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1.3 Clothing, Food, Housing and Transportation
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1.3 Clothing, Food, Housing and Transportation
I was surprised with wide open mouth when Dr. Noumoff stopped his car in front of an old brown building at one side of Sherbrooke Street and told me he already found a room for me. I was too moved to say anything except saying thanks. The story was one of his students knew the landlord so the student booked one room for me.
It was a four-bedroom apartment. Four Chinese students shared microwave, bathroom, fridge, kitchen, cables and laundry facility. The monthly rent I paid was only $200 dollars. The four tenants also shared the utilities according to monthly bills. I contributed about $40 dollars every month on average.
That night I couldn’t fall asleep at all. One reason was I had jet lag. The other reason was I couldn’t stop thinking about my future and my family. Could I fit in at McGill University? How was my baby doing? How was my mother’s health? I asked one question after another until I couldn’t stand up anymore.
When I woke up, it was already the next day afternoon. The first thing I did was to buy a phone card. I called my family members in China and let them know I already safely arrived in Montreal. I fortunately found a place to live. I was heartbreaking when I heard my little boy crying and talking to me on the phone. “Dad, don’t you want me?” He cried, “Dad, I really miss you.”
During the next couple of weeks, I was busy in being familiar with the surroundings. Since housing problem had been resolved, food, clothing and transportation were the next remaining issues that I had to take care of.
My warm heart roommates, in turn, took me to these major super markets: Super C, Maxi, Metro, Provigo and Loblaw. They shared their daily experiences and taught me how to choose fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and fishes. Soon I discovered that in Maxi and Super C the unit price of items was much lower than that in other supermarkets. I learned that each week each supermarket had a special sale for certain items. The special sale items did save me a lot of money.
Wal-Mart was one place later I frequently visited for clothing and daily appliance. In Wal-Mart, the price of clothing was usually much lower than that in department stores. The clothing was usually classic and simple. The product quality was not too bad. Most products were from China, India, Vietnam and other Asian countries. Compared to the expensive international tuition fee, Wal-Mart did reduce my fiscal burden.
Public transportation was very convenient in Montreal. Among all services, I preferred to take train. One monthly pass was $48.50 in 1999 if I remembered correctly. My apartment was very close to the bus line 24 and the Green line. It took me about 30 minutes to get to McGill University downtown campus. The bus waiting time was about from 3 minutes to 5 minutes during peak times according to different routes.
View AllAuthor's latest blogs
- • 2.1 Completing the Landing Process (2)
- • 2.0 Starting an Immigrant Life - 2.1 Completing the Landing Process
- • Through the Wind and Rain - 1.6 Thinking About Immigration (2)
- • Through the Wind and Rain - 1.6 Thinking About Immigration (1)
- • 1.5 My MA supervisor – Dr. Noumoff
- • 1.4 Overcoming Language Barriers
