colchar

What do you think of summer weather now when it is 30+ degrees with the humidex pushing it to almost 40 degrees? And just think - it isn't even July yet!

Steven and Gill Hannah

Hi.

It was great reading your post on your journey :-)

I'm really looking forward in coming over in September. Our dream of coming over is finally happening.

It's all I talk about. I so want to start planning but Steven keeps saying wait until we have been over.

I just don't know where to start. Lol

Gill

Ailsa n Dave

Hi Gill!

This forum is a great place to start, that and the CIC website... Its not easy to get here, but we love it, hopefully you guys will too. For now best plan is to research and work out what your options are and decide what all you want to do on your trip over.

Looking forward to seeing you then

Ails

Ailsa n Dave

So, 5 months here in Ancaster...a lot has happened good and bad, but we still love it!

In summary, we have now bought a house and been in it for 2 months, we were without all our things for 5 months due to shipping and then storage, we were very happy to get everything back! New house is great, its about 3 times bigger than our house in the UK and on a lovely quiet street. Neighbours all seam nice so far.

We have 2.2 cars, the two cars are mine (scooby) and Davids (F150 truck) and the .2 is David's project rat rod, which is currently a shell and some bits!

We replaced almost all our eletricals and got lots of new furniture (bigger house needed it) - gotta love kijiji, value village and Canadian Tyre! Very little bought new,but we did go all out on a half decent BBQ, somethings are worth it!!

We have sorted out sin no's, health cover and OHIP, driving licences, TWP's then PR's, schools, pensions, house phone, 4 mobile phones, internet, electricity, gas, water, furnace rental, ac insurance, car insurance, CAA cover, found dentist, doctors and opticians and then had to change address on everything...! Fortunately my wage was enough to keep us to start with so David was able to do all this!!

I had to go back to Glasgow for a week to work, it was nice to see friends and family, but it was weird and I was happy to come back home afterwards. 2 weeks later Davids father passed away quite suddenly and he had to make the trip home too under much nastier circumstances... His week away forced me to get a bit more independent over here (ie: finding shops, doing cooking and washing etc...) which actually did me good. D found the trip very difficult, understandably... We were all very happy to have him back home.

We've had generally great sunny, blue sky weather, temp started cold and got very hot and is now pleasant. We've had a few storms, including an ice storm and a major tornado risk thunder storm, which knocked the power out for 6 hours. The power going out during a storm is interesting when you don't have a back up battery for the basement sump pump and end up emptying the sump with sauce pans in the dark - lol! Battery sump pump high on the priority list!! The weather in general is awesome though... we are all much healthier thanks to the vitamin D and general out and aboutness... I have never seen the sun and blue sky so often...

We've made a few friends, some we met through the car scene, some through walking the dog, some through work, some through the kids parents... I still miss my friends and family in Glasgow a lot and have had a few really down days, but its people sick, not place sick... I don't want to go back. The kids have made good friends too and my youngest has spent the summer so far swimming in peoples pools, playing crazy golf, cycling, skootering etc... He's happy because no-one cares if he wears Nike shoes or Addidas trainers anymore, the kids here are much more kid like... and much less evil.

The dog has struggled the most to settle, he's been very over protective and has nipped at a couple of people, we're having to keep him calm and be VERY careful with strangers in the house. Hopefully he calms in time and realises we are here to stay and his world isn't going to flip on its head yet again.

Sometimes I do crave some familiarity, I guess that comes with time, only 5 months so far, which is nothing... but overall we love it... very extremely happy we've made the move Worth all the heartache stress and effort it took to get us here!!

Howefamily

Your familiarity will come at some point, but with it you lose some of the wonder of this new life and lifestyle.
I no longer am amazed by the huge logging trucks and the scenery. Having Tims and A&W is normal, along with an (albeit small) ski resort practically on our doorstep. You feel settled but, I think, you stop being a tourist in your own province to a degree.

Small things start to irritate you again - like people who drive in a kind of daze and no forethought of that slow lumbering truck with its flashers climbing the hill, so they suddenly pull out in front of you instead of having to brake. Soooooo stoopid!

And the cultural differences in the office are what get to me the most... like not being understood due to my accent....and lazy management style.

Anyway - so that's my familiarity!

izzi81

I love reading your updates, and can definitely identify with them too, also coming from Glasgow (I don't want to go back either!) We've also been marvelling at the quantity of blue sky and sun... It's just not normal lol!

Jeraboam

Have you tried the growing number of Montessori schools whose qualifications are often less although you may need some minor upgattractions rading to their methods. Their big attraction is often before and after daycare.

A teacher,so aide position and,or volunteer may give you an entry into the system and it,s culture.

Good luck its tough time for new teachers.

Mikeypm

Glad it is going so well for you and Dave