mrsr0binson

Hi all –

Well we celebrated our 1 year Canniversary on 15th June. It feels like a lifetime ago since we were heading through the departure gates at Heathrow and heading towards our new life.

We arrived in Cambridge, ON late in the evening and spent the night in a hotel (me, hubby, kids and cats) before setting off to our new rental house the next morning. The house is amazing – so much space and located in a beautiful neighbourhood in Hespeler. Then came the endless trips to Walmart and Ikea – to see us through until our container arrived; which was sadly delayed by a further 2 weeks due to port disputes in France.

The kids spent the long summer break getting their bearings. Thankfully they are very sociable and had absolutely no problems finding friends; especially once the schools has finished.

Hubby landed a great job at a local company – so he now has a 20 minute journey to and from work instead of his old 2 hour round trip.

I have been volunteering at the kid’s new school; helping grade 1 and SK to read. It’s very rewarding and has really helped me to socialize and gain lots of local knowledge. I am hoping to train for my Educational Assistance qualification next year.

We have quickly learnt about the medical system over here – thanks to our son’s trampolining accident on Victoria Day – after several visits to the ER, fracture clinics, labs and family practitioners, we feel like we think we have finally gotten a grip on the inner workings of the Ontario health system. We have also learnt that a job with health benefits is a MUST too.

Our main goal, in moving here was to spend more time with each other as a family. I think we have achieved that and more. We spend many evenings fishing, playing soccer together or socializing with friends. Our social circle is fantastic over here; people have been very open and welcoming. There are so many families in our neighbourhood; and we regularly get together for a social gathering or two.

Winter was a harsh one – I don’t think you can ever really be prepared for it. It was a shock to the system; but once you get your head around the fact that nothing stops over here; it’s fine. We spent as much time outside during the winter months as we did during the summer months. The kids (and I) learnt to ice skate, we even went sliding and ice fishing.

The only negatives (apart from the cheese, beer prices and fashion) for us were that we obviously still miss family and friends; although Skype and FB tend to make contact so much easier now. We had some issues with our son settling into his new school; although the school has been AMAZING in their support of the situation. He is a very intelligent boy, and on hindsight we should have pushed for him to have been assessed and placed in a higher grade like his sister was. This has now been resolved for next year with various ‘gifted’ programmes etc. We also found it hard to get credit; regardless of our impeccable UK history – but that was to be expected. Since our first Tax Return, however this no longer seems to be an issue.

You do have to get used to the pace of things out here; there is no ‘higher-gear’. You need to get used to the fact that everyone will chat at a checkout; regardless of the mounting queues behind them or that they will never know what they want when they get there; regardless of the fact that they have had 20 minutes waiting in line to make their minds up. We have simply learnt not to plan too much in a day – it will never all get done. We have also learnt to enjoy ‘our’ time at the front of the check out queue too along with everyone else – it’s amazing what local knowledge you can get that way.

Simple tasks that can be completed online in the UK are back to being a paper process again over here – Car Insurance, home insurance and price comparisons etc are no longer simple, quick and easy. It is definitely 5-10 years behind technology-wise which is great for those bringing IT skills out here – my hubby has already been offered a substantial promotion because of his current UK still-set.

It is quite funny though; that the things we moaned about in the UK – the fact that no one has time for anyone, that things are impersonal and nobody talks to anyone anymore etc have actually been the things that have been so hard to get used to having over here.

Anyway – I could go on and on… But there it is; a little snippet of what our first year has been like… If I am honest we knew that we wanted to stay (at least for the foreseeable future) within the first 3 months of arriving here. It is not easy; and if I am being completely honest, immigrating has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life – but I can also honestly say that it has been so worth it!! I truly think that if you come over here with the right attitude and an open mind you will find what you are looking for… embrace the differences and celebrate the diversity that this country has to offer and you will enjoy the adventure!!

iaink

Great post, congratulations, and long may you be happy!

Deeny

Congratulations.

Lovely to read the success stories.

ann m

Another good post - best wishes

tracys

Congratulations!

Robin (The Gadget family)

Loved reading your post Mrs. R and hope that we will be saying similar after a year in Canada, though being on the west coast, perhaps a bit less of a harsh winter....