Sri Lankan cooks arrive at local restaurant

Whitecourt Star, Whitecourt, AB: "Two new faces sit anxiously with smiles spread across their faces. They both have only lived in Canada, a foreign country to them, for less than a week and have just started brand new jobs at the local Boston Pizza. They seem excited about their new roles in this brand new county and brand new town, after travelling across the Pacific Ocean from the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Champa De Seram and Erandana Herath, along with four others, are joining the many Sri Lankan cooks coming to work in northern Alberta Boston Pizza outlets. The chain is climbing aboard the immigration train to find help in a hospitality industry that is suffering because of the lack of local hands available � an economic crunch due to a booming oil and gas industry.
The six cooks arrived on August 10 to begin their three-year contract working for the chain, and so far they�re impressed with how accommodating and friendly Canadians are. However, the cultural differences were evident instantaneously for the new cooks.
'It�s something different to our country,' De Seram said.
'Completely different to our country,' Herath agreed enthusiastically.
The weather for one is a major difference. Although right now, Herath said the weather is similar to that in Sri Lanka, but once winter approaches it will be a different story.
'Boston Pizza is also different from our country, but very easy to learn,' De Seram said.
'In our country we have Pizza Huts, not Boston Pizza,' Herath added.
So far, despite the language barrier, the cooks have been performing well in the kitchen.
'They�ve been doing really well,' Whitecourt Boston Pizza owner Cindy Marcolin said. 'Due to the labour shortage, it�s been tough to keep people.'
According to the Canada Immigration Lawyers, there is a shortage of a"