

«I also participated in the election campaign. It was fun, and I never thought I’d go into politics before. Everything was new to me, but I realized that I could do it … In Canada, the attitude of all candidates is the same, there is no prejudice. A person of any profession, gender, age can run for office if he or she is active in the community and wants to solve problems. When I came to Zhytomyr, my friends asked me where I had taken so much money to go into politics. This question seemed ridiculous to me, so why did I pay the obligatory payment – about one hundred dollars. These funds are returned to the candidate or candidates who did not pass the election. In my election campaign, I raised funds myself – «fundraised». Because I always positioned myself as Ukrainian, we made dumplings, cooked borsch, put on Ukrainian clothes and treated people. In fact, people came just to look, interested in the words «dumplings» and «borsch», but when they tried Ukrainian food, they were amazed (Laughs). That’s when we asked for support in the elections, and it was not difficult at all»

«For me, a great example of a woman in politics, especially in Canada, is Vice Prime Minister Christie Freeland. She speaks Ukrainian and teaches her children the languages, mentions her Ukrainian roots everywhere. There are many Ukrainians in Canada, and everyone knows about it. They know and respect our culture there, and the Museum of Canadian History has the largest exhibit – the current Ukrainian and St. Onuphrius Church»

«However, it is important to me that in Canada they understand what the Holodomor is and think that it is not repeated, that it is understood by all members of the community who were raised in different cultures. Usually, a huge Ukrainian community gathers in Canada for Independence Day. This year, together with our friends from Buchach and Kharkiv, we had an action where the boys roasted meat and treated themselves with bacon and treated people for free. Our goal was to collect signatures on a petition our community sent to the Government of the Province of British Columbia for the official recognition of the Holodomor as genocide against the Ukrainian people. The Ukrainian community has been working on this for 12 years, and finally this year a legislative act was adopted. And we are proud to have joined that»

«I was fortunate enough to meet Canada’s Minister of National Defense, Harzhit Singh Sajan, on New Year’s Eve. He was born in India but has lived in Canada since childhood. At the meeting, he noticed my Ukrainian and Canadian flag badge and asked if I was Ukrainian. Talk began and he told that his children know about the events of Ukrainian history, and at home, on the day we remember the victims of the Holodomor, they also put a candle in memory. Mr Sajan said he had even learned to cook borsch. It is very nice to see that Ukrainian culture, history is known and respected in the world»

«I am open to everything new. When it is difficult, I have to change something to make it easier. If there is a successful person with whom everything turns out, I immediately ask myself the question: «What makes me different from him?». It may be time or resources. In general, you need to compare yourself with yourself, not someone else … For a while, I was a lawyer’s assistant and had to work in the office from 9am to 5pm. At work, I couldn’t even answer my personal calls, and I was completely unhappy. I can’t stay in one place for a long time, so I just changed my activity. I did my best to keep the order in order for me and not for the order»

«I have a dream: I want my parents not to work, but to travel to the maximum. They have invested a lot in me and I try to thank them for everything. They are my best friends. This is my dream, which I turn into life»

«I go home once a year and always say,I go home! Not to Ukraine,but home! Wherever I am, everyone says, «Wow, you’re from Ukraine!»