Mr. Kim came to Canada; he had dreams; did he realize them?

 Joseph H Chung (정희수), Ph.D.

Professor of economics Quebec State University in Montreal (UQAM)

(지난 호에 이어)

The wonderful meal was followed by serious conversation. The first topic was obviously on the evaluation of the Park Chung-hee regime.

“What is going on in Korea, now? Do you think that the Park’s regime will survive after having violated so many times basic human right”, inquired one lady.

“I am not sure, but it is possible that Park’s regime may survive, because Koreans recognize that without President Park’s economic policy, Korea would not have succeeded to escape from the absolute poverty so rapidly”, replied Kim.

It was the time for Kim to lead the conversation.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you came before we, so I want you to share with me, if possible, some of the important lessons of immigrant life”, asked Kim.

One man in his fifties volunteered.

“I came here in 1974. I thought that I came to Canada where English was the language. But at the moment I arrived in Dorval airport, I was completely lost; I thought that I was in France! It took long time before I could accept that I was in Quebec where French language is the official language”.

“I thought that I had some talents in language, but the French language is the toughest language to learn. In fact, many Koreans who came here leave for Toronto and elsewhere because of the difficulty of learning the French language”, continued the man.

Having listened to this story, Kim and his family began to worry and asked.

“How well do I have to speak French to make a living here?”, asked Kim.

“Well, all depend on what you do. There are jobs which do not force you to speak much; there are jobs in which one has to talk much. The job which requires less conversation in French is corner grocery store, called in French “depanneur”, explained a man sitting across Sookja.

“Mr. Kim, don’t worry. The Quebec government gives you money so that you earn French; there are many ways of learning French”.

“You see, you learn French and you become rich!”, said another man.

This made everybody nod smiling.

“Besides, if you run retail business such as corner grocery, restaurant, flower shop, all you have to know is basic daily French and specialized word associated with your business”

“You will be OK! We are here to help you. Fighting!”. Everybody laughed.

Kim thought. He told to himself that he would master French not only to communicate with his children and do business but also make the life richer as a civilized man.

Mr. Kim found  his Dwelling

“As for me, I had some terrible experience with housing problem, when I came five years ago. As you can imagine, as soon as you put your feet on Montreal soil, the first thing you have to do is to find a place to stay.

For a few weeks, you can rely on the help of some kind people, but you got to move to your own place”, volunteered a well-dressed man.

“So what did you to find your place?” asked Kim.

“Before I made up mind, I went a seminar organized by one of the Korean community organizations on housing. The speaker was a university professor Hong. His lecture can be summarized like this.

It is better for an immigrant to rent an apartment rather than buy owner house right away.

In Montreal, the rental housing market is well organized, because the Montreal people like to live in their rental apartment during the week and go to their chalet on the mountains or by the side of lakes in week-ends.

In fact, more than forty per cent of Montreal people live in rental dwellings. Therefore the market offers a wide choice of rental dwellings.

A rental law under preparation protects the tenants while assuring normal profit for the landlord.

However, there are many landlords who try to exploit the tenants. There are many ways of exploiting the tenants.

They demand deposit for one year. Some Korean immigrants mistake this for Chunsei practiced in Korea. The rental law stipulates that the landlord cannot ask more than one month deposit. In fact, the professor had to intervene several occasions to help out the Korean tenants. 

Another problem is the violation of tenant’s “right to stay” by virtue of which the landlord cannot evict the tenant before the end of the lease.

The landlord cannot increase the rent more than certain amount. According to the rental law, the Rental Board (Regie de loyer) will announce at the beginning of the year acceptable rent hike. If the tenant does not agree, he or she can go to the Rental Board and ask the landlord to reconsider.

The law covers so many things which prevent the landlord from exploiting the tenants.

The professor advised the Korean immigrants to learn about the Law and protect themselves.

Kim realized that housing market in Montreal was quite different from the Korean market. He thought that he should ask more advice from the professor.

The conversation was animated and terribly useful for Kim. He was so grateful to Lee for having organized this party and provided the occasion to learn how to survive from immigration Sun-baes (the earlier immigrants).

Sookja did listen carefully to every word of what was said, for the information shared was of vital importance for her family’s survival. She felt a strong urge to ask some detailed question, but being a good Korean wife, she refrained from doing so, at least, this time.

It was getting late, but Kim hoped somebody would talk about businesses.

“Once you find your dwelling, the next urgent matter is to find job to support your family”, observed another elder.

He continued:  “For us, finding a job is something like snatching the stars (byol-tta-gi); it is just not possible unless you work as a hired hand at a grocery store. This is primarily due to the language barrier, but it is more than that; it is also due to cultural barrier”. (다음 호에 계속)

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