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Such... is Life: The Story of the Trials and Tribulations of an Immigrant

by Willy W. Schneider

296 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); i; catalogue #06-0098; ISBN 1-4120-8343-5; US$26.90, C$26.90, EUR18.38, £13.89

Even though this is the story of a roller-coaster life, the author never lost his sense of humor describing the ups and many more downs during this walk through life.

About the Book

This is the story of a life full of "derailments." The author might have grown up under secure circumstances, yet, even his young years were full of confusion, caused by the divorce of his parents in his very young years and full of apprehension because of he dictatorial manner with which his grandmother ruled her flock. He has to learn the true facts of life very early when he chose a profession, which, he innocently thought, would fulfill his dreams about his professional life. Reality, however, turned into twelve to fourteen hour workdays on a highly efficiently run large farm.

His years of apprenticeship has hardly come to an end, when he was drafted into the army and after boot camp, he was promptly shipped to Russia, where he experienced more hardship, brutality, death and misery than most of us experience during a lifetime. Even though he was wounded several times, he survived that war in one piece, only to find upon his arrival in his hometown the Russians again as occupation troops, which led to new and sometimes dangerous problems, which convinced him to leave the "Workers" Paradise and flee to the "Golden West" in Germany. Not all was gold that glittered and the long harbored idea of emigrating eventually became reality, not without considerable obstacles.

The initial years in the new homeland were a cultural shock and full of surprises. Some quite funny, others not. After nearly five years of doing what he had never thought he would be doing, he finally found his niche in the financial service business, from which he retired in 1999 and is now enjoying his "golden years." He has never regretted his decision to emigrate.

About the Author

The author was born and raised in Germany; in the province of Saxony, the former East Germany. After completing high school he chose agriculture as his profession and was trained to be an agricultural estate manager. Immediately after the completion of his three-year training he was drafted into the army and was shipped to the Russian front, where he spent two and a half years in the vicinity of Leningrad. He was ordered to become an officer and after the completion of officer's training school, he was shipped to the western front, where he served until the end of the war. With East Germany, the agricultural base of Germany lost to the Russian, his professional opportunities were very limited and he decided to immigrate to Canada. After nearly five years working in the forest industry, various types of construction and sometimes simply as a handyman, he was eventually introduced to the financial service industry. He joined Sun Life of Canada in January 1959 and retired in 1999. During those years he and his wife have always lived in Terrace, B.C.