From Frozen Pizzas to Podcasts: An Immigrant's Inspirational Tale | Ft. Oscar Cecena Ep. 039 - My Thick Accent

Episode Transcript
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Gurasis (00:00):
Hi, this is Gurasis Singh and you're listening to My
Thick Accent Podcast.
So in today's remarkableinstallment we have the honour

(00:21):
of exploring the inspiringjourney of a true adventurer, a
multi-talented, a lifelonglearner, creative story teller
and host of the renowned podcastImmigrants of Toronto From
bidding farewell to his belovedvibrant Mexico City to embarking
on a new chapter in Canada, andhow he navigated the unfamiliar
terrain, overcame obstacles andembraced the opportunities that

(00:42):
awaited him.
His story is a testament to theindomitable spirit of
immigrants and the impact ofcommunity support.
Let's dive into his creativejourney, explore the power of
storytelling and discover theprofound impact of sharing
immigrant narratives and whyfrozen pizza tasted better than
any pizza at one point in hisimmigrant journey.
Please welcome Oscar Cecena.

Oscar (01:07):
Hi, thanks for having me.

Gurasis (01:09):
It's an honour to have you.
Like I said, Oscar, I wasalways out of this conversation.
Let me start by asking you yourquestion, which you usually ask
your guests, which was that ifmoney wasn't an issue, what
would you be?

Oscar (01:24):
Y eah!

Gurasis (01:24):
And in 2021, I know that you said that if I could
have everything I have atLinkedIn, but instead of talking
to clients, I could spend mytime writing either a novel or
just Dungeons Dragons adventures.
So what would you be in 2023?
Today?
I think it's still the same.

Oscar (01:40):
Yeah, okay.
Yeah, if I could still havelike the, I mean at LinkedIn.
I think it's a great companyand there's a lot of things that
we can do there.
For example, I just took on theleadership of the Embrace ERG
in Toronto, which is the idea isto embrace all cultures and all
those things, and if I couldhave everything that I have

(02:02):
there but instead of doingclient work, I could be able to
write and play Dungeons, Dragonson any tabletop RPG.
I would do that 100%.
Okay, it's still the sameanswer yeah, okay.

Gurasis (02:18):
Okay, I think you are sort of doing that right With
your second podcast, is that so?

Oscar (02:23):
Yeah, Actually, you mentioned that I'm the host of
the immigrants of Torontopodcast.
I actually stopped recordingthat one like about a year and a
half ago, like a year ago,almost After 100 episodes.
I just thought it was time tomove into something else.
And I recently just started anew podcast that's called why we

(02:44):
Write Fantasy and the goal isto kind of give our take on what
fantasy means for us, like howwe write it, what do we do to
write it, how do we want to useit to tell different stories,
maybe dive into certaindifficult topics that, for

(03:07):
example, you can see it in thenews and then you're going to
get upset.
But if you read about that in afantasy or sci-fi novel, it
might just pick your interestand helps you understand how the
world works, like social andeconomically and politically and
everything.
So that's kind of the idea.
So it's a new thing, completelydifferent to my previous one,

(03:28):
but yeah, I'm excited.

Gurasis (03:30):
Yeah, definitely sounds very fascinating, and how you
got interested into that.
Let's just talk about that.
Let me take you back to Mexicowhere you grew up.
That last little bit about yourformative years and what were
you doing before you moved.

Oscar (03:45):
I was a project manager, an IT project manager, back in
Mexico.
I have a degree in computerengineering and I was a
developer.
Then I moved to projectmanagement and kind of like the
career of all of them.
But by the time I was in MexicoI moved here 10 years ago.
I was an IT project manager.

(04:05):
I was working for aninternational company which is
pretty big.
I actually moved to Spain for afew months to work on a project
there.
Then I went back and then Imoved to Canada to try my luck,
I guess.
But back then I was.
I didn't say my life was prettynormal.
I was married to my wife.
We got married 15 years ago andit was.

(04:28):
I would say it was kind ofnormal, like you go, you wake up
, you go to work, you come back,you meet your friends, your
family and those things.
But yeah, I would say it was apretty normal, boring, standard
class life.

Gurasis (04:46):
No, but tell me a little bit about your childhood,
probably, or what the focus wason growing up, or just the
family environment, because Ifeel like that really impacts
your later years of life.
Tell us about that a little bit.

Oscar (05:00):
So I grew up in a very progressive family and I think
I'm always very thankful to dothat.
My mom has five sisters, nobrothers, and I grew up always
with the idea of feminism was abig thing.
So my mom and my aunts, theyall grew up in the 60s and 70s

(05:24):
with all the feminist movements,so that was something that
stayed with them.
And seeing growing up, seeingvery successful women around me,
kind of gave me the idea that Imean that was normal, right,
like there was no, no issue,like it was very ingrained in me
that I would never discriminateanyone because basic gender or

(05:48):
anything like that.
And I guess also fortunatebecause my dad was the same like
he would.
I would never see him talkingto my mom and saying that he was
better than her because of XXand he was a man, never, ever.
So I think growing up in thattype of family it gave me some,
I would say it gave me all thebackground and, I would say, the

(06:13):
fundamental principles that Ilive by.
Today it's a little bitdifferent, like I think the I
mean I guess that's why I don'thave kids.
I grew up in a very, very, Iwould say very progressive.
So we were, we thought we knewabout the issues of I don't know

(06:34):
like what's going on with theworld.
Like every time there was, evenwhen I was a kid, if we had a
family gathering, most of thetalking with the like the adults
were talking.
I was a kid, I was trying toplay in it.
Sometimes I wanted to feel likea grownup, so I went and sat
with them to listen to what theywere saying and it was usually
about politics and it was notonly a ranting about politics,

(06:57):
it was like the analysis of thegovernment and the analysis that
was happening in the world.
And my grandfather he was avery, very smart and wise man,
so he always knew what was goingon and he was always able to go
back and reference things thathappened in the past, like all

(07:17):
the histories, like oh yeah,this is because in 1931, this
happens.
Like, oh, I find thatfascinating.
So I grew up with, like, withall this old, old environment,
so I started getting a lot ofinteresting history and
literature and and all that.
So it kind of gave me the basisof what my life is today.

(07:41):
Like I just tried to understand.
Like something comes out andit's different to what I believe
, and maybe I was never exposedto this back in Mexico.
So, instead of dismissing it asif it's not something that
shouldn't happen or anything, Ijust tried to understand it and
try to try to get an idea ofwhat is this and why is it
important for this other person.

(08:02):
So, yeah, that's kind of whatwhat my, my childhood was, but
the thing is that the Mexicansociety doesn't work like that.
So I always say that I grew upin a bubble, because once I
moved out of the world and it'slike, oh, okay, I'm gonna see
what's going on, I don't know Igot the feeling that I didn't
belong.

(08:23):
Okay, because it was a very it'sa very patriarchal society,
which is something different tothe way I grew up, like.
I grew up around women andstrong and powerful women, and I
go to work, and then I realizedthat one of my colleagues,
which is smarter than me, sheworks harder than me, she didn't

(08:44):
get the promotion, but I get itand that's because our boss was
a little, let's say,misogynistic.
So it's like getting into thosethings later in my life.
It just it.
Just, it just shocked me alittle bit, like like this is
not, I don't belong here.
This isn't, this is not how Igrew up.

(09:05):
This is not.
These are not the values that Ithat I live by.
So what's happening?

Gurasis (09:11):
Yeah, you actually answered like my next question
was about to ask that at onepoint you felt like, oh, I grew
up in an environment where womenwere always empowered to know
feminism was the word of myconversations here and there.
So what time it happened?
You did say that, yes, it wasduring your, you know, corporate
experience, probably.
So how did you navigate that,that?
How did you kind of processthat or did that impact the

(09:34):
further years after that?

Oscar (09:37):
I think it did in a.
In a way, I think the problemis that when I was like, when I
was working in in the, in acorporate job, back in.
Mexico and things were happeninglike that.
I don't think I had the wisdomor even the strength like it was
in my 20s so to stand stand upand tell my boss you know what?

(10:00):
What you're doing is BS.
I'm not, I'm not with it.
I was just thinking about like,oh, I need to pay rent, I need
to pay my bills and this is thesystem.
So okay, just let's go throughit.
I'm upset, but it's hard to goout of my way if I cannot feed
myself.
So kind of.

(10:22):
I think it's a little shame ofthat part, but I think it's part
of growing up.
Like I was in my 20s was like20 years ago.
I'm 45 now.
So all the wisdom and thethings that happened back then,
if I had all the knowledge andall the even the confidence of
saying I don't think this iscorrect, I think I think I would

(10:43):
have to do it Like I would doit today.
I didn't do it back then, I wasjust immature and all that.
But it's part of growing up, Ithink.

Gurasis (10:51):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm sure you must be having another
thing to kind of focus on, maybeyour career or, like I said,
with the rent and the job, andyou kind of went into the flow
of things happening andconsidered unminding your own
business.
Yeah, exactly, yeah, so I wantto go back to the Mexico point,
once again, tell me somethingthat people don't know about

(11:11):
Mexico that you would like toshare.

Oscar (11:14):
Okay, Wow, okay, I'm thinking that this is I mean,
lately I've talked to a lot ofpeople who want to go to Mexico
City to visit and all that and Ithink one of the things that
people might not know,especially in North America and

(11:35):
Europe, which, like racism, isdifferent.
The Mexican society is racist.
In a way, it's more like acaste system than actual the
color of your skin.
But if you like, nobody reallytalks a lot about that and I
think it's because it's not likeif you go to the, to the states

(11:59):
and and you think about racism,like the racism they have there
is it's pretty terrible, likeit's, it's, it's really bad.
And even in Canada we have sometype of racism against either
the black community of the Asiancommunity, especially with
COVID and all that.
In Mexico you cannot see itlike that, like nobody.

(12:22):
But you won't see like anindigenous person in the street
and then another Person withstart yelling like go back to
your state or go out, get out of.
That would never happen in thecity.
So that's what some peopledon't think the Mexican society
is racist in that way.
But it's all this systemicracism that we have and this

(12:43):
caste system that you know thatif you are, if you are
indigenous or if you come fromLike indigenous background, then
your opportunities are limited.
Just to give you an idea, likethe the when we're applying for
a job.
I don't know if it's happened,still happening now.

(13:05):
Honestly, I moved out 10 yearsago, but 10 years ago we still
put our photos in our resume andand most of the time you you
could get dismissed by just theway you look like.
So I Never had that issuebecause, like half of my
family's from Spain and theirhalves from Japan, so I'm I

(13:27):
don't have I don't really haveindigenous Roots, but it pisses
me off that someone that lookslike me just gonna have another,
another opportunity whensomeone that it's smarter,
harder worker and everythingwill not get it just because the
way they look like and that wasthat was.
I am saying that's 10 years ago.
I know society has evolved andall that.

(13:51):
This is one of the things that Iwant to mention, but that's
kind of like a bad thing.
I think a good thing thatMexico has that maybe people
don't know is.
I know people like street foodand when people go to Mexico
City they usually ask me likewhere should I, where should I
eat and they usually ask forrestaurants.
And If you're, if you're inMexico City, you're just walking

(14:14):
around.
There's a taco spots, like inon the sidewalk.
If there's people there, it'sgood.
So it's and it's.
I love street food, so Iwouldn't.
I would tell people who haven'tnever been in Mexico City that
if you want to go there just tovisit, make sure that you eat
some street food.
It's just.

(14:34):
I think it's the best I everever tasted, and there's so much
.
If you see taco place that ispacked and then one on the side
that doesn't have that manypeople, maybe it's more
convenient to go there becauseyou're gonna get your food
faster.
But, trust me, go where thepeople are, like that's where
you can get the best food.

Gurasis (14:54):
Yeah and I.
It's funny, oscar, when youwere talking about Mexico, it
didn't feel like you're talkingabout Mexico for me, because it
felt like you're talking aboutIndia, except the taco part,
because Talking about, you know,the caste system and sort of
the racism and Something thatyou said, that it just there,
it's, it just exists, and Ithink I'm not alien to that

(15:14):
thing as well.
I will not disagree that itdoes not exist in India, from
from the, you know,differentiating from the colors
of skin, or To havingphotographs on the resume and
not hiring and and all thoseexperiences and caste system.
It does exist in India.
But I would say the only thingwhich I have experienced in the
past five years since I am hereand talking to people here and

(15:35):
when visiting back To India aswell, that, yes, the education
has Specifically close that gapand I'm happy about that, that
it has definitely helped inMaking the country go grow a
little bit.
And obviously the second thingis said the food.
Yes, I would never recommendanybody to go into those
fanciest restaurants or foodchains exist all around the

(15:56):
world.
Go to the street food, try thelocal street food.
Nothing beats that for sure.

Oscar (16:01):
Yeah, yeah, actually there's.
There's a book that I read Ithink was last year is called
caste and it's the author isIsabel Wilkerson, and she talks
mostly about the caste system inthe US.
She compares it with the thecaste system in India and when I
was reading it's like this isthe same thing we have in Mexico
.

Gurasis (16:21):
Mexico okay.

Oscar (16:22):
It's very, very easy.
It's a really good.
Give us a really good book.
I have it somewhere over here,but it kind of explains Very
easily in a very, verystraightforward way how the
caste system was built and a whyit works, why it hasn't quite
worked.
So yeah, I'm just like a randomrecommendation.

Gurasis (16:43):
Yeah, well, I hope it definitely changes and it works
for the betterment of thecountry for sure.
Okay, tell me something, oscar,that something from your
Mexican cultural traditions thathave stayed with you even after
you move to Canada.

Oscar (17:01):
I think.
I think that one's easy.
The day of the debt, it'ssomething that it's very, it's
very important in Mexico, eventhough I'm not I'm not religious
, I don't believe in theafterlife or anything like that
the Though, the fact that wededicate a day where we set up

(17:23):
this altar that we call ofBrenda in Spanish, what that we
do, that is to honor the debtand to give them what they kind
of like, the things that theylike, so I know if someone was
Helping and I don't know if,let's say there's there's

(17:48):
Someone who liked tacos, forexample we're talking about
street food, so someone wholiked tacos, they, they really
liked it, and then during duringthat period, we we go to the,
to the graveyard and in thetombstone we put some tacos on
that and we have a meal with thedeath.
So it's kind of one of thethings that I like.

(18:08):
I mean here I can't because allmy my Love ones are to have
passed away, are in Mexico, butit's kind of a that idea and
it's something that has stayedwith me.

Gurasis (18:21):
Let's pivot towards your journey to Canada.
First of all, tell me when wasthe first time you heard about
Canada and what brought you toCanada?

Oscar (18:28):
I think I heard about Canada in school, like when
we're learning geography and allthat, but Canada was never
really studied in In school,like we focus mostly on, like
Mexican history and the thingsin Mexico.
Yeah, also maybe a little biton Europe and the the wars, like
the French Revolution.

Gurasis (18:49):
That's all those things exactly, yeah.

Oscar (18:52):
Maybe a little bit on the states, like we learned that
they had an independence.
So that was kind of like theone test question, but cannot
never really figured in in inschool.
So it was mostly like you lookat these Amazing pictures of the
Rocky Mountains, like Banff andLake Louise, yeah, thanks.
It's like this looks beautiful,like I want, I want to leave

(19:14):
there because it looks amazing.
But what happened with me waswhen I when I finished high
school, I think, actually I tooka couple of years off to work
and like do other things, andthen when I was going to get
into university, someone told,told me is like hey, have you

(19:36):
ever thought about going to likeuniversity in Canada?
It's like I mean, no, I neverthought about it because, yeah,
why would I?
Then I started looking at itand it always I mean it was
really expensive for me at thetime.
So it's like, yeah, this isimpossible for me, but it's kind

(19:56):
of like planted the seed onlike Canada as destination, as
Living destination.
And then when I met my wife oneday, we were talking about it
and they said like, hey, youknow what I always wanted to go
to to university in Canada or orsomething like that.
And she said, yeah, she, shecame to Toronto when she was 14

(20:19):
and she remembered that tripvery.
I think it was very, very closeto her heart, like the, the
trip and everything.
And what she did was, like youknow what?
I've always wanted to move toto Canada, like for real, like,
yeah, when I was 14, I loved itand I always wanted to move to
to to that country.
And because I always wanted toas well, we just said, like you

(20:42):
want, start looking into moving,would it be something that
you'd be interested in?
And, unfortunately, we bothlike the idea.
So we started thinking about itand that was, I would say, 2010
, maybe a couple of years afterwe got married.
And then we started lookinginto the process, like what do
we need to do all that?
So it took us about two and ahalf years to Finally get.

(21:07):
We were applying to permanentresidency, but I was 35 back
then Well, 33 when I, when westarted looking at the process
we're looking at, there was adifferent process than it is
today.
There was no express entry,nothing like that.
You needed to get into one ofthe Kind of like the, the, the
slots that they have, dependingon your, on your education and
everything.
And that year somehow theyremoved the IT IT, the IT

(21:36):
Category yeah, the category, butthere was just a specific way.
I never mind.
They removed that category so Icouldn't apply.
So we're sort of thinking aboutwhat we do.
The agency we were working withthey said like hey, you can
apply through Quebec, so youonly need to learn French.
So only yeah, yes yes, yes, itis.

(21:58):
Yeah.
So my wife and I we startedlearning French and we we took
French classes for about a yearand a half.
We would pass the test and andthey, they submitted it.
Like the agency submitted.
It is like, hey, I have good.
One day they called as I havegreat news and bad news.
Like so we went there's, like,hey, okay, tell me the good news

(22:21):
.
The good news is that you wereapproved for the application in
Quebec.
The bad news is going to take acouple of years for you to get
the interview.
And at the time, the, thepolitical situation in Mexico's,
really we were really upsetwith that.
Like the, the party that hadbeen in power for like a hundred

(22:41):
years before, was returning topower, and it was kind of like
it's gonna be the same again,like we don't want to live in in
a country that is governed bythat party.
So, so I asked like hey, do youhave any alternatives?
I said, hey, you can come as astudent.
Like fine, yeah, okay, and yeah, that's why we decided to.

(23:03):
I kind of lost the, the, thecoin toss, and I had to study.
I don't like school, so I hadto study your study, human
resources for a bit and and then.
So that's was 10 years ago.
When do kind of like when thejourney started, like the
immigration journey started?

Gurasis (23:21):
So then, in April 2013, I believe, you landed.

Oscar (23:24):
Yes.

Gurasis (23:25):
Yeah, so tell us about your first day, just exactly
when you landed the initialimpressions and your thoughts.

Oscar (23:31):
So we landed in the morning, like before noon.
We we got into the airport andI just, I don't know, like I
couldn't, like part of mecouldn't believe that we were
doing that and the other partwas like this doesn't feel real,
something like that.
Okay, we stayed at a guesthouse in in blue and I Think it

(23:55):
was blue and sherburn type ofarea, there was a small guest
house.
So we paid there for a weekwhile we were looking for for an
apartment rent.
And that day we went to smallerI don't remember the restaurant
.
There was like a smallrestaurant, again like a pub
style.
We got some food, then wewalked around the downtown to

(24:17):
kind of get to know that thecity, yeah, and again I was
still like I Don't believe, likethis is really happening.
But as the days went by andthen we have to sign the, the
lease for the apartment,everything, it just became More
real than than the beginning.
But the beginning, I think, myfeeling was I just don't believe

(24:38):
that we were actually doingthis.

Gurasis (24:41):
Okay, and you know I also heard you say in one of
your podcasts, obviously, thatI'm more of a.
I'm not of a plan B guy, I'mmore of like a plan a guy.
So is the you're saying thatyour plan was to move to Canada
and if it did not work, you'llthink about something else, or
not?
What was that about?

Oscar (24:59):
so.
So I think the yeah, I'm not.
Usually what happens that I seta goal and and okay, I'm okay
changing the plan like how I'mgonna get to that goal, but the
goal rarely changes wasbasically when it says as big as
moving to another country,mm-hmm, yeah.
So I think at the time our goalwas like we're gonna move to

(25:21):
Canada and this is so like,let's say, our first plan was to
go through the permanentresidency, through Ontario.
Yeah it didn't work, then Quebecit didn't work, then the
student that worked.
So it's more like Uh-huh, it'sit, this is, this is where this
is where we're gonna get to.
It just doesn't matter how wedo it, we're just gonna get
there.
But to answer your question, Iknow I didn't really have a

(25:44):
another Goal set or any otherplan.
I was like we already did this,we're we're moving to Canada
and we're just gonna make itwork.
That's it.
Like not even going back toMexico was never an option for
us.

Gurasis (25:58):
I've heard these people saying that when you have a
plan B, you always know there'sa cushion to fall on and you
might not give you 100% of theplan A.
So maybe that's the mentalityyou are kind of moving with.

Oscar (26:10):
Yeah, I'm kind of like a black and white person, like
either go all in or I don't doit at all.
So I think in this case wasmore like I'm going all in.
We sold everything that we hadin Mexico.
We put everything in our bankaccount.
We had a couple of suitcasesthat we arrived with and that
was our life.
Yeah, there was no.
There was no.
No, there was.

(26:31):
For us wasn't even aconsideration of going back.
Like what for?
Like no, we're not doing this.

Gurasis (26:37):
We did talk about, you know, going back to school in
your mid 30s and I did somethingin India like it's not that
common to have a classmate who'sa decade older than you.
Of course, things are changingnow and you have people from of
all ages, you know, coming backto school and doing various
programs and everything.
So how was what you like likeat this age you're going back to

(26:58):
school and how was theexperience like?

Oscar (27:00):
or just like to the point where the differences in the
cultural education or evengeneral education yeah, I mean,
surprisingly, I wasn't theoldest person in the in the, in
the classroom, I'm sure, but Iwas, I think, the second one or
something like that.
I would say that 90% of themwere in their 20s, like early

(27:22):
20s, starting human resources,starting a career and all that.
And in my case, it was like,well, I already had a career,
like I started working, I was 20in in IT, I stopped and I'm
starting human resources.
So I think the approach wasdifferent In my case, my goal
was, first of all, to finishthis so I can get my work permit

(27:46):
and I can start working.
And and also, I think the casesis because we moved here with
our savings, I knew that Iwasn't able to go I don't know
like out and with them asfriends.
So I think I went out with themmaybe a couple of times during

(28:06):
the whole year that I wasstudying there, also, like I
wanted to save money.
Also, like the things thatwe're doing, like that we're
going to clubs, like yeah, Iwent there like 10 years ago.
I'm not going back this is notme, but I think the the I think
the main thing that happened isthat I was really insecure when,
when we got there, especiallyabout my, my English, even

(28:30):
though I was working in for afor Verizon in the States.
Back in Mexico I was acontractor for Verizon for a
couple of years and I wasspeaking English all day with
them I never felt confident toto do it.
So I think that was one of thethings that that I noticed when
I got there.
Like it's like hey, now it'sback then, like I was, I was

(28:52):
like posted in Mexico city but Iwas working for Verizon.
So I had a call with one of mycolleagues.
I would put my headphones ontalking English, hang up and
then turn around to my friendsin Spanish hey, let's go, let's
go out for lunch.
And so my whole life was inSpanish, with a few things in
English.
When I moved here, it was theopposite.
It was like okay, now my wholelife is in English.

(29:14):
So it took me a while to kindof like come to come to terms
that I have an accent, myEnglish is not perfect and I
just want, I just have to livewith it Like I.
It's either that or I'm nevergoing to speak to anyone.
So it was like you know what,let's do it, and yeah, and I
started like forcing myself toto speak more English than

(29:39):
Spanish and everything.
I even went like I told youlike I'm a all or nothing type
of guy.
So even my wife my friendsmakes fun of me because when we
got here I told her like I don'twant to, I don't want to have
any Spanish speaking friends,because I know that if I find
someone in Spanish, I'm going togravitate to them and then I

(29:59):
will never force myself to learnthis language that I need to
learn if I want to be successfulin this country.

Gurasis (30:05):
Yeah.

Oscar (30:06):
So, yeah, I forced.
I forced that, like, everyperson that I met was in English
, even though maybe some, someof them, english wasn't their
first language, they didn't knowSpanish, so we had to
communicate in English.
So forcing myself to do that, Ithink it helped me a lot to the
with the confidence and withthe understanding that nobody

(30:29):
really cares Like as long asthey understand what you're
saying.
Nobody cares if you used a verbincorrectly or if you have an
accent.
As long as they understand you,they're happy because they're
more.
They're more and I guess thisis part of like.
As humans, we care about themessage, like what it means, not
actually if it's written orspoken properly.

(30:54):
So I think that kind of openedmy eyes.

Gurasis (30:57):
And I've also heard you say again one of your podcasts
I consume a lot and you saidthat in Canada you can get along
with broken English as long asyou can put your point forward.

Oscar (31:08):
Yeah, yeah, that's one of the things I learned.
Like I never thought about it,I thought I had to be, my
English had to be perfect, andbecause it wasn't perfect, I was
very kind of self-conscious,like yeah, I don't need to.
Or sometimes I thought reallyhard on what am I going to say
and how am I going to say it,and by the time I said it it was
completely irrelevant becausethe conversation had moved on.

(31:29):
So it just it's kind of likeopened my eyes to like, yeah, as
long as I get my point across,I'm okay.

Gurasis (31:39):
There was another anecdote I heard where you said
that you were walking withsomebody some classmate of your,
maybe a friend of yours, andyou went to a corner and he just
went away.

Oscar (31:48):
Yeah.

Gurasis (31:49):
And you were kind of left questioning that.
What just happened?
To tell me about that?

Oscar (31:53):
It was funny because I think it was one of the I don't
know, maybe the first couple ofmonths at school and my wife
started working.
So I was walking towards mywife's job to pick her up and
one of my friends was like, hey,I'm walking in that direction,
well, let's go together.
And we were having aconversation and then we got to

(32:14):
the subway entrance and it'slike hey, this is my stop ticker
Like in the middle of theconversation I was like what
just happened?
And especially because I comefrom a culture.
Then when you're talking tosomeone, and even if it's your
stop, you finish theconversation, or sometimes just
this is a good conversation.
You know what?
Let's grab a beer.
Let's grab a coffee.
Or sometimes you start a secondtopic at the same time and then,

(32:36):
yeah, you never know, and it'slike it's 10pm.
Okay, I think I need to gethome.
But here was like kind of a.
I just found it funny becauselike our conversation was going
normally, as I would expect it,but for me the flow would have
to be different.
Like, based on what I learned,the flow is that you get to your

(32:57):
corner, we stop because youneed to go the other way.
I need to go straight, wefinish what we're saying, we
shake hands, hug and take care.
That's kind of what we would doit in Mexico.
So here he's not even shakinghands, just like raising his
hands like hey, this is my stopticker.
That's a different culturething and I think that was part

(33:18):
of the culture shock that we hadwhen we moved here.
But that that that I make dothis pretty funny.

Gurasis (33:25):
When was the moment, oscar, you felt like, like we're
talking about the language,right, with a hesitant in
English, and then so when wasthe moment you felt like, okay,
now I feel comfortable in thelanguage, which further led you
to start the podcast, right?
When was that moment?

Oscar (33:39):
Huh, um, you know what?
I don't think I still feelcomfortable with the language.
I think it was more like athought that you know what, I
just want to do it, I'm justgoing to do it, that's it.
What's the worst thing that canhappen?

(34:01):
But there's a couple things thathelped me, I think.
First of all, I joinedToastmasters and that helped me
a lot to get a sense of notwhatever I'm saying makes sense
and kind of like gave meconfidence to you have an
audience.
You have 20, 30 people sittingin front of you and you need to

(34:24):
deliver a five, seven minutespitch and you need to keep them
entertained.
So what do you do?
And you need to keep thementertained.
They need to understand you.
So it kind of forced me to takethat step as, like, you know
what, I just need to do it.
But recently I started speechtherapy because I still want to

(34:44):
improve.
So I think Toastmasters helpedme the first year, the second a
little bit more.
But then after that for me waslike I think I got everything I
should get from Toastmasters andI'm done.
I need something else andthat's when I like looked into
speech therapy and finding a wayto get better at speaking, but,

(35:09):
as you said, like I still don'tfeel that my English is perfect
, I don't think I will ever feelthat, I don't even feel that
with Spanish.
But there's a moment when yousay, like you know what, just
let's just do it, that's it.
Nobody cares.
And I think that was the sense.

Gurasis (35:27):
And I think it's absolutely normal to feel that
you don't have to be an expertin it, or I think I can speak
for myself.
Also, you know, I speak likethree languages and I'm on the
verge of learning the fourth,which is like French.
So it's like there's no way Ican be right for them all of
these.
There's not possibility.
No, there's so much my mind can.
What's the word like?

(35:48):
Preserve?

Oscar (35:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure yeah.

Gurasis (35:54):
Okay, is there this another point?
I learned that you werereluctant to buy winter boots
for the longest time.

Oscar (35:59):
Tell me why is that?
Basically, it was stupid, Ithink that's, that's that's.
I don't know if you can, youcan put that in the show, but I
think the the main reason wasthat it were they were expensive
and we were living and savingand I was studying.
I wasn't making a dime, likeyou can't work when you have a
certain perfect.

(36:20):
So it was like I don't want tospend money there, like I'm sure
that I'm going to be able to doit with sneakers and I'm just
gonna walk.
It was like for five blocksaway, like my college was five
blocks away.
It was like I think I can justmake it like that.
And it took me until, I think,almost Christmas time, when the

(36:42):
snow it was a really snowywinter, that one in 2013.
And it was when, when one daythat I was walking around and it
was snow was pretty high, mysneakers go got wet and I felt
like my feet were going to falloff my body.
So I think that was the timewhen I said you know, I think I

(37:03):
need, I need winter boots.
But yeah, I was just, butmainly just like stupidity.
What's the what's the reasonwhy I didn't buy them?

Gurasis (37:12):
Yeah, okay, so you can call it stupidity, but I think
that's the instant, I would saythe reaction or the behavior
that one kind of falls into whenyou are new to the country,
including myself, you know.
I think I was also hesitant tobuy certain clothes or certain
things which might be helpfulfor me, which would, might keep
me warm.
I was like no, that's prettyexpensive, I can't afford to

(37:35):
spend this much money,especially the the time when I
am literally converting myIndian rupees in the Canadian
dollars, and that was kind ofhitting me hard.
That, okay, that's expensive.
You know, maybe I can survivetwo more months, three more
months.
And I kid you and I kid you not.
I'm very similar to you.
I did.
I came in August and I did notbuy my winter boots up until

(37:57):
December as well.

Oscar (38:00):
Very, very similar.
Yeah, I think I knew.
I knew the winter was going tobe cold, but I didn't think it
was going to be this cold.
But that was the last timesince then I have my winter
boots.
I actually, you know, I don'tneed to pay, pay money to get
good things like I got them andhope.
I got them almost 10 years agoand they're still good, so it

(38:22):
was a good investment.

Gurasis (38:25):
The other thing Oscar want to talk about is you know,
many people talk about theirfirst car, their first job, you
know, their first house, and,but somewhere they forget to
mention the path that they took,the struggle that they have
done where they like, find theywere able to afford all these
things.
And one thing which Iabsolutely love about your

(38:45):
journey is that you have alwaysembraced your struggles and you
have even shared you knowthrough your writings and
through articles and yourstories, that you have written
that and all the hardships thatyou have gone through and how
you have learned from all these,which is which is amazing and,
I think, three things from yourjourney.
I would like to discuss a fewpoints which you have mentioned
that, and the first thing isregarding the work permit

(39:08):
situation and and once again,it's very similar to me, because
I was left with just threemonths of work permit and I was
trying to find a job and justrunning against the clock, just
like yourself.
And tell me about your thattime and how were you keeping
yourself motivated?

Oscar (39:24):
That was really tough.
I think in my case was kind oftopics.
I was let go from my first jobright before Christmas time and
I was going to Mexico forChristmas and it was really
stressful because my my wife'swork permit was tied to my work
permit.
So if I couldn't find a job inthe next six months because I

(39:48):
had to renew my work permit inJune, if I couldn't find a job,
I wouldn't be able to, wewouldn't be able to stay here
Like there was no way to to tobe here.
So I started I, when we cameback from Mexico, was like early
January I was I just focused onI need to get a job.

(40:08):
I need to get a really job,that that it's in my field and
that I can put through.
But back then they had adifferent NAFTA agreement and it
, if it was it, I could just gothrough it, ask my employer to
submit a letter and then I wouldpay for it and I will get the
work permit.
So I needed to work and neededto get back to it.

(40:29):
I was I couldn't work in humanresources, even if I just
started.
That was like I need to getback to it and I need to get
back to it fast and and we knowthat finding a job is not easy.
It's especially when you cometo your country with no network.
Nobody really knows who I amand the people who know who I am

(40:53):
, they know that I'm, that Ifinished a human resources
program.
They don't know if I can workin it.
Like I told them, I was an ITproject manager, but I mean they
have.
No, they can't really vouch forme because that's something I
told them.
They and I think my my mainproblem, that my main goal there

(41:15):
was just to get the the job,and the way that I motivated
myself.
I push myself as I've neverdone before and I think I've
done it after.
Every morning.
I woke up as early as I could.
I made breakfast for me and mywife, I made lunch for my wife

(41:36):
so she could take it to work andI went to the gym and then I
spent an hour in the gym justtrying to get like endorphins
and everything.
After gym I went back home andI was home by, let's say, 930,
showered and everything, and Istarted looking for a job.
So I actually put myself likeI'm gonna work, I'm gonna look
for a job, from 930 to 530 whenmy wife comes back.

(41:59):
So I wanted to link.
Then I went to other, I thinkindeed, or something like that,
trying to look for something Ineeded to build my network and
it was.
It was again.
It wasn't easy, so I actuallywent to LinkedIn and so I and I
started finding people who workin In it, or they had similar

(42:23):
stories than myself and I justmessaged them randomly like hey,
I'm new in the country andtrying to get into the field.
Can I buy you a coffee?
Yeah, something like that.
So my day was mostly applyingfor jobs Like tailoring every
recipe that I was sending toeach one of the companies,

(42:43):
writing cover letters and tryingto meet with people, usually
around lunchtime that they hadlike 30 minutes break or I don't
know, after work weekly at five, something like that.
I think I was fortunate enoughbecause our first, when we got
here, we lived downtown.
I mean, we still live downtown,but that was the main one, like

(43:05):
we live downtown Toronto.
So for me it was very easy towalk around and meet with people
.
So I didn't have to pay threedollars for the subway, which
I'd rather not pay it, and Iusually try to write early so I
could get a tea or the cheapestthing in the menu for me.
And then, when the person camein, someone's like hey, can I

(43:27):
buy you a coffee?
And they would pay for theirown.
So that was kind of like atrick that I was using, because
every dollar, every cent, wasjust going out like there was
nothing coming in, because I hadno job.
And I think that routine, thatlike forcing myself to work out,

(43:51):
then find a job for eight hoursand then, as soon as my wife
came home, it was like, okay,I'm done, my mind is tired, like
my brain is dead, I need to dosomething fun.
So our fun stuff was usuallylike watching TV, like playing a
game by ourselves or somethinglike that.
But I wanted to forget that Iwas doing that so I could

(44:12):
recharge and have energy thenext day.
And yeah, that was like threemonths, like January to March.
So yeah, that was kind of the.
I never done anything asstructured as that in my life
before.
So, yeah, that was.
I just thought it was the onlyway.
Again, my goal was to stay inCanada, so I had to do something

(44:35):
and I did it and I wasfortunate enough to find an
amazing company that helped mewith my status and all that.
I stayed with them for six anda half years and I cannot thank
them enough.
They are just the best people.
I wouldn't be in Canada withoutthem and with all their support
.

Gurasis (44:55):
Hmm, and so that structure that you got yourself
into that worked in your favor,right?

Oscar (45:01):
It did.

Gurasis (45:02):
Did you still try to implement that in your current
years?

Oscar (45:07):
I think that I should implement it, but I don't really
.
I don't really do it.
I think it's one of thosethings that when you're stressed
and you are like trying tosurvive, you just do whatever it
takes.

Gurasis (45:19):
Absolutely.

Oscar (45:20):
When you are in a more comfortable situation, like when
you have your job.
You have your and now I'm acitizen, so I don't need to
worry about that.
I think you just lay back alittle bit and it's like you
know what it's.
I mean, you cannot leavestressed all your life.
So those three months werereally, really stressful for me
and I think that's what I needed.

(45:41):
But I haven't put myself inthat situation ever again and I
think I would do it again if Ihad to survive.
In quote unquote yeah, but yeah, it's not something that I'm
not as structured as it appearswhen you look at those three
months Like I'm more likechaotic in certain ways.

Gurasis (46:03):
But yeah, it was good, it helped, it helped all the
time, and it was also the timewhere the virtual coffee charts
wasn't a thing.
You were doing them physicallyand that definitely takes a lot
of time.
But yeah, all in all, I thinkthat's a great advice for
anybody who is listening thatyou do whatever it takes to do
and I think I've mentioned it somany times on the podcast do
the best you can in that certainsituation.

(46:26):
You know whatever it is in yourcontrol, focus on that, not on
the something which is not inyours.
Yeah, so like talk about, youknow, your permanent residency
situation where you applied onceand it got rejected.
Tell us the reason behind thatand how did you cope up with
that?

Oscar (46:42):
So the reason is pretty.
So I applied by myself.
I read everything about theapplication and all that and I
thought I knew how to do it, butI uploaded our merge
certificate, like I.
Just a mistake.
I uploaded the original versionin Spanish instead of uploading

(47:05):
the translated version inEnglish.
It was just a mistake when Iwas putting all the documents up
there and unfortunately, theimmigration agent that got my
case, I guess, didn't have anypatience for mistakes.
So instead of getting back tome and say, hey, you uploaded a
different one, can you uploadthe one?
They just rejected theapplication.

(47:26):
And I was devastated, like Iremember.
I was at work in this companynames Horizon.
I was in the office when I gotthe email and I don't remember,
I don't know how it was.
After five, I think I waswrapping up and I got the email.
I was checking because therewas not a lot of people around
and I don't know what face Imade, because one of my

(47:50):
colleagues was passing by andshe was like everything else
okay, and I just turned aroundlike I got rejected for my
permanent residency and andshe's like give me a minute.
And she called the CEO.
Like was my boss the CEO andthey say, hey, oscar just got
rejected.
And then she called me back andsay hey, don't you worry, we're

(48:12):
going to hire a lawyer for youand we're going to help you with
the whole process.
Oh, wow.
So yeah, like I said, Iwouldn't be here without them.
It's, it's just the like theydidn't have to.
I mean they, yeah, of course,like I have been working with
them for three years back then,but they really didn't have the

(48:33):
the obligation to to do all thisfor me and they did, yeah, and
yeah, it was just.
It was kind of one of thosemoments that just humbles you
that there's so many people thatwant to help and I was lucky to
find them.

Gurasis (48:52):
It's incredible you do come across some people in their
life which definitely leavesyou in awe that, like I said,
they were not obligated to do it, but they just did it to help
you that.
That's incredible, okay, andobviously they just talk about
that.
Why frozen pizza tasted betterthan any pizza at one point in
your journey.

Oscar (49:10):
Tell me about that.
So when we moved here I mean weagain we're living in saves we
didn't have any money.
So for our kind of like Fridayor weekend night, like after
work and after school in my caseand my wife's work we we used
to turn on Netflix and watch theoffice.

(49:32):
And it was so fun because we,in our way home, we stopped by
the grocery store and we bought,like frozen pizza, we put it in
the oven and and then we atepizza watching the office.
It was kind of like our, ourdate night and and that's what I
say like it tasted better thananything else, just because what

(49:55):
it meant.
It meant that it was kind of atreat that we were giving to
ourselves.
I don't, I don't eat frozenpizza anymore, but but at the
time it was really it was.
It was amazing.
This tasted, tasted great.

Gurasis (50:10):
I bet you know it does, as five, six dollars you get to
eat the full pizza.

Oscar (50:14):
definitely it would be good yeah exactly, and I think
back then it was cheaper than Iwas, maybe three, four dollars,
like yeah, we also got like someless Sanya, like frozen less.
It was terrible, but it was likeit was like a one dollar each.
So sometimes like you want likeanother treat, like let's do
frozen pizza and frozen less,and then we paid, let's say,

(50:36):
five, six dollars for everythingand we went home and and that
was our meal.
So it was kind of like a treatourselves.
We didn't have to cook, wedidn't have to do anything, we
just put it in the oven and andthen we just waited, we watched
the office and and had fun.
It was our date night.

Gurasis (50:56):
So tell me how do you feel about your whole journey so
far?
You know, like to the pointwhere you went to the bank and
this person said that I don'tmake any rules here, but with
your energy and enthusiasm I'msure you'll make it from that
point to up until today, andincluding this journey of a
managing budgets and, you know,figuring out and navigating life
, finding the job and living ontitle, deadlines and everything.

(51:19):
So what do you think it hasmade you today?

Oscar (51:25):
I think I feel that the journey is over.
The reason why I'm saying thisis because, now that I got a
citizenship, I have like astable job that I really like.
I mean, that happened before aswell, but this one is more like
.
I feel that I got into anothercomfort zone in my life after 10

(51:46):
years of struggles, and I thinkthat journey changed me in so
many ways.
It showed me how to appreciatethe smaller things, like I said,
like frozen pizza or watchingthe office, and even now, like I
listen to the, the, the themeof the office intro theme, and I

(52:06):
like sometimes I get emotionaljust by listening to because I
think it made me.
It showed me that all the thingsI thought I needed, I didn't
really need.
I needed some stability.
I needed my wife, I needed myfriends, my family, and that's

(52:26):
what it's important, absolutely.
So all the things that at somepoint I chased, like designer
clothes or having a sports car,all those things I don't really
care about them anymore.
It's more.
I value the people that Iinteract with.
I value my relationships morethan anything else.

(52:47):
Yeah, so I think it changed mea lot in that way Sounds very
inspiring.

Gurasis (52:55):
Thank you for sharing everything with me.
And you know for I was justthinking about it when you were
just talking that for me it'sthe theme music of the show how
I Met your Mother, because itwas, I think I started just
before the pandemic and I waspicking out my job and work part
made everything that was likemy escape at that time.
I don't remember now.

Oscar (53:14):
Yeah, I think there's always one.
I was starting to friend atwork and she moved to Canada as
well and she, when I talkedabout the office, she messaged
me like hey, my show for me wasArrested Development and I think
there's always one that youtied to that.
And it's funny because I justrewatched the whole office, like

(53:37):
all the seasons, and I stillfeel it, I still get emotional
and still remember those daysand nostalgia, I think it yeah,
I think it grounds you in a way.
It's like yeah, you might becomfortable today, but don't
forget the last 10 years.
Don't forget the first two,three years in Canada, like.
You always need to understandthat, even though I'm privileged

(54:02):
enough to be where I am,there's so many people who are
struggling in the same way wedid.
So if there's anything I can doto help, I will do it.
That's actually why I startedthe other podcast.
I wanted to share stories andhopefully people could start
expanding their network, becauseI thought like, hey, if I bring
people to the podcast andsomeone is listening that is

(54:22):
just arriving to the country,they will have an excuse to
reach out to this person.

Gurasis (54:28):
Yeah.

Oscar (54:28):
Like, hey, I saw you, I heard you in this podcast and
you work in the same field thatI want to work.
Do you mind connecting?
So I wanted to do that.
It was my way to get back tothe community in a way that I
was okay doing Like a podcast.
You can record it anytime, youcan do it in your free time and
all that.
So, after a lot of ideas, Ilanded in that and I think it

(54:53):
was kind of the way like, if Ifelt that way, I'm not alone.
We all felt that way.
Maybe not the exact way,because every person is
different, but there's somestruggle happening.
And is there anything we can doto help?
I mean, let's do it.

Gurasis (55:12):
Yeah, yeah, and you said that you have stopped
making it now, but I have tolike mention it to you and to my
listeners as well, that yourpodcast was like a reference
point for me, you know, when Iwas researching about it.
You know the way you weretalking and the stories you were
bringing on, you know, or justthe conversations you were
having.
You know, I was always up forlearning about new people.

(55:34):
In general, I'm very curiousperson, so that was a great
reference point for me and theepisodes are still out there for
listeners to listen.
So share with us that, wherethey can find it, and also about
your second podcast, where theycan find that.

Oscar (55:47):
So I don't know if the first podcast still out there.
I think it might still be therein the podcast apps but, like
even I stopped paying for thewebsite and everything so that
one might be able you might beable to find it in the podcast
apps.
The new one is it's mostlyYouTube channel, so it's called

(56:11):
why we Write Fantasy and it'sthere.
There's a podcast version thatyou can find on any podcast app.
But we're trying to focus ourwe're going to know that our
audience is in YouTube a lot, sowe wanted to do that.
Yeah, if someone wants tolisten to it and see our faces,

(56:31):
then you go to YouTube.
You don't want to see yourfaces and just go to the other
one.
There's nothing really excitinghappening in the video, so
getting the audio version isfine.

Gurasis (56:41):
Okay.
So to all my listeners, thelinks to check out the podcasts
and to reach out to Oscar.
The links can be found on theshow notes.
Okay so, oscar, let's just getinto the final segment of the
podcast.
I call it Beneath the Accent.
I'm going to ask you a coupleof questions.
You can answer them in one wordor a sentence, or however you

(57:01):
feel like.
The idea is just to know moreabout Oscar.
So ready, yes, let's go.
This is one habit you adoptedthat has changed your life.

Oscar (57:13):
I would say writing every day.
That has changed my life.
Even though I don't write notevery day, I write about my
novel or whatever I'm writing,so I just write random things.
I think it helped me to calmdown and relax and don't feel
stressed and in a rush every day.

Gurasis (57:33):
What's the best advice someone ever gave you?

Oscar (57:36):
I received so many advice .
There's so many, so many goodones.
I think the best one was it'sokay to ask for help.
I think that would be the bestone that I got, because I would
have never received all theother advices if I wasn't
feeling that asking for help wasokay.

(57:59):
Especially growing up again in avery patriarchal society, you
know the idea.
Like boys, don't cry, like youcan do everything yourself.
You need to be strong all thetime, finding that it's okay to
open up and say, hey, I needhelp.
That actually happened a lotwith my job search and all that

(58:19):
reaching out to all the people.
It's a very vulnerable positionwhere you're putting yourself
in, even with new friends, likeyou're going out and it's like,
hey, I want to be your friend,I'm 35 and I want to be your
friend.
It's a very vulnerable position, but everybody is in the same
place sometimes.
So if you just happen toconnect at the same time, then

(58:41):
it's great.
So, yeah, I would say the bestadvice for me is just it's okay,
it's going to think less of youif you ask for help.

Gurasis (58:53):
Any worst advice someone ever gave you.

Oscar (58:56):
Oh, worst advice.
I can mention a lot of myMexican bosses.
I think there's bad, especiallylike I'm thinking about, like
moving to Canada.
I think the worst advice for meand again this is me who likes
to I wanted to push myself anddo other things, but the worst

(59:17):
advice for me was to find myMexican community when I moved
in, because I think if I haddone that, I would just move
from one comfort zone to another.
I will be speaking Spanish allthe time, all my friends would
speak Spanish and I think thatwould be really bad for me.
It might be great for someoneelse, especially if you're

(59:41):
homesick or you actually needthat connection with the
language, but in my case that Ijust wanted to move as fast as
possible, understand the culture, blend into the culture, learn
the language.
For me it was a really badadvice, yeah, but again it's me,
it's the way I am.

Gurasis (01:00:03):
Okay, is there something you recently bought in
an AudiGret?

Oscar (01:00:09):
Maybe the car?
What?
Why?
So we bought a car during.
We live downtown Toronto, sothere's no need to have a car
here.
We bought one with when COVIDstarted and all that.
We weren't able to travel Likemy wife and I would like to
travel like one or twice a year,but with COVID there was no

(01:00:30):
option to travel and you caneven take the train because
again you're risking gettingsick with some people around.
So we bought a car and we usedit for the time, but now the
things are getting back tonormal and you can take the

(01:00:50):
public transit and everything.
Our car is mostly parkeddownstairs.
I would say maybe we use itlike once or twice a month.
But yeah, I mean I don't buythat much stuff and usually the
things that I buy are books orvideo games and I usually
consume them and I don't reallyregret buying those.

(01:01:10):
But I think the car was.
It was just a lot of money.

Gurasis (01:01:17):
So, yeah, is this something which is like the most
expensive thing you would liketo own?

Oscar (01:01:23):
I think my home Like I mean, we're paying for this one,
but still we still have themortgage.
So I think once the mortgage isdone, I would be super happy.

Gurasis (01:01:34):
So what's next on your bucket list?

Oscar (01:01:39):
I think traveling to Japan is another thing.
So my family and my mom's sidecomes from Japan, so, but I've
never been there.

Gurasis (01:01:47):
Are there any movies that you like to watch over and
over again?

Oscar (01:01:52):
Yes, I do.
I'm a huge sci-fi and fantasyfan, so I can think Star Wars is
one Like first of the firstthree, like the ones that came
out in the 70s, early 80s.
That kind of like forged mychildhood.
The Godfather is another onethat I really like to watch over

(01:02:13):
and over again Blade Runner,terminator, jurassic Park, like,
honestly, anything that issci-fi-ish I'm going to be
watching, even like TV shows aswell, like anything, yeah,
anything that it's just take meaway, take me to a different
world for a few hours, and nowI'll rewatch it.

Gurasis (01:02:37):
So who's your go-to person when you feel stuck?

Oscar (01:02:41):
My wife, for sure she can give me, like very different
perspectives on the things thatI'm thinking.

Gurasis (01:02:50):
So if you could have one superpower, what would it be
?
Mind control 100%.

Oscar (01:02:54):
Yeah.

Gurasis (01:02:57):
So describe Canada in one word or a sentence.

Oscar (01:03:01):
I think I would describe it as embracing.
I find the culture very open todifferent ideas, different
cultures Like outside cultures,different people, like we're
saying different accents, and Ithink the again like the weather

(01:03:22):
is so harsh here that I mean werely on getting people from
other countries.
So that wouldn't work if theculture wasn't as embracing as
it is.

Gurasis (01:03:37):
Yeah, Great answer.
If you could leave me with onepiece of advice about podcasting
.
What would it be Aboutpodcasting?

Oscar (01:03:46):
Yeah, don't look at the numbers.
That would say when I startedthe other podcast.
I remember like getting maybe ahundred listens a month and at
the beginning was verydiscouraging.
But it just takes time.
So don't look at the numbers,just keep going.

(01:04:07):
Whatever you like to do, justgo ahead.

Gurasis (01:04:10):
And finally, if you could leave me with one piece of
advice in general, what wouldit be?

Oscar (01:04:16):
I'll take keep an open mind for anything.
As I said, like I leave through.
I know I'm usually a person whokind of like plays with the the
cards I've dealt with.
If something random comes up,you just pick it up and keep

(01:04:36):
going.
That's, that's kind of what Ido, and you kind of do that if
you don't have an open mind.
Things change all the time.
So, yeah, just keep an openmind on even the things that you
don't understand or you don'tlike.
The fact, like I was saying,like the worst advice that we're
saying, like the fact that itwas worse for me doesn't mean

(01:04:58):
that it's worse for somebodyelse.
So things that work for memight not work for you and
things that work for you mightnot work for me, but if we
understand them and weunderstand their differences, it
will.
It will just make us happierand less stressed.
So, yeah, open mind for sure.

Gurasis (01:05:17):
Love that, thank you.
Thanks a lot, oscar, for theadvice and for being on the
podcast and adding value to mylisteners.
Thank you.

Oscar (01:05:24):
Thank you for inviting me , Gurasis.
Did I pronounce it correct ,guru Siss?
Yes, okay, made it Well.
Thank you for inviting me.
This was really fun.
I love what you're doing andI'm, I'm, I'm a new fan of your,
of your show.

Gurasis (01:05:40):
Awesome, thank you.
Thanks.
A lot Means a lot.
Thank you, hey listener.
Thank you for making it to theend.
I highly highly appreciate youlistening to the podcast.
Subscribe to the podcast if youhaven't as yet, and please
share with your friends oranybody you think would like it.
And, like I always say, weencourage you to follow your
heart but also ask.

(01:06:00):
On Instagram, the handle is@mythickaccent.
c.
You can also leave us a reviewor write to.
, us hello@mythickaccent .
at.
com.
c .
.
.
.
mythicaccent.
com.
So stay tuned and let'scontinue knowing each other
beneath the accent.

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From Frozen Pizzas to Podcasts: An Immigrant's Inspirational Tale | Ft. Oscar Cecena Ep. 039

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}From Frozen Pizzas to Podcasts: An Immigrant's Inspirational Tale | Ft. Oscar Cecena Ep. 039