The Swiss Immigrant Kid Intro

Immigrants

Immigrants come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and professions. Typically we think of immigrants as current newcomers to Canada or the pioneers who built our country.

Along the way from the first to the current, there have been waves as well as trickles. The building of railways or a gold rush brought hordes of newcomers. Tragedies in certain countries caused groups to flee to survive or find a better life. Also, perceived opportunities brought people to North America. Canada has been a drawing card since Champlain.  

Along the way we may encounter someone who dresses differently or speaks a different language. Over time these seem to blend in and disappear.  They become one of us, a Canadian.

Of course when a tragedy occurs somewhere in the world and people need to relocate to survive, or escape disease, persecution, torture it becomes news.

But there are thousands who come to Canada for less tragic reasons, possibly just to better their own situation.  Surely thousands of interesting stories exist, get talked about around a dinner table but never get to press.  

We will have an opportunity to learn about one such 'ordinary' individual who has become a Canadian, has blended in and lives among us.  By many standards this is not an extraordinary case, simply one of thousands that make up the colourful tapestry of Canadians.  He will share stories about his life before coming to Canada, then his transition to becoming an immigrant, then  a teenager, a young adult working at fitting in, finding his niche and finally making a contribution as a citizen.

We first encounter him as a small only child of a hard working blue collar couple.  His stories have happy moments and tragic ones - a true gamut that have influenced and moulded him into what he has become.

Alice

I walked away, leaving her by the park bench where we'd meet and steal a few precious moments together. She was Alice from the next village.  My almost thirteen year old heart was breaking, but I had to leave her to go to Canada.  I had her name and address on a folded slip of paper that I'd hide in the front light of my bike that was going in the crate heading for Canada.  I'd write, I promised and I'd come back.  

Sixty five years later, I can still see her, the soft chestnut hair lightly blowing and her shy smile.   We'd gone to a dance and I awkwardly tried out the dance steps my mom and I had practised. Most of the time we just walked in the meadow by the woods, held hands and chatted.  The memory of Alice is as vivid as if it were yesterday.  

She never grows old, we never kissed, she is still standing by the bench.  In Canada had torn my bike apart, but the paper was gone. With her name and address lost,  I could never send those letters.  I did go back as a young man.  The bench was still there and I experienced a deep sadness, as she must have felt waiting for those letters. 

I will fulfill my promise to Alice.  I will publish those letters filled with my experiences of leaving Switzerland and adapting to life in Canada in the fifties and telling her about my growing up years before that.

Letters vs Stories

Since the letters are short, I will also post full stories, dealing with more detail.

I wrote a series of stories for my daughters and grandchildren in hopes that they would get a more complete picture of their father/grandfather as he struggled through early years, became a teenager and eventually grew up.

Letter #1 to Alice - Somewhere in the Atlantic June 21,1951 (559 words)

My dearest Alice,

It’s been seven days thirteen hours and twenty one minutes since I last saw you.  Your body was shaking.  We were both crying and I smelled your hair one last time before pedaling home.  How I miss looking at you.  I wish I had a Foti (photograph) of you.

My mom and I are on this huge huge ship, the Isle De France.  She’s sleeping.  I don’t know where the time has gone since I left you.  There was packing, checking, repacking, crying, loading a truck with our furniture, locking the door and handing the keys to the ‘nice’ man.  That’s when mom sobbed loudly and shook unbelievably. I hugged her tightly and said once more, “We don’t have to go ........ do we?” I don’t remember anything about the trip to Le Havre on the train.  I just saw you standing there as I got on my bike, helpless, crying and holding your little brother’s hand.

We were in a long long line of people.  Thousands is seemed. Finally it was our turn to walk up a steep walkway that zigzagged up to an entrance. Two men in white uniforms wearing kind of captain’s caps greeted us and asked for passports. My mom showed them hers. One nodded and said,”Bievenue, entre, Madamme.” We had to find our cabin. We looked and looked and followed directions. It seemed like we were exploring a huge endless tunnel with doors and doors and more doors.  Our cabin was small, but had two beds one over the other, a dresser and lamps on the walls - nice, very nice. Mom was pleased and quickly began to unpack some things. She was clearly excited and tired. Mom laid on her bed closed her eyes and fell asleep.

A gong woke us up. We were both hungry. There were lights on everywhere, because there were no windows anywhere. We began the journey to the dining hall mom called it. We noticed other passengers going in the same direction. The corridors went straight, then curved, there were stairs and then we entered through double doors into a large hall, very large with many large round tables. She stopped at one.  I noticed two folded white card-boards with the same numbers and letters as was on our cabin door. She sat down and padded the chair beside her, beckoning me to sit. We sat quietly. By and by more people came and filled the chairs. No-one spoke Swiss, but everyone spoke to someone near them. I couldn’t understand anyone or anything. Men in white uniforms without caps waked to all the tables, bent down, stood straight, talked and wrote things onto a paper, then disappeared. Our white dressed man talked as well. ‘Bievenue, .... and silvuplait’ is all I heard. Mom spoke to him in German. The men in white carried huge round trays way over their heads without spilling a drop. Our man was like a showman. I liked watching him do his work.  The food was delicious. For dessert we could choose from a cart - amazing. We could also choose ice cream.  Wow, ice cream! Could I have ice cream every day?

I have a lot of exploring to do.  There is soooo much to see and do. Wish you were here with me.  I’ll write you again soon.

Your Marcel
PS.   I want you to have this photo of me (wish I had one of you)

1. On the Isle De France We walked from the taxi toward this ship, a huge, unbelievably huge ship. It was many stories high compared to a large apartment building. 

      It had two enormous smoke stacks leaning backward. There was no smoke coming from them, well just a little from one. We had to get into a long line of people all with suitcases, boxes and bags. All seemed to be excited and sad at the same time. Ropes were keeping us in line and many people were on the outside of the ropes hugging and kissing and crying with others that were on our side of the rope. They must be saying good-bye. A long long time later we walked up a steep walkway that zigzagged up to an entrance. Further along the ship I saw another line of people, that were carrying nothing, but workers were carrying their suitcases. Many of the women and the men were wearing hats. When we arrived at the entrance, a gate, two men in white uniforms wearing kind of captain's caps greeted us and asked for passports. My mom showed them hers. One nodded and said,"Bievenue, entre, Madamme." We had to find our cabin mom said. We looked and looked and followed the directions of other men in white uniforms. It seemed like we were exploring a huge endless tunnel with doors and doors and more doors. It was very warm, but there was air blowing in from somewhere making it somewhat comfortable. But, I noticed that mom was very warm, because she wiped herself with her kerchief every now and then.! We finally found a cabin that matched the number mom had on her ticket. A man in white came from nowhere and opened the door for us. We went in. It was small, but had two beds, a dresser and small night tables with lamps on the walls. There were two stands with straps for the suitcases and a small closet to hang clothes. Mom was pleased and quickly began to unpack some things. She was clearly excited and pleased, perhaps almost happy. It was good to see mom happy, well almost happy. We both were hungry. There were lights on everywhere, because there were no windows anywhere. Mom laid on her bed and closed her eyes, so I did the same. We heard a gong and a voice that said something in French, something about 'dine'. Mom got up and went outside. A moment later she came back and beckoned me to follow her. She looked in the mirror, tucked in her blouse and fussed with her hair. Then we began the journey to somewhere. She seemed to know where she was going. We noticed other passengers going in the same direction. The corridors went straight, then curved, then there were stairs we climbed and then we entered through double doors into a large hall. There were huge lights hanging down and many many round tables. Mom looked at her ticket or document again and then looked at the many tables and began walking among them. 

   

She stopped at one, looked carefully and I noticed two folded white card-boards with the same numbers and letters as was on our cabin door. She sat down and padded the chair beside her, beckoning me to sit. We sat quietly with some people who sat across from us. By and by more people came and filled the chairs. No-one spoke Swiss, but everyone spoke to someone near them. I couldn't understand anyone or anything. Some of them reached for a card in front of them and looked at it carefully it seemed. Men it white uniforms without caps waked to all the tables, bent down, stood straight, talked and wrote things onto a paper, then disappeared. Our white dressed man talked as well, but we couldn't understand him. I heard that 'Bievenue, .... and silvuplait' again. Mom spoke to him in German and he responded in funny German. She spoke some more and I heard 'Milch bitte für mein Sohn'. He disappeared and we politely waited with the others. There were some uncomfortable smiles and nods. I looked around and found more of the same. Food began to arrive by the men in white, who carried huge round trays way over their heads without spilling a drop. Our man placed his tray onto a little table and began serving people. How did he know what to put onto all these plates? He was like a showman. I liked watching him do his work, making comments and smiling. Mom watched the others and then began eating. This meant I could start as well. The food was delicious, yummy and different from what mom usually cooked and she cooked really well. It was all arranged the same on almost every plate. For dessert we could choose from a cart that was rolled in front of us - amazing. We could also choose ice cream that was not on the cart. Mom chose a piece of nice looking cake or torte and I asked for ice cream. Wow, ice cream! Could I have ice cream every day? Somehow we found our way back to our cabin and slept like babies. This ship was an adventure for me. We found our way back to the eating area and had a breakfast that was totally strange to me, but very tasty. There was orange juice. I never had that before, French bread, white bread, dark bread, marmalade, honey, coffee late, even tea and hot chocolate, milk and fruit - wow, bananas, oranges, figs, pears, and others I had never seen before. Were we in paradise? Is this what paradise is like? Later mom wanted to lie on a deck chair and read. I wanted to explore. We agreed on a meeting time and place and I disappeared. I walked and walked and walked and looked and noticed doors opening and closing. I noticed white uniformed men doing their work and going through doors only opening to them. Some had a sign over the door with a 2 and some words on it. I managed to go through such a door. I was in a new world. Things were different here. The carpets in the hallways were a different colour. People were dressed just a little different, a bit more special, a bit more fancy. Why were they more fancy? Would I be OK? Was I dressed OK? I began to look and explore. The chairs were fancier, with small pillows, the cots for sunning had mattresses on them. We were two levels up higher.! There was a swimming pool, an enormous swimming pool and not many people in it. Something was different in this area. Mmmm, a bit more special fancier than ours. I walked some more. There weren't as many people, as in our area.

As I walked along and explored this area, I saw a girl, a beautiful girl, lie on a deck chair. I looked at her and then stared at her, because she was beautiful. She watched me looking at her and she smiled. She smiled, my god, she smiled! Could this really be happening to me? I sort of smiled at her, but didn't know what to say. 'Bievenue' was the only word that came to my mind. I must have been totally red in the face, because I felt hot. Her eyes told me that that was acceptable. We had made contact. My eyes were glued on her and it was not comfortable. She was the first to speak again and said, "Hello". What language was that, I wondered? Not knowing what to do, I responded, "Hello" and meekly smiled. She smiled with a big big smile. I don't remember how we got together, but we did. We were actually walking side by side along the ship's side. The sun was shining. The world was perfect. Somehow we began exploring the ship together. She was French and 12 years old and lived in second class. This was the area I had found and that's why it was different from where we were. The next day I was to bring my bathing suit. I loved exploring and even better with my new friend from second class - this pretty girl, Francoies with her short dark hair and a little hole in each cheek. I don't know how we communicated, or if it was even necessary at all. She and I explored everywhere. I left my mom alone and she her parents. We explored the whole ship. Everywhere was fair game. We noticed how white dressed men opened doors for us and then disappeared. We managed to go through doors just before they closed and clicked shut.

In this new area things were even more different. People were dressed differently, much more fussy, or fancy. Men had jackets and ties, some wore hats. Ladies had longer dresses and many were fuller and fancier. Ladies wore gloves and their hands were always held higher than other ladie's hands. They carried fancy little purses.

Were they all going to church? We learned that we were in first class - very special, very fancy. I had overheard sometime ago, that first class was only for the rich and we would never be that. The men in white wore white gloves, their jackets were longer and had shinier buttons and their shoes were glossy white. They were even more careful, more particular, slower, and they bowed much more as they backed away from someone. They always seemed to be doing things for someone, holding something, getting something and lighting cigarettes for ladies and cigars for men.

We noticed that there was much much more food in this area. There were many large tables filled with foods and fruit of all kinds. Some of this looked so strange to me. It was all piled up like a window display. It was like a fairy tale in a book. I had never seen so much food on tables. The fruit was cut open and had to be eaten, or it would go bad. Why was there sooo much food? Were these people so much hungrier? We ate fruit, cake, cookies and pralines (fancy chocolate pieces) as well, but we could only eat until we were full. There was still so much food there. And more food was brought in while we were eating - way too much food for everyone!

Somehow we understood each other, or it didn't seem to matter. We did everything together. We explored the whole ship. Many doors were closed, but we would wait until someone went through and would grab the door before it closed and go through then. We saw the bow and heard the swoosh of the waves as they passed the bow. We were at the end of the ship, up at the top, were only the ladies in long dresses with long white gloves walked with their little dogs. Most of these had blue, pink or black bows. Their collars glittered and the ones that were carried were being kissed. Didn't these ladies know that dogs lick their behinds - yuk?

Special, was going swimming in this area. As soon as It looked like we were about to go swimming, a white dressed man seemed to be right there to offer a towel, or a pillow, or a mattress for the beach chair. Then he would nod, and back away. What was going on here? Why was everyone so courteous, so helpful, so phoney? Were these people helpless, or crippled?

I loved climbing the tall white ladders that ended on beautiful diving boards and jumping in. No-one stopped us. There were life guards and mattresses that floated. As soon as we stepped out a man appeared holding out a huge white towel for us. Do people really live like this - this fancy, this phoney, this pretentious? Everything seemed stiff and out of place, too fussy, but not comfortable, not friendly, certainly not friendly. No-one seemed to smile here, yet they had everything. Francoies smiled a lot and so did I.

In our travels we found halls with movies, halls for dancing and even horse racing - well kind of. Horses about the size of a chair, of different colours had riders and numbers on them. They were lined up at a starting line, a bell rang and all of them moved and then stopped. Someone threw some dice against a wall in a large green box and the horse with those numbers moved forward. People screamed and yelled and seemed excited. We also enjoyed going to the movie theatre. A real movie, the only movie I had ever seen in Switzerland, was Robinson Crusoe, and here was a movie with cowboys and Indians and then one with funny cats. Wow! I had only heard about this before.

On one level there was a whole row of large white wooden boats on stands all covered with tarps, ten in row.!They were all one behind the other and looked like they were in line waiting to go somewhere. Up here the ship wasn't as wide and you could actually walk from one side to the other without going through doors and hallways. We walked up to one of the three chimneys. It was humming and black smoke was coming out at the top high above and behind us. We were tiny beside this giant. We were halfway to the clouds up here. We were all alone. The wind was strong and we had to lean a little as we walked. We were excited and ran and jumped and hid from each other around the other side of the chimney. We walked all the way to the front past the other two chimneys. They looked like three giants pulling on a rope and leaning backward. At the front we could look down onto another level and another level and another. The bow of the ship was almost small from up here. We walked down some stairs and came to a strange area. It was like a half circle, all in glass. Men wore fancy caps and had many golden stripes on their coats or on their shoulders. There were all kinds of clocks and meters, binoculars and handles. There were fancy radios with red and green lights and a man talking into a little box in his hand with a long wire going into the radio. This was backwards. Usually the radio made the sound, not the other way around. In the middle were two very big steering wheels with spikes, or handles all around. They were beautiful shiny wood. A man was holding one of them. It was almost as tall as the man. Was he steering this huge gigantic ship? How could this wheel steer this ship? I know that ships have a rudder at the back. How could this wheel be connected to a rudder so far away, a rudder that must be as tall as a house, or taller? This must be a very special place. The man with the most golden cords on his cap and the fattest stripes on his coat must be the captain. He had a white short beard and a long moustache just like the Santa had that visited me last Christmas. On a table there were maps, huge maps with little flags on them.

We explored the whole ship. No-one stopped us. No-one cared. We knew how to get into any door, at any level, at any class and we did. It was wonderful. My new French girl friend Francoies and I went all over. We were new buddies and felt free. Our parents didn't seem to miss us or worry about us. It was absolutely wonderful, no, it was heaven for me. I never knew that life could be so thrilling, so exciting, so varied and all on a ship. A ship so huge that thousands of people didn't make it sink, a ship so white and beautiful with so many levels, so many cabins, so many stairs, so many fancy halls with fancy lights and carpets and soft chairs, sitting areas with books and magazines, drinking areas, eating areas, large outside areas on every level. Best of all, I had a new friend all to myself. We spoke different languages, yet, it didn't matter. We understood each other somehow, explored together, ate together, swam together and even held hands sometimes when we walked slowly and quietly.

Then, just as quickly, it was over. We had arrived in New York. We saw a huge ginormous statue of a lady, possibly a princess or a queen, or even a goddess. She had a book in her hand and a crown with spikes all around.

There was no time for tears or hugs. We just didn't see each other again and that was that. Well, not really, I had new memories and unbelievable new experiences. I even knew a few new words, 'hello, good-bye, thank you, please, yes, no, merci, oui, silvuplait, bievennue, my name is, je mapelle and ....

How could anything ever be better than this had been? We were now in a new country. What would lie ahead?