Ramy Salmorin found a job for a sushi chef listed on Canada Job Bank in a small northern town and applied immediately.
Shortly afterward he and two friends found themselves on a plane to Canada to work at the Blue Fin Sushi Bar.
He did this while working a similar job in Bahrain, an island in the Persian Gulf.
“It’s kind of a busy place,” Salmorin said about where he used to live and work.
He often worked overtime and never got paid for it.
“You can’t just leave the restaurant if things still needed to be done,” Salmorin said.
Family is a very big factor in why Salmorin decided to move half-way around the world.
His wife and two children live in the southern part of the Philippines and he wants them to move here.
One of the perks of living in Bahrain was his family could be there with him.
But with the future uncertain in Canada, they decided it would be best if all returned to the Philippines.
His daughter is in second-year university and his son is a year from graduating high school.
He frequently sends money home to cover school and life expenses.
Now that he’s found a place he feels provides a safe place to raise his family he plans to bring them here, but he knows there could be differing opinions from his kids.
“The young generation, you know, likes the city,” Salmorin said, laughing and shaking his head.
“They might think it’s boring.”
However, when he talks with his family they’re all excited to experience snow for the first time.
Salmorin also needs to wait a few months until he can apply for permanent residency before any such move can happen.
“Once I get the residency I’ll add them and they can come over.”
Until he is reunited with family he is fitting in nicely at Blue Fin and the rest of the valley.
Salmorin and his two friends June and Arron have brought some flair from their home to Blue Fin staff parties in the form of a karaoke machine.
“We like to sing a lot,” he said.
He has yet to bring his talents to a local establishment.
Perhaps he’s waiting for someone special to bring?
“Me an my wife used to sing together,” Salmorin said.
If you were at the Fall Fair parade you would have seen the Filipino float, which Salmorin and crew were part of making happen.
“We had a meeting and decided it would be a good idea,” he said.
“It was a first for the parade.”
Besides work Salmorin enjoys playing outdoor basketball in the summer and exploring the place he now calls home.
“I like it here because it’s a simple life,” he said.
“I’m tired of living in the city already.”
Plenty in the valley are glad he has had enough of the urban life.