In total, Kim Thúy estimates that he spent 15 months in Granby after arriving in Quebec. It was March 27, 1979. She was 10 years old.
She and her family had left Vietnam during the war to reach Malaysia after a dangerous sea crossing. Their status as refugees then forced them to live in complete poverty in an unsanitary and overcrowded camp. It is easy to understand that after such hardships, little Kim found the Estonian city to be a “warm belly” that had given birth to her newly arrived clan.
(Alain Dion and Jonathan Lalonde)
During this brief return to basics, the author will often acknowledge the kindness and generosity of the residents of Granby who “raised their hand” to care for this first contingent of approximately 80 Vietnamese immigrants, all of whom came from the same plane.
“We didn’t have time to prepare for our arrival in Canada, but the city had prepared the people who welcomed us well. We didn’t have to explain it. They had already demystified Asia and Vietnam long before we arrived,” she says.
The Ru film hits theaters on November 24th.
Hotel Castel
“My God, it’s changed so much; It’s not my castle anymore! » exclaims the author with a smile as she parks in front of the hotel where her group was staying at the time. “This was our first base. We stayed there for a few weeks while we got an apartment. »
After losing everything and experiencing the misery of the refugee camp, life in the hotel was almost a waking dream. “Having a clean bed, washing, drinking water and a cafeteria were incredible luxuries,” she says, admitting that her family didn’t have time to settle down. The children had to be registered at school and take part in all integration activities to which they were invited.
“I remember people bringing us bags full of clothes from the Woolco store. This is where I got my first pajamas with feet! Others offered us food and even car rides because we didn’t have a car. »
She fondly remembers the hotel owner, Mr. Bouthiette, putting her father in charge of cleaning the fire escape and then moving him into the kitchen.
“He carefully offered her this job so that she could earn money in a noble way,” says Kim Thúy. The same was true of his mother, who was put in charge of the maintenance of their house by the Godbout family when everything there was already shiny like a new penny. “It was just a way to help him, give him a job and references. »
Holy Family School
Kim Thúy stands in the middle of the cafeteria at Sainte Famille School, searching the room and digging through his 44 years of memories.
When you sit down at a desk, tons of images from the past appear: your teacher Marie-France in the reception class, her placement test (passed!) for admission to the 6th grade by Madame Suzanne, lunches with someone from the neighborhood Children, her new friend Johanne… The immersion, she says, was quick and characterized by friendliness.
“We were completely immersed in the culture here. When we arrived from the refugee camp we thought of nothing, we no longer had any identity, we came back from a no man’s land where we could have died without it even being recorded. And suddenly we were treated with every respect. »
— Kim Thuy
Silent and obedient by nature, little Kim quickly gained self-confidence. “Québécoise was ingrained in me even before I spoke French. It’s very funny, my mother told us that my two brothers and I sometimes dreamed out loud in French at night, even though we didn’t speak the language yet! »
“In my head,” she continues, “after a month, I had the impression that I was understood and that I understood everything.” You could guess a lot from people’s gestures and facial expressions. We used our feelings and our sensory intelligence. »
His first apartment
“It was in front of the big church on a street corner…” On the way to her first apartment in the car, she gave us directions that were a bit vague but enough to get us around. Opposite the old Notre-Dame church, the building still stands with its beautifully renovated facade.
“We lived in two residential units, first in a 4.5-room apartment, then in a 5.5-room apartment with a balcony,” explains Kim as she walks along the old building to the back.
For the three children and their parents, these accommodations were “more than good,” considering what they had experienced in Cambodia.
“In the camp we slept on the floor with the beetles eating us. There were 25 of us in a shelter the size of a small room… So you’re asking me if it was comfortable here? It is save. A 4 ½ for five people was… too big!
“And on the ground floor I think it was a bank. I opened my first bank account here. »
By the most wonderful coincidence, the writer discovered that this room is now occupied… by a bookstore.
Boivin Lake
On the shore of the lake, Kim Thúy remembers that it was her friend Johanne who introduced her to the joys of ice skating this winter.
“She brought my brothers and I here. She was the one who tied my skates because I didn’t know what to do with them! I fell so hard! » laughs the fifty-year-old.
“We then came back from Montreal as a family with a cousin who was very good at skating. It’s lucky my mother didn’t break anything; She was the worst of all of us! To stop we had to throw ourselves into the snowbanks. »
Open to all invitations, they also tried cross-country skiing – without much success. “It was hard to turn down because people gave us their time on weekends to help us discover a lot of things. »
Among other things, she remembers the first time she saw a street sale in front of the old Greenberg store on Main Street.
“We were very surprised that the goods were left unattended on the sidewalk and no one stole them. I think it says a lot about a country,” adds the lady, who also learned a new concept in Granby: changing clothes depending on the season.
It’s all these small and big moments that marked his first steps in his host country and that Kim Thúy now wants to show on the big screen.
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