'A turning point in my life'
(excerpts from an article published by The Daily Gleaner, September 01/10)


Twenty new Canadians, 11 from South Korea, took their oath of citizenship in both official languages at a ceremony at the Wu Conference Centre on Tuesday.

A citizenship swearing-in ceremony, involving 20 new Canadians from eight countries, took place in Fredericton on Tuesday at the Wu Conference Centre at UNB. Above Kiae Kwon, from South Korea, right, smiles as she recites the oath of citizenship with her husband Kwichul Ryoo, at left.

A beaming Kiae Kwon was excited to receive her citizenship certificate along with her husband, Kwichel Ryoo, and their sons Kwan, 18 and Jin, 14. "I feel great and trembling inside. I think I have 10 butterflies in my belly," said Kiae Kwon.

The family looked forward to this day since arriving here from Seoul seven years ago. "So it's a very special day," said Kwan Ryoo, a Concordia University student who drove from Montreal to be with his family for the ceremony. His father, Kwichel Ryoo, called the day "a turning point in my life."

"We got a lot of things from the new country and we will try to pay back," he said.

The 20 new Canadians come from eight countries: China, Cuba, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Zimbabwe and South Korea. Many of them are already well integrated into the community. The Ryoos and Kwons run a downtown coffee shop and Kwichel Ryoo works in real estate.

Anna Kim runs a convenience store/gas bar in Oromocto. The new Canadians from Zimbabwe, Richard and Vivienne Linette, recently opened a seniors' retirement home in Woodstock.