We love celebrating our staff around here and this month there was a certain cause for a party at our Lethbridge branch. Our third year apprentice Bogdan received his Canadian citizenship & we couldn’t be happier to have him as part of our team for good. He participated in the ceremony right from our boardroom and the leadership team were sure to decorate and surround B with appreciation.
I sat down with Bogdan last week and got to have the pleasure of getting to know him a little better than most so here’s what we learned
A. Well it all started from post-secondary schooling, I have about Bachelor as a mechanical engineering, and I have master’s degree in automotive business. When I realized I wanted to buy property, I decided to go work on farms in Australia (1 year), and Finland (3 years)… after working in Finland I decided I wanted a new adventure, but needed an English speaking country to make sure I was able to communicate with my new peers. Learning a new language at my age, especially working on the farm alone for 10- 12 hours a day would have been a big challenge. So, Canada it was!
A. worked on the farm just off HWY 22, near the mountains. I love to snowboard, so it was perfect. I worked for a great family; I actually still spend all the holidays with them. My Canadian family as I like to say.
A. Well, I should be honest, I tried to apply for over 20 places all over Alberta, but didn’t end up hearing back. I wasn’t giving up on coming back into the automotive industry though so I printed everything off and started going door to door. When I got to GWKW Lethbridge, Jason (Lethbridge Service Manager) recognized my name, and the rest was history. There were a lot of service managers that didn’t want to teach an old dog new tricks so I really appreciate everything Jason did for me when he saw something in me. We have this expression in Ukraine. If you don’t knock on the door, no one will open that door. So, you need to knock. I am happy I knocked on this door.
A. Since the war started in Ukraine, it’s been a little chaotic. But again, our guys at work gave me really good support and they always ask me how I feel, how my family is because they are still in Ukraine/ Poland, which makes me feel like again I’m in the right spot. My family is okay right now and we are just hopeful for the future.
A. Oh you will like this one, there is something happened this summer, so why I went to visit my sister in Poland and I spent time with my family on my way back I my flight was to Vancouver and then from Vancouver to Calgary. I don’t know. As soon as I landed, it did feel like I’m at home. I like that Canadians do respect Ukrainians, especially in Alberta, Ukrainians did a lot to boost the economic in the 1930’s and 40’s.
… Oh and all the outdoor stuff, the mountains and activities. Except rock climbing or going into caves, that’s a no.
A. Steak, it’s always so good. I’d never tried it like how you do it here. Or Poutine.
A. I miss the time when I could in the evening have a coffee with guys and go for a walk like couple hours walk through the town, through the Old Town and Kiev is. It’s interesting because I’ve been to lots of places, but it has its own soul like it’s different, I don’t know how to describe it but it’s just different. The trees, the streets, the spirit in the city, they all speak to you almost. Also, miss my family a lot for sure. Family time is important and the older I become the more firm I am on that.
A. Being in the family. I care about the team; they care about me. I do like to be challenged like I like when there’s always something new and come into work every day, there is something, always something new to learn and get some new experience and it’s never ends because that’s the advantage to work for dealership. You have so much material to learn. Even if you think you’ve done you never done because there is something new that comes every month.
A. In Australia they call me Dan because Bog- dan, so it was Dan. But when I came here guys at work on farm, they started calling me Boogie and yeah, so here at work everyone calls me Boogie.
A. Be patient with everything you learn, it will come. It took me probably a good 3-4 months and from my own experience you need at least three months.
