Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
May 20th 2013, 1:47 am
#16
April 2009
Joined: Apr 2009
Location: Calgary
Posts: 41
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
Sparksman, you are so very welcome. Everyone tells me I am mad not to love it here, maybe we both are but I suspect we just prefer to make our own minds up and not lat others dictate to us.
Please please keep up the good work disciplining the Drs here - I told one he was a ****ing idiot the other day and my nursing colleagues were soooo shocked but he really was being an idiot. I would never have had to resort to such unprofessional language in the UK because we have teamwork and mutual respect. Still I enjoyed the shock value and its always good to see an arrogant boy look a fool! He he he.
Best of luck honey and hang on in there it's still going to be an adventure whatever you decide xx
Please please keep up the good work disciplining the Drs here - I told one he was a ****ing idiot the other day and my nursing colleagues were soooo shocked but he really was being an idiot. I would never have had to resort to such unprofessional language in the UK because we have teamwork and mutual respect. Still I enjoyed the shock value and its always good to see an arrogant boy look a fool! He he he.
Best of luck honey and hang on in there it's still going to be an adventure whatever you decide xx
Last edited by rugbymum; May 20th 2013 at 1:48 am. Reason: Spelling error
May 22nd 2013, 9:39 pm
#18
Just Joined
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 20
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
We moved to Calgary Alberta in 2010 and I totally get what you are saying. I too am an experienced and well qualified UK RN and I am so disappointed by what Canada has to offer career wise. Nursing is about 15-20 yrs behind IMNSHO (eg IV paracetamol does not even exist, nurses are still handmaidens and second class citizens, Drs are looked upon as Gods here, no matter how junior, inexperienced and sometimes downright dangerous they are). This week budget cuts by AHS have cost 64 RNs their jobs, unions are weak to useless. Unfortunately for me.... My husband LOVES it here and our children are fairly settled here although they miss family and friends, rugby and the countryside/ sea.
Before I get a load of abuse from die hard Canadian supporters who say I have not tried to integrate or make things work.... I sat my Canadian nurse exams, have more Canadian than UK friends and have worked as an RN since we arrived. We run, hike, ski, snowboard, have gone canoeing, traveled a bit ....mostly to Montana, cycle, I have taken up photography and met some fantastic colleagues and patients. But and ....... for me it it is a huge but..... It simply is not home, I miss the sea, the culture, the food, the sense of competition that poor old overcrowded England creates, history, the simple speed of thought, I also hate having to repeat myself I am originally from Oxford so I speak the Queens English I am not Aussie but am constantly asked if I am.
So, in a nutshell you are not alone, your comments are valid. I agree with others comments give yourself some time (I was told 2 years minimum) but also remember to be true to yourself, you will have to make concessions and sacrifices to stay, only you can decide what's best for you in the end. Having been here 2 yrs 9 months I would go home tomorrow ....but that would be the end of my marriage and make my children unhappy as a result, so for now we are here but in the long term...... We shall see!
Good luck with whatever you decide, I have lots of very settled happy UK friends over here. Although I would love to be one of them, I am not. Either way just the fact that you have moved here and tried to build a new life means you are brave and resourceful so enjoy it as much as you can for as long as you can, life is too short to be unhappy or have regrets about things we did not do, and its an adventure you will always have had.
Good luck and very best wishes to you both!
Before I get a load of abuse from die hard Canadian supporters who say I have not tried to integrate or make things work.... I sat my Canadian nurse exams, have more Canadian than UK friends and have worked as an RN since we arrived. We run, hike, ski, snowboard, have gone canoeing, traveled a bit ....mostly to Montana, cycle, I have taken up photography and met some fantastic colleagues and patients. But and ....... for me it it is a huge but..... It simply is not home, I miss the sea, the culture, the food, the sense of competition that poor old overcrowded England creates, history, the simple speed of thought, I also hate having to repeat myself I am originally from Oxford so I speak the Queens English I am not Aussie but am constantly asked if I am.
So, in a nutshell you are not alone, your comments are valid. I agree with others comments give yourself some time (I was told 2 years minimum) but also remember to be true to yourself, you will have to make concessions and sacrifices to stay, only you can decide what's best for you in the end. Having been here 2 yrs 9 months I would go home tomorrow ....but that would be the end of my marriage and make my children unhappy as a result, so for now we are here but in the long term...... We shall see!
Good luck with whatever you decide, I have lots of very settled happy UK friends over here. Although I would love to be one of them, I am not. Either way just the fact that you have moved here and tried to build a new life means you are brave and resourceful so enjoy it as much as you can for as long as you can, life is too short to be unhappy or have regrets about things we did not do, and its an adventure you will always have had.
Good luck and very best wishes to you both!
May 23rd 2013, 6:30 am
#19
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2010
Location: north vancouver
Posts: 49
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
That's a good question! I think it's 50/50 job and day to day life if that makes sense? I'm not really unhappy just not loving it, can't really explain it. Time will tell I guess x
May 24th 2013, 1:28 am
#20
BE user by choice
Joined: Oct 2010
Location: A Briton, married to a Canadian, now in Fredericton.
Posts: 4,854
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
I have really enjoyed this thread. I understand entirely how you feel. I am starting to feel more settled after nine months, but it still sometimes feels like trying to cook a meal in someone else's kitchen.
May 24th 2013, 7:40 pm
#21
The ride never ends
Joined: Sep 2011
Location: SW Ontario
Posts: 2,481
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
I feel slighted !
In all the years I have lived in Canada I have never been asked if I am from OZ !!
What am I doing wrong ?
Maybe I don't talk proper like what they do "down sarf".
Seldom do I have to repeat myself, never mind 80% of the time, except maybe to folks who have their ears painted on !
Slighted I say !
In all the years I have lived in Canada I have never been asked if I am from OZ !!
What am I doing wrong ?
Maybe I don't talk proper like what they do "down sarf".
Seldom do I have to repeat myself, never mind 80% of the time, except maybe to folks who have their ears painted on !
Slighted I say !
I'm from N. Ireland. Fewer people say "irish" because the northern accent is a fair amount different from the stereotypical southern accent. For example I can accurately pronounce "third".
May 30th 2013, 7:19 pm
#22
Fancy a Cuppa?
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 438
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
I'm 4 months in and can only agree with everything being said. Canadians are all very nice, but there is something about them, an American style Gloss over everything. They don't seem to accept the rest of the world exists. My daughter was told by her tutor that she didn't need to learn about anything outside of Canada as it doesn't affect them!!! Where is the news? It's like living in a bubble, and a reluctance to acknowledge that there are problems here.
My sister in law is a NHS Sister, and came out a few years ago to look at Hospitals here. In her opinion they are YEARS behind the UK.
I'm from Brighton, I can't say anyone has said I'm from OZ, but I do have to repeat myself frequently.
Ive agreed to make a year here and then we'll see. It's very nice, but its just not home!!
My sister in law is a NHS Sister, and came out a few years ago to look at Hospitals here. In her opinion they are YEARS behind the UK.
I'm from Brighton, I can't say anyone has said I'm from OZ, but I do have to repeat myself frequently.
Ive agreed to make a year here and then we'll see. It's very nice, but its just not home!!
May 30th 2013, 8:29 pm
#23
Banned
Joined: Oct 2008
Location: the GTA
Posts: 3,824
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
My sister in law is a NHS Sister, and came out a few years ago to look at Hospitals here. In her opinion they are YEARS behind the UK.
An interesting comment. I recently watched a programme on BBC regarding the NHS where a UK surgeon commented that he had recently spent two months in a major Toronto teaching hospital which had procedures and equipment he could only dream about.
An interesting comment. I recently watched a programme on BBC regarding the NHS where a UK surgeon commented that he had recently spent two months in a major Toronto teaching hospital which had procedures and equipment he could only dream about.
May 31st 2013, 12:28 am
#24
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2010
Location: north vancouver
Posts: 49
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
Hey Rosie lee I'm from Brighton to!!!! Small world!
I think nursing practice and scope and some attitudes to the roll of a nurse are 20 years behind not necessarily the equipment and procedures if that makes sense!
Jodie xx
I think nursing practice and scope and some attitudes to the roll of a nurse are 20 years behind not necessarily the equipment and procedures if that makes sense!
Jodie xx
May 31st 2013, 1:53 pm
#25
Fancy a Cuppa?
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 438
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
it helps knowing that others are going through the same process and emotions. Especially when you come from the best place in the UK!!
May 31st 2013, 3:04 pm
#26
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2010
Location: north vancouver
Posts: 49
Re: Nearly 6 months in Vancouver
Oh how I miss Brighton!
It is great knowing that I'm not bonkers and the only one!!!
I've booked flights for a visit in oct can't bloody wait!!! Be interesting to see how I feel going and coming back!
Keep in touch Rosie lee and let me know how things pan out!!! Xxx
It is great knowing that I'm not bonkers and the only one!!!
I've booked flights for a visit in oct can't bloody wait!!! Be interesting to see how I feel going and coming back!
Keep in touch Rosie lee and let me know how things pan out!!! Xxx
