News

Back to all news

New Job Translates Into New Life for Garden's Cook

January 12th, 2012

Watching her first snowfall tops the list of things Pastora Tan likes about living in the adopted country she moved to just a month ago.

Tan recently moved from the Philippines to Grande Prairie, where she works as a cook at the Gardens. It was a friend in Edmonton who told her how good life in Canada could be.

“My friend told me that it’s very good in Canada and that I’d be better off financially. She helped me get this job.”

Tan moved here with her husband and nine-year-old daughter, who will now get the education she couldn’t get in the Philippines.

“We decided to move here so we’d have a better future for her (my daughter),” she said. “Here I can provide my daughter with an education and I can afford things I couldn’t there like a house someday.”

Tan says she is constantly surprised by how kind and giving Canadians are.

“Cars will even stop for you at the crosswalks,” she said. “In the Philippines, you’d never step out into traffic because nobody would stop.”

Tan worked as a hotel cook in the Philippines but has no direct experience working with seniors.

“My in-laws lived with us so being around seniors is not hard for me,” she said. “Many of them are sad and miss their families in the same way as we miss our family. I try to cheer them up when I can.”

Back to all news

This news service is for and about you. If you have feedback, photos and story ideas you'd like to contribute, please email them to news@pointswestliving.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------