louisbourg

so ok then
this year ........................... whats changed in your life ????

we won't be having our first christmas in canada this year ........but a number of you will be , so best wishes to you all .....whats your story ??

how quick the year has passed !!!

ok i will start
we had our papers in for 13 months now ........hoping any time to hear , but we know it could be a while

we were over dec end till march end in N.S
bought a house while there in feb ...........awsome !!!!!!!!

got a phone call in jan while in c.b from my sister , 30 years old ...skin cancer .............

big operation , part of her chest removed ........ but thank the lord .all clear in july
then we returned back to our house in louisbourg ,at the end of july WITH MY SISTER and 7 year old nephew , who had the most fantastic 6 weeks while she was recovering ......... and we came back at the end of october

we are back in uk now .playing the waiting game .............

what a year ..............good and bad
out of a bad situation , my sister and her son had the best time , she has now seen a house in town near us , and want s to go for it , time will tell eh

how has your life changed in a year

best wishes , and all the best wherever you good people are
sharon x

triniangel

Last December I was dreaming of my visa and obsessed with e-cas. This dec I will be landing in Toronto and will enjoy my first xmas there. Next year's xmas should see me working and living in my own house somewhere in Missisauga or thereabouts.
Positive thinking is necessary when one makes such a bold move ..yes bold coz I am 45 years old.

R2D2

Yes, first Christmas here in Canada for us and the first one away from our families.......................mixed feelings about that.........on the one hand looking forward to a break from the big family get-together and the old routine, but on the other hand we don't doubt it will feel a little strange with just the 4 of us this year. Not to mention the fact that when we are just getting up with 2 over excited children, everyone in the Uk will be polishing off the last of the too hard sprouts.
Had an idyllic image of enjoying a white Christmas over here.....................don't disappoint us Canada

woodmanbg

This will be our first christmas away from home for 30 years!!! I have always had everyone here. My husband has his PRV in his passport and he plans to 'land' 17th December! We are there for three weeks and are getting very excited. We are, however, having pre-christmas here before we go, inviting all friends and family for a pre-Christmas day and boxing day!! Kids think it is great having two christmases. Spending up to christmas day in Calgary with family and then going to Fairmount with my cousin and her family for a bit of fun for four days. Will be looking at property and sorting out social insurance cards etc. whilst in Calgary, and when we return husband will have to make biggest decision of his life (apart from marrying me that is)to move or not to move!!!

at the moment busy decorating our dining room which hasn't been done since we moved here in 74 and eldest daughter (18) keeps asking why we are doing all this work if we are going to move!! I keep asking myself as it is a mammoth job, finally discovering what the wallpaper was hiding underneath!!!

My best wishes to everyone for a great Christmas wherever you may be.

britishvixen21

This will be my third xmas in Canada but my first where i dont think il bawl when I do the calls home to blighty. its taken this long to swallow the bowling ball of homesickness and think of Canada as home.

Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2006 especially for ppl lke me that hope to be spending 2006 as a resident.

May all CIC officers get piss drunk on xmas eve and send out our passport requests!

woodmanbg

I know how you feel - I am 57 and my husband will be 65 next February - how scary is that!! Just as hard for teenage daughter (16) but at least she will be meeting people at college. Very positive thinking is necessary and you must give it a chance and work through homesickness, you must give it 12+ months to settle down.

GlosMaple

Hard sprouts.....perish the thought !!! ???? I thought all british sprouts at xmas .............were just a mush LOL. Perhaps that was my mothers version god bless her!!!

Anyway have a great 1st Xmas in Canada wherever you are !!!

Souvenir

Sprouts. That's why I left the UK.

Five years and counting since I arrived and my life has so far been entirely sprout-free.

Is Britain the only country in the world to have, as a festival delicacy, something that most other people would feed only to farm animals?

britishvixen21

LOL how true! as for the homesickness id give it at least 3 years, but i agree the first 12 months are imperitive.

sysclp

They have sprouts here, unforuntately. Saw them in the grocery sale flyer yesterday for $1.20/lb. You can get them in the farmer's market for $1 for a huge cluster of them still on the stem. Personally I can't stand them and have never had to eat them since moving here since I am now the official holiday cook for everyone (us and my in-laws) and I wouldn't cook them on a dare.

Edited to add that this is my 5th Christmas here. I remember the first being very disappointing as there was no snow and a warmer than usual winter so it wasn't much different from what I was used to in Alabama. Since that first one though I have had a white Christmas and hopefully will get one this year too.

Pretty Flowers

[RANT]

The parents were supposed to be coming over for a couple of weeks in January. They've decided that they can't make it due to other commitments.

They were supposed to be coming for Christmas this year but have decided that they will come next year instead, when I was planning to go on vacation

[/RANT]

maple

We arrive in N.S on 7th December.....for our first Canadian Christmas......the packers arrived today and will be gone by Friday morning..then its a whistlestop tour of friends and families until we fly out.
The kids are very excited and we are praying for our first Christmas in Nova Scotia to be a white one.....that really would be the icing on the cake....

scrubbedexpat074

First Christmas in canada as an immigrant although I was here in 95 (I think) visiting the inlaws. Although we are living in Halifax, we're off to Quebec City for Christmas with my wife's family, it will be great I'm sure - 4 kids under 18 months being organised by my 4 year old daughter!

By all accounts there isn't usually snow in NS until January (apparently), so at least we'll be driving into a white christmas.

Souvenir

It annoys me just reading that. Tell 'em you have already made plans. You're washing your hair that month, or something.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, decides when they will or will not come to my home. They get an invite. Take it or leave it.

Biiiiink

This can backfire badly and you can find your in-laws crashing your foreign holidays and even valentines dates.

Can I send Mr B to you for some assertiveness training?!