Tchan Seung was a Korean politician living in Seoul.

In the early 1960s he was given an opportunity to travel to Canada to further his education. 

The Korean war had ended a few years earlier leaving the country very impoverished. It was one of the poorest nations in the world as its economy was just beginning to recover. The education was very limited compared to other countries and there was still lots of political uncertainty and tension between North and South Korea. Many people were worried about the possibility of another war.

While Korea was an unstable country at the time, Canada was the place of opportunities. It had everything Korea lacked, a better economy, greater education, and was very secure. It had a higher quality life and plenty of job opportunities. 

Seeing all Canada had to offer Tchan Seung decided to bravely immigrate to a completely new place, Canada, as a non permanent resident. 

Tchang Seung was already quite good at speaking English and he was accepted to Mcgill university where he studied English and Business. 

Canada was completely new to my grandfather, he was not familiar with the area and did not know how to get from one place to another.  It was hard being away from family, and he missed his home food.

Wanting to connect to more people like him he joined a Korean church. The community was small but felt like a piece of home, where they spoke the same language, and ate the same food. Here he met many people who would become his lifelong friends, but most importantly had met my grandmother Aija. Soon they started dating. 

In 1964, his political party wanted him to come back. However he didn't want to leave Canada. Not only did he want to finish university but he now had many friends, and even found love. How could he leave everything he worked so hard for behind? He refused to go back so the government cut his funding for everything, food, housing, clothes, and rent. Suddenly life had become extremely challenging.

He did his citizenship test becoming an economic class immigrant and had to work multiple jobs just to meet ends. Unfortunately he was unable to afford university and had to drop out. 

Despite this he never gave up and continued to work hard. He went to George Brown college becoming a HVAC technician, while my grandmother became a nurse. Things were looking up.

Tchang Seung and Aija bought a house in Oakville and got married. Eventually my grandparents had two boys who grew up and each had one daughter. The youngest son is my dad, making me the third generation.

During his time in Canada he never worried about food shortages which happened in Korea shortly after he moved or war. My grandfather made sure to give the best possible education towards his children who both finished university. Overall, he had a very peaceful and prosperous life in Canada however all stories must come to an end, and Tchan Seung's ended September, 11, 2022.

South 

Korean Culture