april 1st newsletter

8/2/2019 April 1st Newsletter

1/4

4Page 1 Come From Away

Come from

AwayAp ri l , 2012

Vo lu m e 1 Issu e 1

I N S I D E TH I S I SSUE

1 First Impressions

2 Job Experience

3 I want it Spicy!

4 Soccer and Culture

5 About NEA REDB

First ImpressionsIn August 2004, Ayaz Ghani l eft his hometown, Dhaka, Bangladesh, t opursue his undergraduat e st udies at Memorial Universit y of Newfoundland.His percept ion of a Nort h American cit y was based on dense populat ion,skyscraper skyli nes, and underground subways - none of which were presenin St . Johns. Years later, he describes his f ir st impression on the cit y thathe event ual ly came to fall in love wit h

When I fi rst landed in St . John s, I felt as f ree as a bird. Being away fromhome for t he first t ime and independent, I felt t hat t ingling sensation ofexcitement sparked through my body.

Aft er crossing the immigration and customs at St . Johns InternationalAirport , I went st raight t o the informat ion desk to find a brochure wit h allthe compiled information on the city for a newcomer. However, there wasnone.

A lady at t he desk direct ed me towards a kiosk ful l of brochures, most lyabout hotels and B&B. Af ter half an hour, I had handful of pamphlets on

where to stay, dine and tourism. These were certainly not adequat einformation for a newcomer who would like to reside and sett lein St .

Read more First Impr essions on page 2

UP C O M I N G EVENTS

1 April 21: Multicultural Day,

Kinsmen Community Centre, Town

of Torbay, 11am-4pm

2 May 13-19: Mount Pearl Youth

Week. For more information, pleasecall Garry Fraser, Youth ServicesCoordinator at 748-1010 oremail [email protected]

3 June 24: Paradise Triathlon. For

more information, please seetownofparadise.ca.

4 July 3-10: International Choral

Festival, Festival 500, Sharing theVoices, St. Johns, NL. For moreinformation, please seewww.festival500.com .

Job Experienc e

One of t he most import ant cri teria of set t ling in a place (other than yourhometown) is t he opportunity to start a career. The Northeast Avalon off ers

j obs in many dif ferent indust ries, incl uding oil and gas, technology, mining,tourism, fishery, farming, manufacturing, service and culture. There aremany places t hat can help you regarding j ob search, and it can be only amat ter of t ime before you have a j ob that matches your quali fi cat ion.

To work, you will need a Social Insurance Number (SIN). This valuabledocument is a mandatory requirement to work in Canada and you have toapply in person. To get your SIN, you need to apply t o Service Canadalocated at 223 Churchill Avenue, which is on Route 2 of Metrobus.

If you are an int ernational student , t hen Centr e of Career Development oMemorial University of Newfoundland at UC-4002 will be happy to help yowit h on and off -campus j obs.

Read more Job Exper ience on page 2

Nor t heast Ava lon Reg iona l Economi c Deve l opment , 90 O Lear y Avenue, St . John s, NL A1B 2C7

www . no r t heast aval on r edb . ca commun i ca t i ons@nearedb . ca (709 ) 753 -5554


2/4


What I would l ike t o

see is a compact

document with all the

contact detai ls relevant

to obtain a job.

Believe It or Not:

In 2006, internationalmigration accounted

for t wo-thirds ofCanadian population

growth. The remainingthird was provided by

natural increase, thegrowth t hat resultsfrom the difference

between the number ofbirths and the number

of deaths.

We should embrace our

immigrant roots and

recognize that

newcomers to our land

are not part of the

problem, they are part of

the solution ---Roger

Mahony

Job Exper ience. from page 1

New immigrants or refugees are mainly supported by The Association forNew Canadians AXIS Program. This program is based in St . John's and offersmany dif ferent services that can help newcomers prepare for and findemployment. Their head office is located at 10 Smit hvil le Crescent , or youcan visit their website at www.axiscareers.net .

Newcomers from another province of Canada or country can also use thesimi lar service of fered by t he provincial Department of Advanced Educat ionand Skil ls. The depart ment s Career, Employment and Youth Services Divisiondevelops programs and services all across the province, that help people planfor, f ind and keep j obs.

Were you aware t hat newcomers need to assess their credent ial s from their

home count ry t o see whether addit ional t raining, education or Canadian workexperience are required before being quali f ied t o work in Canada? In St .Johns and Nort heast Avalon, Acquiring EXperience; Integrating Skills (AXIS)offers credential assessment for educated professionals and trades personwho are wil ling to reside and sett le in the province. You can contact t hem atwww.axiscareers.net .

All this informat ion t ook me an hour t o compile f rom various sources. Whatwould be benefi cial is a compact document wit h all t he contact detailsrelevant to obtain a j ob. Most newcomers, especially immigrants or refugees,do not have access to computers, least it be int ernet service; therefore, theyrequire hand copies of the information.

First Impressions from page 1

Johns. Soon the excitement eroded and fear began t o creep in.

Luckily, I f ound a fel low countryman who came to pick up his in-laws fromthe airport. He provided me wit h enough contact details to go on for a day.Upon registering wit h Memorial Universit y of Newfoundland the next day, Iwas provided wit h all the necessary detail s necessary for residing andsett li ng in t he province, and got to know t hat the sit uat ion could have beenaverted if I had registered for airport pick-up arranged by InternationalStudent Advising Office (ISA) at Memorial University.

Seven years have passed since then, and t here is st il l no such pamphlet thatbears to the point information for newcomers to St . Johns or NortheastAvalon. The newslet ter begins the process of providing relevant informat ionto newcomers.

Come From Away is the fi rst of i ts kind where the newcomers, f rom

another province of Canada or a country, wi ll have the opportunit y topromote t heir wants and interests so that being away from home doesn t feellike being away from home at all.

I would personal ly l ike to thank the Northeast Avalon Regional EconomicDevelopment Board (NEAREDB) who were kind enough to publish thisnewslet ter and therefore giving us a platf orm t o address our concerns, needsand desires in making the transition to this beautiful province all the moresmoother.


3/4


Read more I want Spicy!on page 4

Soc cer and CultureSoccer has unit ed a diverse mult icul tural blend in St . John s. This can be seenduring the summer when people of al l nat ionali t ies gather at Churchil l Squaresoccer field, and enjoy The Beauti ful Game. Churchi ll Square soccer fi eld is notthe only one packed with international faces, but grounds near Gonzaga HighSchool, St . Andrew s Elementary School and Memorial University are fi l led wi thplayers from all races, religion and culture.

Phil ip Awate Cart er came from Eritrea in July of 2006, and felt lonely as most ofhis families and friends were back at home. While he was watching a game fromthe bench, he was invit ed by other players to j oin t he game. Since then Phil ip has

became a regular player at Churchill Square soccer f ield, and made fr iends wit hwhom he kept contact on and off the field. Like Philip, there are lots ofnewcomers who made everlast ing friendship wi t h local and international peoplethrough soccer.

Soccer, more commonly known as footbal l among t he newcomers, is a sport

played between two teams of eleven players wit h a spherical ball .

see Soccer and Cultureon page 4

Top: Bulk Barn spices packed in

plastic bags.

Middle: Variety of whole spices.

Whole spices are available at

Sobeys, Dominion and Taste Ea

Bottom: Delicacies made from lo

spices.

I want it Spicy!

Spices allow cooks to gain a lot of f lavor wit hout a lot of eff ort . Mostethnici t ies have a cooking cult ure based on variet ies of spices. No kit chen iscomplet e wit hout the right assortment of spices. The use of spices and herbsare usually seen among the newcomers delicacies.

Food culture has become an important link among societies which havenormall y been divided by t heir manners, languages and religions. Thecultural integration is seen in restaurants offering foreign cuisine in theirmenus alongside t he indigenous ones. For example, curry caulif lower can beseen in the dinner menu of Blue on Water (319 Water St reet ), and TeriyakiUdon Bowls is on the menu at Aqua Restaurant (310 Water St reet ).

The diversit y and cultural integration in this province has started wit h St .Johns being the focal point . Major grocery stores, li ke Sobeys and Dominion,have an aisle for traditional and international spices as well as organic foods.

That aisle has been growing substantially since 2004 when I f irst started myexcursion to the local groceries. But the stores st il l l ack quanti ty andavailabil it y and due to the cost li ness of spices in t hese major grocery stores,they are often not t he number one choice for locals and internat ionals tobuy spices.

If you are looking forward to make sushi, Kung pao chicken, or any sort oforiental cuisine, then Asian Variety Store (140 Water St reet) and OrientalSnow Market at Universit y Center of Memorial Universit y are the best

options in this city. They have frozen oriental vegetables, dried fish, ready-

The cult ural int egrat ion

is seen in rest aurants

off ering foreign cuisine

in their menus alongsidethe indigenous ones.


4/4


I want Spicy!from page 3

made sushi and dumplings, and so on, along with the ethnic Chinese, Japaneseand Thai spices and herbs.

Have you ever t hought of making butt er chicken or f alafel? If so, t hen look nofurther as all t he ingredients and spices are available at Taste East (62 AAll andale Road). Current ly, they are t he onlygrocery store in St . Johns tooffer various middle-eastern and Indian spices. Home-made delicacies likesamosa and baklava are also available at t he store, but are limit ed in quanti ty.

European and Medit erranean spices and herbs are available at Dominion andSobeys, but I personally recommend visiting Bulk Barn. At Bulk Barn, they carryt radit ional everyday to exotic spices, l ike cardamom, coriander and Montrealsteak and so on, and carry over 4,000 products.

That s all f or now, but do share your recipes and they could get featured in thenext i ssue. Bon appti t !

SEND US YOUR

RECIPES!

EMAIL:

[email protected]

Soccer and Culturefrom page 3

In Newfoundland and Labrador, soccer championships and t raining are administeredby the Newfoundland and Labrador Soccer Associat ion (NLSA). It is dedicated topromoting the growth and development of soccer at all levels. The associati onorganizes provincial tournaments every year categorizing by gender and age. Formore information, please visit www.nlsa.ca.

Last year, glimpses of players with foreign nationality could be seen among mostyouth teams. This is a very posit ive sign showing the rise of mult icult urali sm andinvolvement of newcomers in St . Johns where soccer played a vital role t ointegrate t hem into t he society.

Indoor soccer facili t ies are available at Techniplex, 39 Churchil l Ave., Pleasantvi ll eand NL Sport s Cent re, 90 Crosbie Road.

Top: International students playing

soccer at Churchill Square soccer

ground

Bottom: Soccer game at King Geor

V Stadium.

Northeast Avalon Reg iona l Economic Development Boa rd

Our province is divided into 19 Regional EconomicDevelopment Boards (REDB).

The federal and provincial government s have set fi vecore funct ions for REDBs:

Develop and coordinate t he implementat ionof a Strategic Economic Plan supported bythe integrated business plan;

Develop a st rong part nership wit hmunicipalit ies that incorporates thestrategies and priorities of municipalities inthe economic planning process;

Develop partnerships in planning andimplementati on wit h Chambers ofCommerce, Board of Trades, Indust ryAssociat ions, labour

organizations, post -secondary inst i tut ions, CBDCs andother zones in the region;

Undertake capacit y building and provide support tost rengthen the economic environment of the zone; and

Coordinate and facilitate linkages withfederal/ provincial/ municipal government departmentsand agencies in support of t he st rategic economicenvironment.

One of the key initiatives of NEAREDB is to build and fosterWelcoming Communit ies for newcomers. NEAREDB ispleased to sponsor and promote the first of what is hopedto be a semi-annual newsletter written by newcomers fornewcomers.

If you have any suggestions for articles or would like toprovide your thoughts and impression on living in thisregion, please feel free to contact us.

To learn more about NEA REDB visit : www.northeastavalonredb.caor follow us on Facebook: www.f acebook.com/ NEAREDB

april 1st newsletter

Documents