Replay with Agata Derda and Max Ceron

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Canada Welding Supply , your trusted welding supplier . Happy welding . Hello and welcome to another edition of the CWB Association podcast . My name is Max Suran and , as always , we are looking for the best representation out there for this beautiful welding community that we call here in Canada through the Canadian Welding Association .

Today I have a wonderful guest , agatha Derda , who's coming to us from here in Ontario , but we're going to discuss the winding journey of her career . Agatha , how are you doing today ?

There aren't many , but one thing that definitely I have from him and thanks to him , is that I am very handy Because when I grew up in Poland , we had nothing and I cannot say it was poverty , because basically it was communism . Everybody was , you know , on the same boat . People had nothing .

And to give you an example of this , like I remember when I was a kid and there was always shortage of toilet paper , right , and there was always shortage of toilet paper , right . So when stores got delivered toilet paper , people would go like 5 am line up in front of the store , right , you know all the toilet paper , whatever , yeah , how many they had .

It would go like that and then you would go home without it right , then you'd have to find out who got them . Yes , or actually no . There was a different solution , because there was only produced so much and only I don't know 30 people in the lineup got the thing and you went . If you missed it , you went home with nothing .

We used a newspaper , right .

So my father , because of this , was very resourceful and he always found a way to make something out of nothing and he sort of inspired me to be the same . So when I was a kid and I was invited to a party , a birthday party of course I didn't have money to get anything . There was not much to get . So I was making gifts for people , right , I was .

So I I started being handy and artistic very early in my life . And also I have a . I had an uncle , uh , that inspired me because he was the the one artist in the family . That , because you know , when you , when you don't have this example in your life , it's very hard for you to even think that , oh , I'm going to be an artist when I grow up .

But I did have this example . I had an uncle that was a wonderful artist . Of course , as a kid . I did not understand that he was also extremely poor Right , so I didn't think about the consequences of pursuing this type of career . Early on , I was like art and making something . This is my thing . I'm going to pursue this .

But I couldn't do it in Poland later too , because of the money issue and because of the prospects and because of all of this .

And when I mentioned to my lovely , beautiful , loving friends that I'm thinking of going abroad , they said , on , go , you're just going to go end up in a factory and you will . You know it's going to be hard , it's too risky , stay put in Poland , it will get better .

So I had to sort of I was on my own in this decision , right , and I had to sort of figure out like what's the least risky thing or what's the best potential sort of option for me to succeed Not to go back to Poland and say , oh , you were right , guys , this was a show .

So the simplest way was to move to a country that has English as a second or a primary language , and for those reasons there were only a few choices left in Europe . Right , I didn't want to go to UK because UK was at the time really saturated with Polish people already .

Because I had you know , my idea for this was like a sort of like long-term plan let's just move somewhere You're not planning on going home , exactly , exactly . So , like I'm going to move somewhere where they welcome me Right . Then I will start learning English by default because I have to .

I will have some money so I can pay someone for extra lessons Right . I will have some money so I can pay someone for extra lessons , right . When I improve and I have all of those ducks in a row , then maybe I can sign up and start studying . So this was my idea , and then when I finished studying , we'll see .

I just planned it for a few years and this is what happened . Right , I went to Arlen and started working in a shop as a cashier , and then I actually had this board for local news . This was a small village in the middle of Ireland .

So we hit this board for local news , or you know what people had , uh , were looking for whatever , and I posted the note on this board that I'm looking for , um , someone to teach me english , right to be my english teacher .

And one time this woman came and for a few days after and she was looking for me and we started chatting and she's like you know what ? I'm also an immigrant and I will gladly help you learn English .

She was actually an English teacher as well and you don't have to pay me , just come to my house and help me like in the house or help me with the house chores . So this was like amazing because I could go and hang out with her .

Not only she was teaching me like grammar and all that , but I also could be chatting with her those several hours but make a friend too you're new right , yeah exactly and make a friend and what happened was like second meeting of hours or something . She says like we started talking like what's your plan ? Blah , blah , blah . And I say I love art .

And she's like , oh my God , my husband is a painter . He's like professional landscape painter pretty well known in Ireland . I love art and I appreciate artists so much and she took it upon herself to help me to get accepted to the school in ireland right , the school I picked .

So I don't think I would start school as soon as I did , like only year after I went to ireland , if it wasn't for her help . Believe it or not , we are still in touch , even though it's awesome . It's been like 17 years right uh so . Mm-hmm .

So this was like so yeah , I did that in Ireland , I finished my BFA in Ireland and then I was actually trying to get some type of job that was .

Like you know , we like to drink , we like to have fun , we like to joke , but in terms of like social expressions there is actually very little overlap yeah like for give you an example that that might be a little bit weird .

Let's backtrack . When I did that , people still used change , right , yeah , yeah , and money . It was not as popular to use credit cards , right . So people mostly used the change and money to pay for the groceries .

So in Poland , if you had to pay you know 11.23 , it would derogate to give someone 20 , without even pretending that you're actually looking for this change to you know , to give them that you know 23 cents or whatever .

Another thing Polish people are very straightforward and we sort of resemble Germans that way , more than anybody else in Europe , because we think if you're beating around the bush too much , you're wasting somebody's time , right , so you should communicate , uh whatever directly , directly , the quickest , to the point , right .

and this gave me a lot of problems at the beginning of my career in ireland because this is the most rude thing there is in ireland you cannot , you cannot approach somebody without engaging in small uh chit chat about the weather of course , yeah , how are things going ?

How's the wife or blah blah yeah or you know oh how , how freezing today , or how cold this . This is a must . You , you cannot , you cannot go straight to the point .

But , um , so I know the fear of going to school for fine arts , because there's very few jobs you can do with a fine arts degree that will pay well and that are in your career , that are actually related to whatever you did , whether it's visual arts or music or whatever it is .

Um , so you're finishing this and you're about to embark on the scary part of your next stage that we're going to get to . But you said you were going with your spouse . So did you find a spouse in Ireland or did you bring one from Poland ?

We were going to right , but I didn't know this girl , right and it , and it's a girl , a woman . So you know , we met on this bus stop and hey , hello , hello , and she's waving to her boyfriend goodbye , and I'm waving to my then-girlfriend goodbye . And here we go to Ireland .

And a year later we started being a couple because things happened in this year , you know , a boyfriend stayed in Poland , my girlfriend went somewhere else , complicated again , but you know , we stuck around since then . So we basically met on the way to Ireland and we've never separated .

So when we moved to Canada , bookkeeper and associated occupations were on the list of occupations in demand . So this is how it was actually easy for us to extend our stay . Right now , my partner my partner went to schooling in Canada and she quite recently , like only a year ago , completed her CPA .

to Ireland . Now , why Canada ? You know you're in Ireland and you're looking to go somewhere else now okay . So how did you pick Canada from the list of the world ?

And when you don't know language , people treat you differently when you don't know language . People treat you differently .

So after six years in ireland we knew english pretty well and we decided we have to again now pick a country that has english as a primary language so we don't have to start over . So again , only few uh countries were sort of like reasonable , right and on the table for us .

So then we started thinking we want to pick a country that embraces LGBTQ community and at least has a gay marriage as it's a , you know , human right .

How do we get here ? And so then we actually in in Ireland . They were organizing those little meetings for people that wanted to immigrate to Canada . So we went to one of those and we sort of tried to sign up for this . But it was very difficult . And then I figured I in in my school in Ireland .

I was doing very well , right , I was awarded top of the class . You know , I I was doing very well , I had a very good grade . I already had a bunch of exhibitions in my portfolio . So I knew that if I apply maybe for master's degree somewhere , this is the way for us to move .

So we picked a bunch of places in Canada , a bunch of universities , and University of Alberta was one of those places , and I sent my application First time . I didn't get in . Next year I tried again .

I worked on my portfolio a little bit more , worked on my experience a little bit more , and I got into two universities and we picked Edmonton as the place where we are moving and this is how we moved . This is how we arrived in Canada in 2011 .

So you know , you arrive in Edmonton . What was the culture shock ? From Ireland to Canada , how much of a difference was that ?

They're not really known for being liberal anymore .

So this was sort of one reason , and maybe one reason for many people that decide to study there but they don't stay is because studying there , you're like in this bubble , and you cannot stay in this bubble unless you are hired by the university , right ? So when I graduated , you're like okay , now we are outside of the bubble . We are out of the bubble .

We now have to find maybe another place that suits us more . So yet again we started looking for , but we knew by then we want to stay in Canada because overall our experience in Canada was delightful .

We are deciding we're going to hit Toronto , why ? Because you know it's Toronto .

Because it's Because then , after I graduated again , I found myself in a situation where I tried to look for a job that actually is related to my studies and I tried to make art and I get a lot of positive feedback and a lot of recognition , I win some awards , I have some exhibitions , but it's still not enough for me to support myself .

I still need my partner to support me and I don't want that . I want to be contributing , right . So we're thinking let's move to Toronto , toronto .

So , yeah , we went to toronto . Uh , I had a bunch of odd jobs there as well , and uh , what happened then ? Let's see .

But my partner's parents arrived for this and my brother did come and he's very loving brother , so he was there . Um , yeah , so so we had that and this . This was our , our sort of like wedding celebration type of thing that's too bad .

So I have like all the jobs here and there . And finally someone gets interest or approaches me about potential job at McMaster University and this was like a printmaking technician position .

So what that is is that , because my degrees , my art degrees , are with specialization in printmaking , not many people know exactly what printmaking is , but basically it's like making oversized stamps , right ?

So instead of painting , you make a matrix and then you print it on paper , right , and there are many , many ways to achieve that , but this is sort of like what I was into then it was your field , yeah it was my field yes , it was my field and my absolute expertise and , uh , every award that I won was sort of based on the fact that I knew this very

well and I invented my own technique and people were inviting me over to sort of show them . So I was known for this and I got invited to apply for this job at McMaster University . This was only a short-term contract , but I did apply and I got the job at the end .

Actually , the first time I didn't get the job , my colleague got the job , but then she left and they re-invited me as their second favorite candidate . They were like hey , remember , two years ago you wanted this job , but you still want it , I'm like sure .

So , yeah , I know , because also in this field and I'm sure your daughter knows this too it's like when jobs come up and there are only few , right , they're ready to come up , you take them right , all the people you know .

You always have to play against your colleagues and friends because they also apply and it's a nasty business , but I got the job and this is what brings me to Weldon finally , this story Because I'm a happy printmaking technician there and what it is ?

It basically means that I take care of all the studios , all the equipment there , right , and there is another person that works there as a sculpture technician and this guy , mike Hello Mike , if you ever hear it . So Mike is taking care of a sculpture studio and they have a milk welding machine over there and summer came and in the summer students are out .

We are super bored and we have time to do improvement , right , so you can yeah , you can build those uh , I used to be a college teacher .

So we started making things , uh , to get things organized and for students to come back and have this nice cool space to work in . And I'm like Mike , I want to learn welding because I think if I know , if I have the skill , I can build more things and cooler things and I will have more freedom and all that .

And he's like okay , I'll show you how to weld . Mike knew how to weld just from YouTube videos . He had no certificates , he had no expertise or proper technique , but he was a friendly guy and very enthusiastic to teach me welding . So this is what we did One day he shows me a bit . Second day he shows me a bit , and now I'm welding .

And I welded a bunch of things for my house , down the road and for the school , of course . We made some nice furniture , benches for students , some desks , and then my career at McMaster ended and I left , but the the memory of this , how cool it was well to stay with me .

And this is like 2017 , where I uh , when I left McMaster and then I uh , I started , uh , some other jobs that were sort of old school . I'm not artistic at all . I want some awards so I could focus on my art . Like I own 15k just to spend on my art , so I kind of kind of like had a few months there .

Yeah , a few months there , just sit in and do art at at home and I and I had some solo shows here and there . But you know this , this question of question of uh , you know this is not enough , whatever . I'm getting out of this . It's great satisfaction , but this is not enough for myself .

If , god forbid , something happens to my partner , I'm probably home Right . So but then you know , with this anxiety coming back and forth , I was trying to sort of keep some jobs that were coming to me and you're scared about starting over too .

Jesus I . I spent all of those years studying this and you know I'm so good why ? Why is it that I cannot make uh ends meet , you know ? So I was also annoyed and I had this part-time job then . Uh , that included , actually , uh , helping immigrants to move to canada .

So it was sort of perfect and I met a lot of people and it was fun , but it was part-time . And because of the fact that it was part-time , it allowed me to enroll in second career program and this gave me funding for the second career , whatever I decided to do . And then I decided I want to learn welding . I want welding to be my second career , right ?

So I contacted a person at Conestoga and they helped me . You know , file all the documents to get the funding . I got the funding and I went to school . I went back to school and I enrolled in LGPT's training called NGWEL , which is have you heard of the school ?

I could pick , sort of like , where I want my tickets to go . Yeah , because every time Do you want ?

And as I will say at the end of my training there , they had the iron workers come in and the oiler makers . So these are union folks . Right that they come over and they try to recruit the beginning welder , beginner weld folks . Right , they come over and they try to recruit beginning welders , beginner welders right .

So this was very nice feeling , but because , uh , those opportunities required a lot of travel , I decided not to take those I applied for a job at Tiger Cup when I was still in school and I got it with no problem because the market is open to welders . So if you're listening .

It's crazy right now it's crazy If you're listening to it and you're wondering but the welding is a potentially good path for you when it comes to job security and all that . It is . It's amazing . It's amazing and all of those opportunities were , especially if you're a woman . They're wide open for you . You can go anywhere .

Just learn basic sometimes basic human skills . Right , get those few tickets . You can work anywhere you want . So this is amazing and this is a big shock after my , you know , doing my studies , that basically gave me Struggling to find work every day . Yes , Gave me sort of nothing .

I shouldn't say that because my artistic capabilities right and my hand-in-eye coordination that I worked for for so long made me learn welding much quicker than other people , and my teacher in the school said that I'm one of the best welders that came out of this school just because I have this amazing hand and eye coordination .

First of all , there is this whole debate whether you should push or drag or so , uh , yeah , when I went there , so this was like right away , no , this is not how you do it . And yeah , it's , the welding is art , it's really . There is so much , there is the so much that goes into like perfect , beautiful , uh welding .

Uh , like , when I went to the school it's not , it's not that I thought , oh yeah , this is , this will be easy , this will be easy peasy , and I already know how to weld . I didn't think that , but I know a lot of people , a lot of welders that you know . They , they try mig welding and they do , you know , and they think they think they can weld .

No , you , you know , you have no idea yeah don't . Don't lie to yourself . This is not .

You know nothing yeah , you don't learn this in 10 minutes you do not and I have problems , uh , saying about myself that I'm like a welder because I know what lee knows , right , my teacher , like those guys , they know so much about this , like I just know the tip of the iceberg . That is there , right ? Or ?

Or , uh , you know , we we had the second class that was in the school was a pipe welding , right , holy moly , how pipe welding this is like a whole nother level a whole another level , right , a whole another level . And you know that they make those sweats and they go and get x-rays and blah , blah , blah .

Like this is like my , my ticket tickets , all that that I got like a child's play , right . So I know something . But I know , and I have great respect for welders that have been welding you know years and they , they know everything about it , or you know 90% . It's like I know little , I know little .

Welding machine , and I have a thick welding machine in my basement , and I started making my things , or you know , like projects on my own , without the vision of my teachers , and , oh my god , this , this to uh , I went back to a sandbox , you know , like trying to figure , like , because this is separate skill .

Like fitting right , this is a completely separate skill . Like fitting right , this is a completely separate skill because it has tendency to warp and expand and shrink and you have to know what you're doing .

And my short stay , short experience at TigerCat was illuminating in this way , because when I went there I sort of had those tickets , right , but I didn't know how this knowledge actually applies in real life , right ? So there you weld humongous parts together , right , and some , most of them , have to be fitted for it , right , then packed .

And then you weld , be fitted for right , then packed . And then he went and the guy that was training me . Uh was a lovely guy . He was showing me . You know all of those tricks of uh because he's been there for 30 years yeah , you tack here , then you tack there so this moves here this is gonna pull here exactly , exactly .

This is something you you won't learn in any school . This is real life welding . Now you're making it right and they should come together in a certain way . So this is like going back to school all over again . So when I was , you know , when I went to Tiger Cut and I figured this is not creative enough , this not creative enough I .

That's why I quit this job and I started actually working in . Uh uh , I started working in renovations and then I figured maybe I should do a carpentry apprenticeship because I love learning . That's the .

This is all me and my product , and I'm responsible for all the decisions and I'm also , you know , awarded for everything that comes with it , right ?

But I want to have a shop where I can make things for people and , of course , because it's going to be made for people , they will inadvertently have some control over this product right .

So this I will have to sort of give up my freedom sometimes for the fact that they want specific thing and I don't have full control over what it is right , but that's business right , that's business exactly .

but that's business as and as long as it gives me some money and enough for me to support myself uh proudly with the you know uh with integrity and dignity and not uh breadcrumbs like I had from my art , but something really sustainable , then I will be thrilled to do it , because I do love welding , I do love a lot of wealth and I love uh problem solve

and all that , and in this business I feel like I will be able to do that all the time , and this is sort of like my dream and this was sort of initially , my plan for this is to learn welding .

So I sort of stopped this and maybe I'll be going back to the University of Guelph as a permanent sculpture technician that would be a very cool job .

The two months I was there I loved it and they have big welding slash steel metal shop and it's amazing and I would be in charge of it and I would be in charge of it and I would be in charge of teaching students you know basic welding skills .

People look at something and they think oh , I can , you know , I just need to drill and table saw and miter saw and I will do it . No , try it . Yeah , you'll probably screw up . You will most likely screw up .

She was like I have this fabulous art degree , but besides , you know , hanging it in the frame , it gives me very little . So what do I do now ? And she figured , oh , I love me very little . So what do I do now ? So , and she figured , oh , I'm , I love working with tools . Maybe I will start carpentry , Right .

So , uh , she did that and , uh , she's been working as a carpenter for a while . But , uh , she might , uh , depending on how this business , uh , you know , goes , because eventually what we want is , uh , you want the freedom , right ? You want to be , yes , self-reliant and you want to have a business of our own . We want to be our own bosses .

This would be dream come true . So , depending on how this business goes , might just quit carpentry altogether and just focus on making things with me well , I hope that you guys can get enough business .

You're a welder , but if you are like a regular person and you need a weather to weld you something , it's very hard to find someone that's like out there and doing custom things yeah , it is so there , there is a need for this , for sure , and maria is not a welder , but she can do other beautiful things and we definitely can make it work and , like I'm ,

I'm strongly , I strongly believe there is a space for us in the world where people may find our products are exactly what they need and we can not only survive on this but maybe thrive . But at the end of the day , when you're an intelligent and person , you know you have to keep adjusting to whatever happens .

Right , and I've been doing this and I'm I'm so , I'm just so grateful that my path took me towards , you know , welding and being able to do it with the support of a second career program . It would be so hard to do it otherwise and it was so easy to do it that way .

I , if , again , if you're listening to this and you're considering this uh path for yourself , there are ways to even get training for you free or for for you know , with with the help partly paid yeah or partly , yes , and at the you will have a career Right away . Right away , people will basically kiss your cheeks .

If you're a welder , they'll be happy to see you and you will feel like you're needed . At the end of the day , people just want to be respectful or respected and appreciated and relevant right , and this is definitely the career that gives that .

Thank you to your local CWB Association chapter today to connect with other welding professionals and share welding as a trade in your community , Build your career , stay informed and support the Canadian welding industry . Join today and learn more at cwbassociationorg .

I I grew up around drag queens and gay people , just the way my family is , and you know , it's just . It's just the world I grew up in , so for me it's very normal , but for some people , like you know , in russia it's illegal , and I remember me getting into arguments , being there like being like how , how is this the thing ? How is this ?

How can a country decide that this is wrong ? Okay , maybe you're just one angry person , maybe it's wrong for you , I don't care , but how does a country decide , you know , when they say anywhere from 25 to 30 percent of the population is gay or lesbian , most of them hidden in fear , you know .

So if you think that in a room of 10 people , there's at least three to four people in that room , that you are some that are queer , that you're somehow going to , you know , hurt with your decision , why would you do that ?

What came to my mind when I was thinking about it , when I was reflecting on why Poland is so homophobic , is that because of this long history of communism , right Like in communism , like I mentioned , everybody was sort of like poor you know , there was nothing and people tried to all be the same , because if you attract too much attention , it's actually dangerous

to you , right ? So then everybody that's poor , different than everybody else , they're hidden because it's dangerous , because communism . And when people stay hidden , the majority of people that , at the end of the day , are not queer they think that this is the norm , that they're supposed to be hidden . They're supposed to be hidden .

They think that this is the norm . This is the normal .

And when you then come across someone that's like that , you're scared and you don't seem to have any respect for someone . That's just scared of you just off the bat and yeah plus , there is this whole thing internalized homophobia , right when , when a whole bunch of people tell you there is something wrong with you , you start to believe it right .

And when you grow up with this idea that you're there is something wrong with you , right ? You don't think you deserve respect , or you don't think you deserve freedom or recognition . Or to be happy . Or to be happy , or the basic desire right Human desires to have some type of happiness and love in their life .

So this is what happens when you basically keep all the diversity in hiding and you don't encounter those people ever , like in poland , and also that's my point was the racist for so long . Because you know when , when I grew up , did we have a racist law ? Why ?

Because there was nobody that had this in place there's no one to be racist of exactly so this is something you cannot see because those people are not there . And the same with homophobia and the same with everything else .

So when this person shows up , everybody stares at them right and doesn't know what to do , and then people start looking around and see who will be the first one to do something you know yes , and who is the first one that usually says something . It's a bully right yeah and then the rest of the people that just don't know what to do .

They just follow right because they don't know what to do .

That was like above that list yes , that was definitely above , because Irish people are very nationalist . Yeah , they . Yeah , that was definitely above , because Irish people are very Nationalist . Nationalist . Yeah , they , you know they love Ireland .

They're very patriotic and if you're born in Ireland but you have black skin like you cannot say you're Irish like this . This is silly right For them . I don't know , maybe this changed , but this was sort of like the feeling we had that we will never feel they're equal to Irish people .

And when we came to Canada , this was actually a very nice surprise for us to see that Canada has all of those immigrants and they feel like at home . They contribute .

Now is the cpa , makes a lot of money and it's extremely happy in her career and I have all of those other things that I have going and I could train myself in this beautiful trade and I could find a job anytime if I wanted right now be a welder , I know , and I would be totally fine .

So my anxiety about , you know , being homeless because something happens to my partner is completely gone because I have this amazing skill now in my pocket that I can use anytime . It's completely gone because I have this amazing still now in my in my pocket that I can use anytime . It's a wonderful , wonderful thing , of course you know .

That being said , I I know not everybody is happy in Canada . I don't want people to feel , uh um , invalidated if they feel their lives Struggle . Yeah , if they're struggling , uh , but this is your story , this feel their lives are going , if they're struggling , but this is your story .

We every time thought you know , okay , maybe to get something more , we have to give it more right , maybe we have to up our skills right and yeah , yeah , now for for maria to come in and meet the two of you .

We , uh , maria and I , met online and we sort of found this um connection because of all the , all the history we have right , like , she's an artist , I'm an artist , she's in trades now , I'm in trades now , blah blah , she wants to have her business , I want to have my business , blah , blah blah .

So we started chatting and he's a lovely person , so my partner , naturally , was eventually open to give her a chance and they developed their feelings for each other , separate from me and Maria , and it's very weird and strange , and you cannot and wonderful . Sort of we couldn't plan it . You know this just happened .

It was not really planned , it just happened and it's definitely wonderful . But it's one of those things that , yeah , if you stay open and you just want to relate to people and get to know them and then you let things happen , naturally they might happen and then you know you can accept them or you can reject those feelings or things that happen .

But all three of us are very open people because we lived in so many places and , like I , saidia is from colombia , right , so she also has this experience of being an immigrant colombia .

We visited colombia , like uh , two weeks ago , which was amazing and then and then there is sort of like walking in colombia actually was like walking in poland in thes right , like sidewalks are so uneven . There are humongous holes in sidewalks . You have to be careful where you walk and people are sort of like grumpy .

They have this sort of demeanor , like you should not smile at random people in the street because they will think you're crazy . This reminded me Poland so much . So there is this cultural overlap as well in Colombia and Poland . That seems sort of very natural and just there , it's not forced , looking for connection .

It's just really strange to be there and think , oh wow , this is like when I was a teenager . It just feels so familiar . It was crazy .

She could probably write the book , so I don't know if one hour would be enough to cover . You know both of our stories .

I mean , pride Month to me is two things it's one good and one kind of bad . In a way , for me , the fact that we have to have a Pride Month is like why we should just be happy and loving and open all the time . But then I remember that sometimes it takes time for systems to change . You know , you have old systems that take time to change .

So Pride Month is important because it's a time for us to educate people and to teach people and , you know , for people to listen to a story like yours to say you know , it's really just about wanting to live . You just want to live like anybody else , right ?

This is very much how we are , all the same and people should just remember that , as weird as some of the choices other people make can seem , at the end we all want the same thing Just want to be loved and happy .

. Two questions . First question what would you say to someone who is looking to immigrate to Canada as an immigrant ? Perhaps they're unsure about you , know the field . They may have studied something back home , but usually you come to Canada you're going to have to study some more .

What would you recommend for them to do when they land here , in terms of , perhaps , work or studies ?

She just moved to Canada like a month ago and we figured we'll help her with the accommodation , because it's so hard to get you know to first get secure accommodation and when you come to canada right , because it's expensive it's expensive , you need job , you need references , blah blah , you need bank account all of this .

Before you have all of those things , you have to stay somewhere right and you feel safe . So what we did and this is maybe good suggestions for some people is , uh , when we were moving to Canada , we basically Googled the rooms for rent and we found this uh delightful gay guy , travis , at the person right .

We started living with him , uh , immediately when we arrived in Edmonton and this was a amazing experience because he is Canadian . He could introduce us to this culture , he could show us , you know , the ropes , everything .

So having this type of entry point is great If you can get contact with the community , someone you would relate to , get in contact with the community , someone you would relate to , whether it's an LGBTQ member , if you are also LGBTQ , or if it's I don't know someone from Chile , if you're Chilean right , yeah , your culture , yeah .

Exactly your culture , your language , if you can sort of find people that can help you and explain things to you , right , Do this . A lot of people do deep dive research into , like what should I do for the thing when I arrive in Canada ? Right , you need a SIN number , you need bank account , you need this , and that you need a health insurance right .

Also , depending on a school you are arriving to Canada , are you a student visa holder or are you a permanent resident ? Right , or are you on something ?

The first thing she did was go to YMCA and sign up for English lessons . Right , you know , there are a lot of programs and help for people for free , different times of the day , so you can also work and study . There are a lot of ways to sort of like build your life in Canada .

The most important is to go and ask right people right and to do your research . Don't wait until something happens for you . Go and do it right .

We don't separate people that much . We're just one happy bunch of people that are open to different experiences . We don't have to be naming million genders or uh you know , or uh sexualities . We're just all happy family that nobody cares nobody cares . Nobody cares this . This would be my dream that nobody cares .

Like you know , the young people that are much younger than us , right now , they , they don't seem to care that much .

And everybody , and you know , there is a whole range of people that help me , keep helping me every day my neighbors , you know , people from my community . I'm just so grateful to every you know , proof of kindness or you know , something that I get every day . I'm just so grateful for my life in Canada . I'm delighted .

Thank you so much for having me again and , yes , good luck with the next one . I guess .

It's an important time of year . Get out there , give some hugs , give some smiles and just make sure that you make everyone around you feel as comfortable as you wish you felt , and we'll make the world a

better place . So , thank you all , keep downloading the episodes and stay tuned for the next one .

Produced by the cwb group and presented by Max Home , this podcast serves to educate and connect the welding community . Please subscribe and thank you for listening .