Ailsa n Dave

David and I first looked into moving to Canada about 17 or so years ago, at that time we visited relatives in BC & Alberta and loved it... Got my qualifications approved and looked for work, but when it came down to it the timing just wasn't right. Then again about 12 years ago, then about 8 years ago, then finally 2 years ago we agreed the time was right, that this dream wasn't going away and we had to dig deep, stop wishing and hoping and make it happen!

So dig deep we did and we threw our whole selves into getting over here, every day we did something towards our dream... It was hard, it was unbelievably stressful, but the best things in life don't come without hard effort!

So finally we made it, secured our TWP's in dec, went home to pack up and sell the house and moved over properly 6 weeks ago in early March. The PR's we applied for in 2011 are now finally in the post, all the blood, sweat and many tears paid off and was it worth it???

You bet your sweet ass it was!! We absolutely, totally, utterly love it here!!!

So what do we love? Well where to begin?:

The weather - it does more than rain, rain, rain and grey, grey, grey! Here you get sun, snow, sun, ice rain ,sun ,rain , sun... Even when its cold and snowy there is sun and proper daylight. Anyone from Glasgow will appreciate a world with proper daylight... it impacts your mood so much to wake up to bright sunlight!

The people - they are happy, pleasant and friendly, they aren't miserable & unpleasant. Customer service here is more than just a grunt. We stopped for a drive through the other day and the guy at the window gave our dog a biscuit! Our banking advisor gave us a big hug to congratulate us on finally getting here and gave us maple leaf luggage tags (not just generic bank freebies either). This just wouldn't happen in Glasgow!! Its the little things...

My Work - In fairness I liked my job in Glasgow and now I like my job here. The attitude to work here is however subtly different, people expect to have to work hard and they do. I don't hear people moaning and complaining like they do at home... There is just generally more of a work hard, play hard type approach, which suits me fine!

Costco/Bulk Buy/Value Village - Loving the shops... I know we have Costco in Glasgow, but we never had a house with any storage space to enable buying in bulk! Bulk barn is awesome! who knew buckets of food could be such fun! and Value Village, perfect for restocking up on electricals and furniture without killing your wallet (which takes a major kicking when you make this move!)

Tim Hortons - Love it or hate it, its a Canadian institution. Hot Choc so hot that we refer to it nuclear, you have to wait a good half hour before you can drink the stuff!! Ice Caps are to die for... and who can resist a tim bit...

Don't get me wrong its not all roses - The driving here quite frankly sucks, ever heard of thinking ahead?? and sooo many cars... its no wonder the car insurance costs here are disgraceful! I'm still getting used to driving a manual over here, definitely prefer now having my own car, to an auto rental, its going to take a while longer till I'm really comfortable though.

Our Kids have mixed thoughts on school, they both went from high school to middle school, which here is part of the elementary. An elementary in Ancaster is a million miles from a Secondary school in Glasgow.... Here kids are actually allowed to be kids, which is in my opinion fantastic. Our 12 year old loves it and already deleted his old friends off his xbox live account!! Our 14 year old is finding it harder to make friends, but grudgingly admits its a much better place to be.

Everyday David and I look at each other and say, "we are really here!", its F'ing awesome.... Very, very happy, just love it... we know there will be challenges ahead and some will be bigger than others, but in honesty, this whole journey has been a challenge every step of the way and its all about having the right attitude and enjoying the ride! Living our Canadian dream has only just begun and long may it continue!

Siouxie

Wonderful to read such a positive view.. congrats to all 5 of you (can't forget Hemi the dog, lol) and I hope the rest of your days in Canada are filled with as much joy and happiness, excitement and laughter as the past 6 weeks.

bcmama

Thanks for posting - that's a lovely update. As someone who is 7 weeks away from moving, it's reassuring particularly about your kids settling in so quickly.

Mikeypm

Sounds like things are going weel and you have a very positive attitude to the transition

Former Lancastrian

Good post and not even a mention about the price of cheese in it

Dave n Ailsa

Let me address the cheese situation, among other things.

It's a myth, cheese is NOT that expensive here!

In other news....

Buying cars:

This was one of my main priorities, and after two weeks of maoning about the rental car, Ailsa told me to "go buy your truck!". umm, ok then

We had pretty much decided on our budget for our first cars, so I was looking for the best truck I could get for around 3K. I usually do all the work on our cars, so buying something in need of some tlc wouldn't normally bother me, however, all my tools are still in a container somewhere in Toronto. So, I knew it would be best if I could find something which was already safetied (mot) and e-tested (emissions). The safety test only needs done when ownership changes, and the e-test every couple of years.

So I found this big guy. Just been safetied and e-tested, ready to hit the road:



Ford F150 Supercab 4x4 V8. Exactly what I wanted, and way under budget.

The seller was amazingly helpfull. He offered to take me round to the MTO to register the truck, so I could just drive it home right away. As it turned out, I needed the insurance docs, which weren't available yet, before I could register it for driving, so instead, he drove it all the way home for me at no extra charge.

Ailsa's car was a similar experience. She decided that she needed to get a manual asap, or she would end up driving a spazomatic forever. And being a girl racer, the obvious choice was an Impreza Turbo. As with my truck, the seller was very helpfull, and delivered it to our front door. I registered it next day. Not got her private plate yet, lol



....yeah, that washing thing..... that will be MY job from now on

Driving in Ontario..... yeah

You REALLY need to pay attention, because no-one else does!

The people:

As Ailsa mentioned, the people are friendly and helpful. No matter their standing, they are generally all polite and respectful. To me, it's one of the biggest differences from the UK. In Glasgow, our local chinese takeaway counter staff greeted you with an upward nod of their head, presumable this means "welcome, how can I help you".

Being polite costs nothing, and there's seems to be plenty to go around over here.

The shops:

I'm doing all the cooking, and I'm having a great time trying all the new varieties of foods and shopping. Making my own gravy is working out pretty good. Gravy granules are for losers! I currently have some Sirloin slow cooking in the new crockpot, smells amazing.

Having the space to bulk buy is actually saving us money. You buy a huge pack of meat, keep out a few things for immediate use, and freeze the rest for the next month. What I would say at this point is "remember to buy a backup generator". The recent ice rain brought a tree down near us hitting cables and wiped out the power down the road for a whole day. If you have a freezer full of meat, that could cost you dearly.

Canadian Tire is one of my favourite shops. It seems to stock a little of EVERYTHING . From Home air con filters, to hockey sticks, to propane barbeques, it's amazing, and not crazy prices.

Houses:

Realtors in Canada are NOT the same as estate agents in the UK. These guys work their asses off here!!

When you arrange to view a home, you don't just call an estate agent and they tell you when to go, oh no. You generally view a home with your realtor, and the owners are no-where to be seen. So if you want to see 5 houses in one day, you can imagine the work envolved for the realtor, with the arranging and the driving about. They do this timely and un-grudgingly, it's just part of their jobs. We looked at about thirty homes, and our realtor worked hard with every single viewing, and we eventually found our perfect home. We move in at the end of May. Can't wait!

The home report is also a different story. These guys take you round the house and point out EVERY little detail that may require attention or instruction. They test all the taps, washing machines, cookers and heaters. Not like Glasgow, where the over-paid professional walked round our house for 10 minutes tapping a wall now and then and saying nothing to us, and then charge us £600 for the privelage. And the Canadian report was half the price too.

The Weather:

We have seen more sunshine in our first month here than we did the whole of last year in Glasgow. The locals here are complaining about the grey, lol, we are loving it They don't know what grey is. Summer is just around the corner, and we're looking forward to being able to plan events and barbies, without the fear of rain ruining the day.

I had resisted posting on this section for six weeks, as I was worried about negative comments, but you know what, we worked bloody hard to get here, and Ailsa has spent 23 years working and studying to be able to make this happen for our family. So yes, we are living the dream now, but it didn't just land on our laps. If you want the dream hard enough, you just need to work hard and plan well.

It's worth the effort to do it right.

Miss Clinique

You cant call what they sell here as cheese, cheese. It should be against the trades description act - is there one in Canada?

Just sayin...................

Siouxie

Go to Starsky's - they sell English Cheeses from the UK.

Mikeypm

I'm more concerned about the price of booze

Maybe when I get to Canada I will need to set up a moonshine still

Siouxie

Make your own - there are beer brewing kits and wine kits, though if you are after spirits it could be a little more tricky!

Mikeypm

I've never tried making vodka, how hard can it be?

haggis88

good choice of cars guys and i'm jealous you're allowed to wash them in your own driveway haha!

Dave, off-topic, but do you know a Willie Logie from Kilmarnock?

Dave n Ailsa

I assumed I was allowed, maybe I'm not

Yes, we know Willie, he used to work under Ailsa when she was in Glasgow. He's got some nasty engineering exams this week I believe.

I think Ailsa has killed the Scooby already, lol. Truck is perfect...

haggis88

its okay, i done mine a few times too because i saw other people doing it, but then found out that Calgary By-laws prohibit it because of the drainage system!

ah i see! i'd seen you commenting on his facebook and wondered if it was you (if you know what i mean hah)

Violets are blue

Congratulations . Love the post but especially love the F150!! (and the impreza of course)