Leaving Vancouver was hard on all of us. We tried to do our best with meeting with our friends and explaining the reasons why we decided to move. Four months have passed since we arrived in Toronto and gradually things are starting to make sense to us. The TTC delays are now part of our daily routine, the sunny days definitely make us happier and we are constantly being offered new and exciting professional opportunities. Toronto is all that I expected to be (sometimes even better), but I do miss our friends, the Vancouver tech scene and the long walks on the sea wall.

Last year around this time, I was saying no to Toronto and giving Vancouver a second chance. I was tired of the lack of professional options in the city and the disgusting real estate prices. Our family and friends were all that kept us in the city for one more year. It’s undeniable that after living in a place for a while, you grow roots, you establish yourself and you create specials ties to that city. However, as much as I love Vancouver, with time, I started thinking that something was wrong and it had to change. Starting over is scary, any new Canadian can talk for hours about that, but I assure you that starting over twice is even scarier! Maybe the third time will be easier, who knows?

But, how’s life now?

Exciting! Our Toronto friends were incredible in welcoming us. My Masters program at Ryerson University is everything that I expected but better. Between all my three part time jobs, I am getting to try a little bit of everything and work on inspiring and challenging stuff. The program is intense, very intense, and deserves its own blog post. For now, all that I can say is that our new city is treating us very well and allowing us to start growing our new roots.

So, what do I expect form this new year?

It definitely feels that the sky is the limit. Since we are living in a big travel hub, I really want to take advantage of it and explore the world. Vancouver made me stronger and I will to use that to my advantage. This time I’m more open to challenges, new friends and cultural explorations. I also want to merge the energy of writing essays and papers into more blog posts here and on my professional blog. I have big plans for this ride. Stay tunned and enjoy the trip!

Don’t you think it’s very ironic that when I finally get invited to give a presentation about social media this blog experiences the deadliest month ever?

I have been very excited about the #NetCulture events since I first learned about them earlier this month. Canada is a multicultural and diverse country, no doubt about that, but it’s very comfortable for all of us to stay within the limits of our own cultural silos. We know that we are all Canadians, but I feel that we haven’t discussed what being Canadian really means to each one of us. Most importantly, most of us haven’t taken the time to share what we’ve learned!

The #NetCulture team has pulled together an amazing event. From teaching the secrets of couch surfing to showcasing successful blogs and local authors, this event got it all. #NetCulture: Stories of Culture and Diversity in Social Media happens on Tuesday, April 5th at the Vancouver Public Library. It starts at 7pm and each speaker will have seven minutes to share their personal stories. Admission is free.

#NetCulture: Stories of Culture and Diversity in Social Media

Tuesday, April 5th,2011

Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch

Tickets available at http://netculture.eventbrite.com

After-Party RSVP http://netculture-afterparty.eventbrite.com/

Last week , I got happily dragged to Crave Vancouver’s launch event with a mission: teach one of  my most awesome friends the ins and outs of networking. I understand that after a whole year of attending networking and professional developing events, my friends expect me to have mastered the art of networking, but I admit that I was flattered by her invitation!

In all fairness, being married to a salesman who is the most popular kid in the block (seriously, Mr. Ames is the mayor of our building and I am not talking about Foursquare!) might have taught me a thing or two about networking. Necessity, also know as job hunting, also made me learn to how to strike up friendly conversations with strangers. So, if you haven’t started saying hello to people random, here is a list of topics that might inspire you:

1 – Weather

If you’re a new Canadian like me, you’ve probably noticed that Canadian-born people love to talk about the weather. It’s not a matter of knowing if it’s going to rain or not, we all watch the weather forecast and know for a fact that it’s going to snow. For some reason Canadians are like diplomats and don’t talk about politics with strangers. Just accept that! The good thing about talking about the weather is the opportunity to learn more about the person’s habits, ask what they did over the weekend and really strike up a conversation.

There is a reason why diplomats are always talking about the weather. Learn more about snowstorms and rain too!

2 – Work

We, West Coasters, have this beautiful illusion that work is secondary in our lives. As I said, it’s an illusion! We all love to talk about what we are working on because we all work really hard.

By asking the simple question What do you do?, I have had the opportunity to meet some pretty awesome people in Vancouver. Usually, what keep us from asking this simple question is the fear of being perceived as a job hunter (or a hardcore networker!) However, if you are at a networking event, what people think of you should be the least important variable in your connecting equation!

3 – Dogs

If you don’t know that I have the most awesome bulldog in Vancouver, you will miss the opportunity of becoming my friend! In Vancouver, we are closer to Paris than we want to admit. It feels like 50% of Downtown Vancouver population has a dog, 30% has a kid, and 20% has both. Your chances of starting a conversation talking about your dog (or about an imaginary pet that you don’t have but are researching about) are super high. Not to mention that Mr. Ames has found two job leads during the recession at the dog park!

4 – Your Home country

Most of us tend to avoid talking about our home country when we are meeting new people. I confess that I am completely guilty on that matter too! However, after four years in Canada and a huge Canadianzation of my inner self, if you have an accent, I really want to learn more about your background, about your culture and about the barriers that you’ve been facing. I also want to know what brought you to Canada, and what makes you think that you will stay.

Talking about your home country can be very interesting and will open doors for you. Believe me!

5- An Unusual Job

Like our home country, we newcomers tend to try to forget our unusual jobs. For three years, I tried as hard as I could to hide two out of my last three jobs: TV programmer at Playboy TV and cashier at a coffee shop. Oddly enough, I am quite sure that these two unusual occupations were were the reason why I got my dream job!

P.S.: What are you networking techniques? What do you do to start a conversation with a stranger?

MadameHeringer.com and @vheringer are part of the Brazilian TV channel Multishow #outros500 project. To celebrate, MadameHeringer.com will have a blog post in Portuguese published every Friday for the Portuguese-speaking readers of this site.

Eu comprei a minha poppy no último domingo e a perdi em três horas. Tenho certeza que eu ainda a teria na lapela do meu casaco se esse veterano (ou pracinha como chamamos no Brasil) tivesse me vendido o pin.

Desde segunda-feira tenho observado esse senhorzinho vendendo poppies na esquina da rua do meu trabalho. Toda a estratégia de venda dele é baseada num atendimento impecável ao cliente. O pedestre que passa pela esquina da Hornby com a Robson street em Vancouver é primeiro abordado com um sorriso e bom papo, e assim que fecha negócio através de uma doação, ele mesmo coloca a poppy na lapela do cliente e o deseja um bom dia.

Quem diria que tanta simpatia viria de um voluntário? Alguém que chega a esquina do meu trabalho bem mais cedo do que eu por que acredita numa causa. Bem, voluntários como este são responsáveis por arrecadar mais de 16 milhões de dólares por ano. Dinheiro este usado para manter serviços comunitários da Salvation Army, uma organização não-governamental voltada a apoiar veteranos de guerra e militares aposentados.

Desde que me mudei para o Canadá, venho aprendendo a ver a minha vida pessoal e profissional sob uma nova luz. Coincidentemente, enquanto eu pensava num blog post para essa foto, recebi o link da TEDxSP para a palestra do presidente do Banco Santander, Fábio Barbosa e achei que seria ótimo dividir tanto a foto quanto o link num mesmo blog post. Sei que parece contraditório apoiar o discurso de um banqueiro (qualquer banqueiro!), mas mesmo assim acho que o Fábio Barbosa acertou na mosca ao criticar a cultura do jeitinho brasileiro e a lógica do esperto.

Embora ambas histórias pareçam distantes entre si, ambos falam sobre a importância de se fazer o que é certo e socialmente responsável no nosso cotidiano. Foi-se o tempo em que tínhamos que aceitar o que nos era delagado. Atualmente, nós, consumidores e cidadãos somos quem tem o poder no processo político e econômico de nossos países. Pena que ainda teimamos em não enxergar isso…

My First Canada Immigration Stamp – Pearson International Airport, October 14th, 2006

The confusion started in 2008 and since then, I have been celebrating my first day in Canada anniversary on the 16^th of October. Apparently, my blogging laziness has been affecting my memory as well. Just in case, I added an appointment to my Google calendar, hoping that in 2011 my commemorative blog post will go out on the 14^th.

Canada immigration policies have been widely discussed in the news lately, and as much as we’d like to find a definitive solution, we know it will take us generations to settle into being a true multicultural society. We also know that from the day of their landing, every single immigrant wants to make of Canada the most successful chapter of their life. I am no exception. Even though my story is slightly different (staying in Canada was a complete accident), I must admit that once I decided to make this country my home, my expectations changed drastically!

The Accident – February 25th, 2007

I don’t even know how many nights of sleep I lost obsessing over the idea of finding a job, starting a career and succeeding in Canada while I was waiting for my permanent residency. However, as attractive as starting fresh can sound, not belonging to a community does make one’s life difficult. I am not complaining, nor am I blaming Canada because I know that any foreigner living in Brazil would face the same barriers or even worse. What I am trying to say is that settling into a new country can be one of the most challenging things that anyone can impose on themselves. Expectations tend to drive newcomers nuts and saving face can become a common habit when speaking to friends and family when visiting their original country.

In 2008, if you would have asked me why I wanted to stay in Canada I would answer that I was choosing quality of life over my career. Yes, my answer was super-hypocritical, since 10 out of 10 newcomers need and value a job. Two years and a lot of blog posts and tweets later, I can now say that I chose to stay because my life is here. I have built a great list of amazing friends and I am very proud of what I have achieved both personal and professionally. 4 years into a “Canadianization” process I can say that it takes time to knock down walls and allow oneself to be honest…

Working hard with Lili Vieira de Carvalho at the 2010 VLAFF – September 12th, 2010

So, what do I want from here? Immigrating to Canada didn’t kill me, it definitely made me stronger. Now that the initial barriers aren’t there anymore, I want to overcome what is left and keep giving back to my new country. Some questions will never go away (Is my English good enough? Are my jokes funny? Why is this person making a weird face while I speak? Are they really interested in what I have to say?), and I’ll never be able to get a straight answer either (now I am blaming Canadian hospitality and politeness). But, since Canada chose me, I am here to build a country and fight. So, bring on the next 40 years, I am ready!

P.S.: This month, I came across this wonderful talk by Lionel Laroche at the 2008 ISAP Conference. He’s brilliant! I learned so much from the four videos that I recommend them to anyone who is an immigrant or is planning to come to Canada.

Happy Birthday, Canada!

After being fully blessed by our Queen Elizabeth and having acknowledged our most important and recent victory, the Olympic Gold Medal for hockey, I felt extremely motivated to finish editing my interview with Nick Noorani. I know… it’s a gift from a late guest, but I made sure that I kept the most important clips from my conversation with Nick. It’s also a double gift; since most of Nick’s Canadian milestones were conquered on past Canada Days.

Enjoy!

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Talk to you soon…