Monday 28 November 2011

Becoming Canadian :)


Last week I became Canadian! I am now officially Venezuelan-Canadian, just a few days from my 4 year Canadian Anniversary yesterday ^-^

I received in the mail a pink letter that said my ceremony was November 22nd at 12:50pm. Arrived at that time to the Ceremony Center and sat with the other 77 people waiting to be Canadian :)

For the next hour or so, we all had to show our IDs and the landing record (keep it!), plus return out Permanent Resident Card (they keep it :( so no souvenir). They give you the folder with Oath to the Queen and the National Anthem, plus a cultural pass gift and a maple leaf pin :D

Then the judge comes in, gives a speech (very pretty) and we do the oath to the Queen. Next you go and shake hands with the judge (one by one), they give you a letter from the Prime Minister, a letter from the Citizenship Minister, the Citizenship card and a Canadian flag! You sign a book that says you took the Oath and go back to your seat to sing Oh Canada!

After the ceremony, you are free to take as many pictures as you want and just celebrate! You are free to bring friends and family of course. My ceremony took less than 2 hours total and we made up a group of 38 countries! Which the judge say was a pretty impressive number :D