Kalsang’s Settlement Story
Kalsang is a much-loved member of the JLR team. He began working with us in 2022 and plays a key role across our commercial and exterior cleaning teams. If you have met Kalsang before, you know that he always has a smile on his face!
Kalsang has very generously shared his settlement story with us, and with his permission, we’re sharing it here.
I’m a political refugee from Tibet, but I never, never wanted to leave my country. I was chased by police with guns after joining a peaceful demonstration supporting the Dalai Lama. I fled into the mountains with my brother and two friends. After a few months of living very rough, they decided that a Chinese prison couldn’t be as bad as a freezing, bare mountain. My friends served 12 and 15 year sentences, but my brother disappeared. A friend told me in 2020 that he had been captured and was now in prison. And me? I stuck it out for three long years on the mountain, because I really, really didn’t want to accept that my old happy life was ended and there was no going back to my monastery and my family. Finally, I set off across the mountains to Nepal. Don’t ask me how it felt. I don’t want to remember. But I knew that the only way was forward, into an unknown future.
When I got to Dharamsala, in India, I had the chance to go to college. My next decision was, do I study English? Or do I take this last chance to study my own language? I got enormous satisfaction from studying Tibetan language and culture, and I treasure my books – yes, I brought them to Australia with me. There wasn’t much else to bring. If I had studied English my life in Australia would have been easier, but I think I made the right decision.
After three years, I gratefully accepted a visa for Australia, and my new life was about to begin. Was it exciting? Oh, yes! Was it scary? We landed under heavy dark clouds, and I thought, oh my god – I’m going to spend the rest of my life here!
I was welcomed into a unit in Brookvale, shared with a Tibetan couple and another single man. Kind people from Settlement Services International signed me up with Centrelink, helped me open a bank account, showed me how the public transport system worked, and enrolled me in English classes at TAFE. My new life had begun, and I felt hopeful.
People often ask me my first impressions of the Northern Beaches. I’ll never forget my first sight of the beach. I come from landlocked Tibet, and even though we have huge lakes, the crashing waves were quite something. If anyone had told me that one day I’d love swimming in the ocean, I would have laughed. I was impressed by the very fast, orderly traffic. In no time I had a bicycle and was getting around independently. I got my driver’s license and my own car – what a great feeling. These days I teach my friends to drive.
What didn’t I like about living in Brookvale? Well, I found shopping really boring – no energetic bargaining, just line up at the quiet checkout. I enjoy cooking, and I soon discovered all the places to buy ingredients to make my favourite Tibetan food, and Australian food too. Friends told me to catch the train to Auburn the get cheap meat on Sunday’s. Then I discovered the bargain clothes and shoes at Birkenhead Point. I enjoyed sending Ugg Boots to my parents in Tibet. But I do miss the high mountains.
Once I asked what the altitude of Beacon Hill was. When I heard ‘300 metres’, I had to laugh. Sorry!
What was the most helpful thing in my settlement journey? Well, I was lucky to be able to join the Tibetan community here. And getting a mentor was a huge help. I was selected for the program when I’d been here for three months. I chose Lynsey for my mentor because she’s an English teacher, and I really needed to learn English fast so that I could get a job and start earning. I’m an active, energetic kind of person, and I enjoy working. I don’t enjoy learning in a big class, but every week I had two hours face to face with Lynsey. We had some good laughs as she made me use a mirror to get my pronunciations right or got me to act out what I wanted to say when I couldn’t make myself clear. Some words were particularly hard to pronounce. I remember ‘microwave’ was sooo tricky.
I couldn’t wait to get a permanent job. I applied to a big school cleaning company – Lynsey helped with my resume and references. Then I had to attend a job induction day in Parramatta. Lynsey went with me and wrote down everything they said. A friend translated for me when I got home, and he went with me to the first workday. After that, I was on my own, and I’ve been working ever since. I like the Australian system that gives me annual leave, long service leave, sick leave, and super. I’ve also found it easy to get casual cleaning work in my free time.
What do I love about Australia? First, the clerks and assistants in banks, hospitals, and Centrelink are so respectful, friendly, and helpful. Medicare is the most wonderful, life-saving system. I had to have a big operation, and it didn’t cost me a cent. I am very, very grateful.
What could improve? The citizenship test. It’s easy and interesting to learn all the information. But I can’t pass the test because the questions are written in such a complicated way – interpreters can’t help because they have to translate what they see on the page.
The hardest thing for all refugees is when something bad happens to your family and you can’t go to help. You can’t even phone. It really hurts.
When I arrived in Sydney I was determined to make my life here, and I’ve succeeded. I come from the country, but I love living in a city. I’ve gone from living in a unit to renting a bedsitter from an Aussie family. I know their children and some of their friends and they know some of my friends. I mow their grass and they help me with documents when I need it. I grow my chives and coriander in the garden. It feels like home. I’ll never see Tibet again. I left my home and made a new home here seven years ago. Australia and the Northern Beaches welcomed me. That says it all, really.
Storyteller: Kalsang Choedak, political refugee from Tibet. He is unable to contact his family or old friends because of the CCP’s policies but has made a good life here on the Northern Beaches.
Writer: Lynsey Chandler, migrant from South Africa, retired English teacher, now teaching refugees through Literacy Network. My students have changed my life.