Transcript 0:00 So when I was immigrating, like I didn't think about whether I was going to move to Europe. I mean, my mind was just set on Canada. 0:10 But I do know that there are people who think about like, you know, like, "Do I move to Germany? Do I move to the Netherlands? Do I move to France? Or do I move to Canada, or do I move to the States, or do I move to UK?" 0:21 And the interesting part is that these two regions are very different in many ways. 0:26 And if you look at the Canadian immigration process, I think there's like, there's this genuine sense, even though there are like a lot of inefficiencies, there is a genuine sense that, "Hey, we want you here. 0:37 We would like you." And it's not like, "Hey, we want you as a laborer," or, "We don't... We are here just for your labor," but they want you as a real human. 0:45 And I, I think, uh, I found that, uh, really inspiring, and I thought this was the p- place to be. And, uh, yeah, that's, that's how I made my move. 0:54 So we did just talk about Eu- the differences between Europe and North America, and we talked about moving, him moving to Canada, if he's regretted his move at all, you know, settling into Canada itself. 1:07 And a very interesting point he made about just the fact that when you come to Canada, you know, y- you just feel like Canada wants you to succeed. Please enjoy. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Newcomers Podcast. 1:20 I'm pretty excited today, to be honest, 'cause I have with me Suhas. Um, he's been here for like five years now, and he's done some really interesting things in Canada. How's it going, man? Hi, uh, Dozie. 1:31 Thanks for inviting me. Awesome. Awesome. Really, really happy to have you here, to be honest. Um, and I'll just dive straight into it and just ask you, I mean, why did you move? Yeah, that's a really good question. 1:44 So I'm actually a double immigrant. So- Ah, I like that. Yeah. I was born in, uh, India, and then I immigrated to the Netherlands. 1:51 I like to be, you know, surrounded by people or living in a place that is reflective of the world's diversity. To Europe, uh, and I lived there for close to a decade, and then I decided to move to Canada. Um, so yeah. 2:06 So, uh, I've done the [chuckles] immigration journey two times now. I think there were many reasons, uh, a multitude of reasons. 2:14 One of them, I think probably the most, uh, you know, uh, strongest one was I like to be, you know, surrounded by people or living in a place that is reflective of the world's diversity. 2:27 Um, because, you know, I grew up in the age of the internet. 2:30 I had internet friends from around the world, and I would also like to live in a place with people filled from around the world with all kinds of ideas and, you know, uh, different ways of viewing the world. 2:40 So Canada was a natural destination for that. Um, but otherwise, I also liked that Canada is one of the few countries that is actually, you know, very pro-immigrant, I would say. 2:52 If you look at the immigration process, and I've been, um, because I have been considering like many other countries in the past as well. 3:00 And if you look at the Canadian immigration process, I think there's like, there's this genuine sense, even though there are like a lot of inefficiencies, there is a genuine sense that, "Hey, we want you here. 3:10 We would like you." And it's not like, "Hey, we want you as a laborer," or, "We don't... We are here just for your labor," but they want you as a real human. 3:19 And I, I think, uh, I found that, uh, really inspiring, and I thought this was the p- place to be. And, uh, yeah, that's, that's how I made my move. Awesome. 3:29 Just to kind of stay on that, that topic about double immigration point you make. So how old were you when you moved to, to Netherlands, if you don't mind me asking? How old were you when you moved? Uh, I was 21 or 20. 3:43 21, something like that. Yeah. Early, very early 20s. Yeah. That... How was, how did it feel like? 'Cause moving at that age, you moved alone or with family? Uh, no. I lived, I moved alone. I moved as a student. 3:56 Um- Okay... so I, I was doing my master's there. And, uh, yeah. So it was... So, uh, to be honest, I found it like very, very exciting, um, because it was something that I wanted to do for a long time. 4:10 So I remember like my first day, I was so excited. It was every- everything was a first time experience. Riding the first time in a European train, riding... 4:20 Eating, um, you know, the first Dutch snack for the first time. So everything was a very novel experience, and I was, uh, really enjoying it. That's, that's, that's interesting. 4:30 So, so for you, it was like fresh, everything was a fresh time, no? At any point, did you ever feel like, "Okay, this is a lot"? Like... Or was it always just like, "Oh yeah, like everything is amazing"? Yeah. 4:42 Did you ever feel like it's too much? Um, that's a good question because, you know, I think there is a honeymoon period. Um, and that honeymoon period, uh, once it, you know, settles down, I think... 4:57 Um, but for me that, I think that honeymoon period went on for several years. [laughs] Um, so it was, you know... 5:07 I think for me, the way it occurred was, I guess, once I had been there for several years, and I found that I was, you know, well integrated into society, but I didn't, uh, always find the same reciprocity from society. 5:24 Um, and that was the, uh, the time that I felt, you know, a little, uh, yeah. So I think it took a few years for that though. Yeah. Hmm. You wanna talk about that, that feeling? [chuckles] Uh, y- yeah. Um, so you know, 5:42 when you have been there for a few years... So when I moved there, I, I know there were like a lot of Facebook group especially filled with, uh, you know, expats. 5:55 They call them expats and not immigrants if you're moving from US or Canada. 6:00 So there were people from US and Canada who were moving to Netherlands, and I could see a lot of people were like complaining about society, uh, complaining that they were not feeling, uh, welcomed, et cetera. 6:10 And I was likeNo, I, I don't feel it that way at all. Uh, what are you talking about? Because I was, at that time, in a honeymoon phase. 6:17 And the honeymoon phase is like this, because when you are at the beginning of your immigration journey, you have very less expectations. 6:23 So even if you are treated badly, you think, "Okay, that's okay, because I'm a newcomer, I don't, uh, I shouldn't expect much." And, 6:32 uh, but then after you have done your work into integrating into society, after you feel that you are, you know, European enough or Dutch enough or, uh, whichever country you are immigrated to, and then, but society doesn't see you that way. 6:45 Society still is seeing you as an outsider. And that's when you know that, uh, you come out of that honeymoon period. 6:51 And then I understand why all those Americans and Canadians in those Facebook groups are complaining so much, because they have lived here for over a dozen years, and they were not feeling welcomed. Yeah. Yeah. 7:03 That's, that's so true. I mean, just that, I mean, I, I'm still probably two years plus in my journey, so I feel like I'm still probably in my honeymoon phase a bit. Mm-hmm. 7:11 But yeah, every now and then you get that sense that sometimes some things happen in certain places, and it's not everyone, but things happen, and you're like, "Hmm." Mm-hmm. True. This is... Yeah. True. 7:21 But, uh, one thing I, I think my experience in Canada has been very different, um, because here, I think, um, it took me less than a week to be considered integrated into society. 7:36 And the moment-- And maybe, so there is a certain amount of bias there because I lived in, I have lived in Toronto, in downtown, and I've never moved out of here. 7:48 For a short while, I lived in Scarborough, um, but, and never really, you know, left downtown. And it's, it's a very diverse area. It's, uh, very welcoming, et cetera. So I never, uh, felt, you know, non-Canadian. 8:06 Like, I felt Canadian, like, the week I arrived here. In fact, the day I arrived here at Pearson Airport, there were people, you know, who were very kind, helping me and, and so on. 8:15 So, um, th-there has been a contrasting difference, I think. Um, but, uh, it, it, there is also, you know, luck involved, uh, depending on which circles you inhabit and everything. Yeah. 8:28 If you compare when you landed in Netherlands, when you landed in Canada, like, what were the similarities? Are there things that were similar, like similar experiences, similar feelings? 8:41 And are there things that did your experience with your time in Netherlands help with you feeling much settled now when you moved to Toronto? 8:51 The fun fact is, um, I think I felt more culture shock moving from Europe to North America than from India to Europe. Um- Are you serious? Yeah. 9:02 So [chuckles] the reason is because I already knew going in, what is Europe about. Like, I had read about it a lot. I had, you know, done my online research. 9:11 So when I went to Europe, it was exactly how they talked about in the books and movies and everything. So there was no surprise for me. 9:18 And at some point, like, I was thinking, "This is the West, like Western countries, there's not going to be much of a difference. 9:26 Maybe, you know, this country has a little more taxes, this country is a little more religious," but I didn't expect there to be, like, a very significant difference. 9:34 But then when I moved to Canada, I realized, "Oh, wow, that's a very, very... Like, they're worlds apart." Um, and, uh, yeah. So I think I found so many different things here like that, that were different like this. 9:48 Um, yeah, so that was surprising. Many of them were positive surprises, so I, I liked that. But, uh, yeah, so it was, um, yeah, it was interesting to see those differences. 10:02 I would actually like to hear about a couple of the ones that were surprising to you positively- Mm-hmm... and the ones that are surprising to you negatively. Yeah. Um, so I guess maybe it is not negative as in- Okay... 10:15 um, you know, it's not... Okay. So yeah, I think there were some definite negatives. One of them is the lack of state capacity. Like in Europe, everything works as intended. 10:27 Like your tax dollars or your tax euros is put to work, and you can see it. Like, the trains are on time. There's very good public transit. Everything is like, you know, it works. Uh, but here I think, uh, you know, 10:42 the transit system is not that great. Um, there's... The government doesn't work as efficiently. Uh, so, so that was a negative shock, I would say. 10:55 Um, the other ones that were more like neutral that I found interesting is, uh, people relying on credit cards. So in Europe, uh, it's very rare to use credit cards. In, in fact, I didn't have a credit card at all. 11:09 The, uh, our, my bank, it provided a prepaid credit card. 11:13 So you pay for it first at the beginning of the month, and the only reason they give it is because we can do online shopping on, uh, American websites that only ac-accept credit cards. 11:23 So, uh, the whole, you know, credit card thing was very new to me, and then the whole thing about credit score. Um, and then what else? Cars. 11:34 Um, because cars are not really important in, uh, many parts of Europe, especially in the Netherlands where I used to live. 11:41 Uh, so people's reliance on cars or on their expectation of having a very big house, because again, in Europe, um, you know, especially in Northern Europe, the more denser parts of Europe, uh, there is an expectation that you're li- going to live in a small house because it's very dense and so on. 11:59 So yeah. So those are some of the neutral shocks. But, uh, the positive shocks I would say is, uh, the lack of, I guess, uh, racial or ethnic segregation. 12:11 Uh, I used to see a lot of segregation, um, in many other countries that I used to live and visit back in the day. Um, the first day I visited, I was in Toronto. 12:21 I was-- I remember I was walking on one of the streets-There was the school playground, um, you know, on the side of the road. And when I looked into it, I saw there were people, you know, 12:32 all kinds of ethnicities, they were playing together. 12:35 And I didn't see that, uh, so because I was more used to this, um, place where, you know, there were people who were of one ethnicity playing in one part of the ground, and so on. 12:47 So I, I was, uh, very, you know, pleasantly surprised to see that and, you know, I was very glad, uh, to see that, yeah. Yeah. So that's- That, that's, that's interesting. Like, are you serious? Like, I've never... 12:59 I mean, well, my first time in Europe was when I was in, I was in the UK, which is not technically Europe anymore. Oh, yeah. Yeah. [chuckles] You know, but that is pretty interesting to hear. Yeah. 13:09 I mean, it's in relative terms. So in relative terms, Canada is a lot more diverse, accepting, and- Mm-hmm. So I, I don't know. 13:17 I, I mean, I think Europe overall, if you compare to the entire world, is accepting in many ways. But, uh, which is why I, you know, I immigrated there in the first place. Um, but I'm just comparing in relative scales. 13:29 So Canada, I think is on a whole different level when it comes to acceptance and, yeah. Yeah. Ca- Canada is pretty multicultural, to be honest. Yeah. Like, I mean, like I live in Calgary now. 13:39 I've lived in Ottawa, I live in Calgary now, and I rate what you say when you say you, you just go about and the amount of diverse play going on is crazy. 13:49 I was telling a friend that, you know, that I've, I've-- I always think about the world, and I have two boys, the world they will grow up in, you know, and it's going to be very different one from what we live in right now. 13:59 Yeah. 13:59 Like, I don't even-- I'm not even sure I can even describe it because for the first time, and I don't know if it's the first time, you just see where kids are all growing up together and they're all Indians, Chinese, Africans, like Nigerians, like everywhere across, it's just they're all- Yeah... 14:14 growing up as one. Yeah. 14:16 You know, and I said to my friend that if at the, if when they all grow up and we still have racism as much as we have it now, then I am-- I would have lost hope in the world because like, I'm like, "You all are growing together, like so what's the excuse? 14:29 Like why, why would you think that one color is better than the other color?" I was, I was gonna ask the, the point about, um, the credit card. 14:37 I find that story pretty funny about the credit cards and the big houses, 'cause I've had a conversation with a friend before where he would said to me... I said to him, "I'd like to live in Europe sometime." 14:47 He's like, "No, you can't live in Europe. You've lived in North America. You're used to big houses. You go to Europe-" Yeah. "They're all small houses." Yeah. Like, how did you manage that switch? Uh, I haven't managed. 14:55 I live in a small house even now. Uh- [laughs]... a- and I don't want a big house. I don't want a car. I don't, I don't know how to drive. I ha- don't have a driving license. So I [chuckles] am... Okay. 15:06 So sometimes I'm a little frustrated because the transit system is not great. But I live in the heart of downtown, so at least there's good transit in, uh, downtown. 15:15 But it's, uh, a little difficult to go out of the city. Um, but yeah, otherwise, uh, like I'm still not, uh, [chuckles] I think th- that part of Canada, I, I'm like, "No, I'm not accepting that for me." 15:28 [chuckles] Like, if you want your big house, go and live in it. [chuckles] Yeah. I don't want to take care of all that. Yeah. What of the credit card? What have you done with the credit card? How have you handled that? 15:39 Oh, that's a good one. So actually, the first two years or so that I lived here, I didn't use a credit card. Um, and I was like, "I don't like that idea." 15:51 And but after that, uh, I saw that, you know, you get those points, [chuckles] and you can, uh, save money and everything. 15:59 And I was like, you know, if you can use your credit card wisely, it will actually, it ends up helping you more. So why not? 16:08 So I think I use the cards these days and, uh, um, but yeah, it's, it's not like heavy credit card use or anything. I just use it as one of the payment options. Um, but yeah, I, I still don't like... 16:21 Hmm, I still live, uh, like the European way, uh, a lot. I use the credit card just as, you know, an online transaction, uh, processing thing. Um, yeah. So I haven't, uh, yeah, Canadianized myself there, I think. 16:35 [chuckles] You know, now that you said the European way, I would like you to do... If you had to do a, 16:41 like a comparison, the Canadian way versus the European way, like what would you say, like in terms of let's credits, food, um, housing, uh, what other thing? Just transport. There's probably approach to work. 16:59 Yeah. You know, and approach to building friendships. Like how would you describe both ways, Canadian versus European way? Yeah. Yeah. So the answer is pretty interesting because they're so different. 17:11 Because if you had asked me do it between India and Canada, the answer wouldn't have been that different. Uh, so in, yeah. So, uh, th- that was what, you know, uh, kind of surprised me. 17:23 Um, so if it-- When it comes to, for example, food, uh, one of the things that you see here, for example, in Europe, there are a lot of, you know, Vietnamese restaurants, Chinese restaurants, et cetera. 17:35 But you see that there, there is a lot more pressure to Europeanize the taste even in the, uh, restaurant. Um, but here there's not that much pressure. Like here, I think, uh, you know, people are more open, 17:49 um, like non-Vietnamese are still open to eating very, you know, authentic Vietnamese food that has not been, uh, modified in any way. Um, in Europe, I think the 18:01 median restaurant is much better in quality than I guess in, uh, Eu- uh, in, uh, you know, Canada. But in Canada, I think the average is much better. Um, 18:15 so on average, uh, the Canadian restaurants are, you know, more better because there are some re- like really, really good ones. At, at the median level, they are better. 18:25 Um, food-wise, I think Canada is a little more, you know, expensive in every way possible.Um, because I lived in, uh... 18:34 So Netherlands was one of like the most expensive countries in Europe, and I have been to, you know, other places as well, which were pretty expensive, but Canada is kind of comparable to them. 18:46 Um, when it comes to work, um, there can be... They are very, very different. I think Europe, uh, ba- uh, is very good for work-life balance. Uh, it's, you know, people get a lot of vacation days. 19:00 Uh, if you are, uh, feeling ill, uh, if you have some kind of sickness, your bosses, your, your company will be very, very, you know, helpful to you. Um, there are very few layoffs. 19:12 Even if there are layoffs, you know, they will be communicated to you in a very nice way. You'll be given a lot of, uh, you know, uh, notice period. 19:21 Um, yeah, everything in the workplace is, like, very, very ideal in Europe. Uh, in Canada, as you know, there's, you know, it's a, it's a lo- a lot more, I guess, capitalist. So that is one difference. 19:33 But I think there is a positive and a negative to it, too, because in Canada there is also the dynamism. Europe doesn't have that kind of dynamism that, uh, you know, North America has in general. 19:44 So dynamism in entrepreneurship, et cetera. So th-that Canada is much better at. And, uh, yeah, what else? I guess making friends. I think it's much, much, much easier to make friends here in Canada. 19:58 Um, I was able to make friends here within one week of moving here. Like, I didn't know anyone here, um, like no family, friends, et cetera. Um, but I was able to make friends, uh, pretty easily. 20:11 Um, and, you know, I think that... And here is the thing, I'm like one of the shyest people in the world, I would say. [chuckles] I'm not good at talking to strangers at all. Text recording on the podcast, to be honest. 20:24 [both laughing] Yeah. So I'm, I'm really shy. I'm, I'm not the kind of person who can, you know, go and speak to a stranger. 20:32 Um, but yet, you know, if I was able to make friends, it, it means that the people who were friends with me, they were the ones who, you know, came to me and, uh, they were the ones who accepted me and not the other way around. 20:43 So, so I think it's much, much easier, uh, to make friends here. Um, I think, uh, in Europe in general, I think it depends on the which part of Europe you're living in. 20:54 A-and I think in the Netherlands, maybe it's a little bit harder for people who are not Dutch, um, to make friends, especially if they move in their adult life. 21:05 Uh, if you move as a, as a child, I think you have a chance of making friends in school, et cetera. But once you move in adult life, I think people have their own friendship group, and it's very hard to, you know, 21:16 come into already established groups. But I think here people are much more open. Uh, so that's one more difference. I think there, uh, there's also like this broader difference about, you know, materialism. 21:30 Um, so I think North America is quite a bit more materialistic. There's a lot of things that are, you know, commoditized and are basically... 21:42 You know, people are much less materialistic in the, in Europe, or they're much more happier living at a particular salary than people in Canada. So if you have a particular, uh... 21:55 I think that's just the way society is structured. For a particular-- the same income, the average European would be happier at their income than the average Canadian. Um, and yeah. 22:06 And that's because again, here there's, I think there's pressure of homeownership in a very heated housing market, um, car ownership, uh, large houses, credit card, uh, you know, uh, and all kinds of, uh, stuff, uh, which you don't have in Europe. 22:26 Uh, so, so yeah. So that's one, uh, one major, I think, difference. And that difference, I think, drives a lot of the other differences, uh, I think. Um, yeah. So, 22:38 so I think that's in a nutshell some of the differences, but I can, you know, I can like write a whole book about it. [laughs] There's so many subtle things. 22:46 So one subtle thing that I remember is, uh, the how are you question that I think you asked me at the beginning of this call, and I still... No, I think I don't struggle with it anymore. But in Europe, 23:00 the question how are you is a very, you know, it's a very profound question. It's a question that, you know, you need to think and, you know, introspect and answer. 23:12 But here, when I moved here, I remember someone in, at the grocery store, you know, at the cash, they would ask me, "How are you?" And I was like, "Um..." 23:21 You know, I'm, uh, pausing for three seconds and thinking, "How should I answer to the question, how are you?" Um, and that was like very interesting. And so after two times, I thought, "You know what? 23:33 Um, I'm just going to ignore that question because I find it too hard to answer." So I just ignored when someone asked me, "How are you?" And they were like, "Hey, I asked you, how are you?" 23:41 "Oh, so you are, are, are you really interested in my answer?" [chuckles] [laughs] "Uh, can I tell I'm not doing great?" Uh, so- Mm. Uh, it was interesting. But now I think I have settled at... 23:53 Uh, so th-these are all like very, very subtle differences. Um- Yeah, I've heard about that a lot, about how like in Europe, when someone asks you, "How are you?" It's not a, it's not a random how are you. 24:03 It's actually- Yeah. Yeah... I wanna listen to you and listen to what you want to tell me. Yeah, exactly. You know, not just a how are you? And then, "Oh, I'm fine." No, no, no. 24:13 I'm not asking you today if you're fine, 'cause yes, you can always say you're fine. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. You know. I was gonna ask you, um, seeing that you're shy and j-j... How, how did you process your plan? 24:25 Like, how did you say to yourself or what, what was going through your head when you said, "Okay, I'm going to choose Canada"? 'Cause you knew no one here. 24:32 You, it looks like you just opt and said, "You know, I'm going to Canada." You processed your papers and came here. So like, how did you make that call? Like, what was the process going on in your head?Yeah. 24:44 So, um, at this point, I think I was eligible for Dutch citizenship, and I had this choice to make, whether I'll put more effort to be part of this society, you know, uh, and become a citizen and live there 25:02 or do I want to do something else? And at that time, I was like, at this age, I think I was close to getting thirty, and I was like, you know, um, I need to start my life afresh. 25:18 I need to go to Canada, because when I was living in India, I think Canada was the country that I wanted to go to, but I didn't go, end up going there first because there's no real way to immigrate to Canada right away, like at that time. 25:31 Um, so I moved to Netherlands because I got a scholarship. I started working and everything. Now I had enough points in the point system so that I, uh, so that I can, uh, immigrate directly to Canada. So, 25:46 um, so at this point, it was something that I always wanted to do. Uh, here is a fun fact. I made the decision of moving to Canada, uh, the day Trump got elected. Yeah. 26:01 Uh, in fact, I remember I sent, you know, an email to my manager, uh, at my work saying, "Okay, I think I'm leaving this country and I'm leaving this job. 26:12 I'm not sure when, but I'm leaving," the day, day Trump got elected. 26:16 And it's, uh, very funny because I think, uh, there was this news that the Canadian immigration system website collapsed the day Trump got elected because all the Americans wanted to move there. 26:27 But it's actually not Americans who are checking it. It's people like me who are sitting in Europe. And the reas- uh, there is a reason why this happened, because I knew what would happen. 26:37 If Trump got elected, there are a lot of people in the US who are on temporary status who want to... who would move to Canada because Trump would, uh, you know, make it hard for them to live there. 26:49 And then if they move to Canada, because Canada has only a few immigration slots every year, it would be harder for everyone else. 26:56 So I knew that I had to get in before [chuckles] everyone else got in, and that's why, you know, the immigration system, uh, the s- the site collapsed on the day Trump won because it was people like me who were checking it. 27:07 And, uh, it's the right decision because, you know, after Trump came in, the, what I had, uh, you know, anticipated came true. 27:15 A lot of people from the US who were on temporary visas, uh, immigrated to Canada, and then the threshold for the points went up. And so now it's... 27:25 As of now, I think it's close to impossible for someone to directly move. Like, you need to have a... 27:32 So that's why you need to have, like, either studied in Canada or have had a job experience in Canada or have a job offer in Canada, etc. You need to have any of those. 27:42 You can't just get through the point system and go like I did. Yeah, I agree with you. It's gotten really tough to, to get in. Yeah. Okay. So I think I just have one question for you. Two. Two, rather. 27:55 Have, like, one is, have you ever at any point regretted leaving your home country? No, never. Um, I've, uh, ne-never been more sure. Uh, this is always what I wanted to do, and I'm very glad I did. Yeah. Nice. Nice. 28:12 And then the final one, one I have for you is that if you look at, if you look at your... 'cause now you've, you've been an immigrant for, like, fifteen years now. You've moved two times in those fifteen years. 28:22 Is there anything you would have done differently? Um, yes. So I think the second time I immigrated, I think, uh, I learned a lot of lessons from my first time. I do think that, uh, you know, I should have probably 28:40 learned Dutch, um, you know, a lot more than I did, um, or at least be more, a lot more fluent at it. Um, because at, when I was living in the Netherlands, I was like, "Okay, I'm going to move to Canada, uh, soon." 28:55 But I, you know, kept postponing it, you know, until the Trump election happened. [chuckles] I kept postponing it. Um, but, uh, you know, I think I should have, you know, um, put a little more effort on my own part. 29:08 Even though I already did put a lot of effort, I think I should have put in even more, um, which I think helped when I moved to Canada, because I think it's all about, uh, integration is a two-way street. 29:18 Like, if you want the locals to accept you, I think you also need to put some effort into being part of society and, uh, uh, being a, you know, a person that, uh, I won't say, you know, gets along with everyone who is, uh, who is already living there. 29:34 I agree. I agree with that 'cause, yeah, I agree it's a two-way street. 29:38 Like, I mean, yeah, yeah, every now and then you're gonna meet people who aren't exactly great human beings, but more often than not, it's you, you do your part, they do their part- Yeah... 29:47 and then you take whatever comes with as you, as you move on. Yeah. Right. Thank you so much. This has been a really good conversation. Um, thank you for coming on the Newcomers Podcast, and have a great one. Yeah. 30:03 Thanks. Uh, yeah, it was a great conversation and, uh, thanks for having me. Yeah. All right. You're welcome. So if there's one thing you take from this episode, it's when Suhas says, "Integration is a two-way street." 30:16 It's two-way. You do your part, your new society does its part. So don't come in and say, "Oh, you know what? I'm not enjoying this place." 30:25 Like, what have you done to try to integrate yourself into your new society, your new country, your new community? That's, that's the fun of immigration, starting afresh. So again, thank you for listening. 30:37 Please share, like. You know, follow us on YouTube, sign up for, on our Substack. You know, just... And if you have someone who finds the episode useful, please share with them. 30:48 Thank you so much and have a beautiful day.
