Transitioning To Afghanistan

The war started in Kabul, Afghanistan in July of 1994; moving to Russia was the only choice for my family to be safe even though we knew we would face a lot of difficulties. I was only

The ability to cope with a new environment immediately is what very few people possess. Ishmael Beah and Muhammad Saeed, both went through massive changes in environment, with led them having many negative experiences. My situation was very similar to both of them. I used to live in Pakistan and just recently came to Canada. Pakistan was a magnificent place, but many people still consider it as a third world country. Most of my family and some of my friends also live there. Overall life was satisfactory, but my family was in need of change. For ages I had no idea that we were going to move to Canada, so my parents did a great job keeping it a secret. On our last month in Pakistan, all my immediate family came to my house from wherever they were settled in the world. My cousins, who were in Saudi Arabia came and even my uncle arrived from Canada. We had a huge party when my uncle arrived at my house because, he lived in Canada and rarely visited. On the very last day of us living in Pakistan, I gave my farewells and with my parents and two brothers we got ready to start our new life in a foreign land. I thought life in Canada would be effortless and always amusing. Since I was lost in the fake image of life in Canada, to my surprise it wasn’t effortless and amusing and

Finding a home in Pakistan was difficult. The houses next to the school I was attending were too expensive. Me, my dad, and my sister had to stay at my Uncle's place for a few weeks, so this way we were able to have a place to stay at instead of being on the streets or in a hotel. We were staying at my Uncle's it wasn't easy, due to the fact that he had a lot of children, so sometimes it would be hard to sleep at night because there warn't enough beds. Soon after those few weeks, we found a place almost close enough to the school. We moved Into the new house it took us about nine days to get everything set up such as the furniture, kitchen, bedrooms. There were blackouts in Pakistan especially around the summer, so we had to use a generator to keep the electricity on because of the weather either being really cold in the winter, or extremely hot in the summer.

Moving in was not easy, but it wasn’t hard either. If I have to turn back and see what I have learnt form the change I have gone through and the knowledge that I have gained, I realize I have gained a lot of information. The main difference that has fantasized me the past year is the society. The difference between how the society in Nepal functions and how the American society functions is really interesting. The way people interact here and the way people interact in the society I was born in, differs, and it is always an interesting matter to me, to analyze

Have you ever thought of what it would be like to move to another country? Well, about a month ago I had to do that exact thing and let me tell you it’s pretty difficult to adjust.

Transitions are never an easy thing to conquer. It is often hard and stressful to cope with changes to one’s surrounding, but in the cases in which one manages to conquer this obstacle, elevation of knowledge and experience are great results gained from this achievement. I originally came from Africa and recently moved to the United States to join my mother and my step father. This great change in the things I had become accustomed to in my daily life was not easy, furthermore taking into account the fact that I had never experienced a transition so little as shifting from one residence to another.

I knew this journey would be very different for me. I was only familiar with one culture and one way of life, being exposed to different cultures only made me more curious and anxious at the same time. Although this was a transition I was looking forward to, there was some sadness in me knowing that I would leave all my friends and some family members behind that

In my opinion, I think that Canada’s identity has changed since Afghanistan, but not necessarily in a bad way. I think this because, ever since the Canadian troops physically fought in the Afghanistan war, Canada has not been strictly been viewed as just peacekeepers anymore. Now, Canada is also seen as a peacemaker- who has the potential to fight back in situations when they are needed. However, although they physically fought in Afghanistan, I think other nations still see us as peacekeepers as well. I feel this way because, for decades before the Afghanistan war, Canada’s main goal during conflicts has always been to help create peace and to help keep as many people safe as they can. I do not think that this has changed and I think we can

“Over the past century, Canadian attitudes towards the use of force and the exercise of military power in support of national aims have fundamentally shifted”. This is a quote written by Major Todd Strickland in his article, titled, “From the Boers to the Taliban: How Canadians Attitudes towards War Have Changed”. This article reviews Canada’s history within the wars and also Canadian’s thoughts on war. The Afghan war began in 2001 and is still ongoing today. The war began due to the terrorist attacks that took place in the United States on September 11th, 2001, also known as 9/11. The purpose of this war was to invade Afghanistan and to disassemble an organization, known as the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Another objective was to

“We are not there to do traditional peacekeeping. We are there to combat terrorism and promote human rights.” The image of the twin towers coming down on September 11, 2001 shook the entire world. Since the Suez Crisis of 1956, Canadian soldiers had served as peacekeepers in Cyprus, Somalia, and many other war-torn countries. However, Canada's reputation changed when the Canadian Armed Forces joined the United States' war against Afghanistan. Although many argue that Canada entered the war to only fulfill NATO obligations, Canada's participation in Afghanistan was part of a larger mission; to combat global terrorism and save the oppressed citizens of Afghanistan. Canada's participation in the war in Afghanistan brought Canada world recognition for being more than

Moving to another country without knowing the language and culture at the age of 15, was one of the most important decisions that I had to make in my life. I left my mom, family, and friends because I knew that leaving them would prepare me to become an independent person. Moving to the United States gave me the chance to learn a new language, and a better future.

When I was fourteen, I took the decision to move to Canada and lived with my dad, stepmother and my half-sister. I was going to leave my mom and everyone who I had spent my entire live. Also, I was just not only leaving everyone I loved, but I was making a huge changed in my life: new environment, culture, family and language. The moment I decided to live in Canada, I was using my critical thinking, making sure I was

In the night of July 17th, 1973, the Afghanistan monarchy was cleaved, but it was in April, 1978 when communism really took over Afghanistan. When this happened, Amir was only a small child. His father, Baba smuggled them both out of Afghanistan and into America. Not too soon after, Amir graduated high school and became a writer. After marrying and releasing his first book, Amir comes to us today to describe his transition to America.

I was born in Pakistan and I have lived there until I was 13. I got to experience a lot of things that my generation never have in the United States. Pakistan is behind in technology, then other great countries like the United States and it has not been fully developed yet. Before Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh was all one country under a British control. But then there was a religious uprising so Pakistan separated from India in the year 1947 and it has almost been 69 years since it was created. So when I was born, I got to experience all the things that old generation experienced in the United States. We did not have computers only a few rich people had a computer. I remember we had a black and white TV instead of colored TV and some people

In my case I moved thousand of miles from my country, Pakistan. The differences are unimaginable.