foreigngirl

Haven't been on here for a while. What have I missed?

I have two little Canadian munchkins now that keep me occupied all.day.long.

Miss Europe more than ever these days. That's what having kids does to you...

Hope everyone is doing well!

Siouxie

Welcome back to the fold! We've missed you!

2 little ones? Where does the time go...

It's pretty much SSDD here, lol...

Glad to have you back.. hang around!

foreigngirl

Thank you Siouxie.

Yep, time seems to be flying by. Can't believe my first-born is almost 2 and we've been in Canada for over 3 years.

Pizzawheel

What are you missing about europe? I find Canada to be a pretty good place to raise pups.

foreigngirl

Family. I want my kids to grow up knowing their families, not just through skype. We don't want to use all our vacation time and money, just to go visit family. Everyone knows that that's not a vacation.
The opportunities to invest (not necessarily in England) and have a pension off the investments.
Cheap cheese.
The ease of travel, the ability to be in one country one day, another country the next day, another country the next.
Real relationships. Having people you can rely on through thick and thin.
Being closer to my home country which would also allow my kids to practice the language on a regular basis.
Cheap flights.

I guess Christmas is coming up which always makes me miss Europe.

Oink

They do a German Christmas market in Vancouver.

foreigngirl

I hate markets. And I'm not German.

BristolUK

I'm not a great fan of markets but I enjoyed a few xmas market trips in Germany (and one in Brugge) and they really put me in the mood for xmas.
There was one in Bristol but it wasn't quite the same without xmas/winter weather. I suppose Vancouver would be the same.

foreigngirl

I agree with you. I think I'd need lots of snow, -20 degrees, and mulled wine to enjoy a Christmas market.

Shard

Definitely need the cold crisp weather, at least below zero, although -20 is a bit too cold for standing around outside. Snow is a bonus, but not an absolute requirement IMO. There seem to be many Christmas markets in Britain these days, mostly cheap knock offs of European markets, but after several cups of gluewein that does not seem to matter.

scrubbedexpat091

We had a pretty sad one here...This year the folks who ran it decided not to do it but it wasn't worth going to.

We do have snow today, but my guess it will be gone by Christmas next week. All I want is some damn snow on Christmas Day!

Oink

The one here does some nice bratwurst.

BristolUK

Cologne's nice (bloody cold square) but Rüdesheim was my favourite.

Wonderful toy museum there too.

I can't say I remember this view but I think it's Rüdesheim

scrubbedexpat091

I want to go to Germany one day, and now that I have a translator who can speak German, will make things far easier if/when we ever go....


Stupidest thing I ever did when working at the airline was not going to Europe. I guess I was young and stupid at the time...

Goodness looking back at the fact British Airways agreement with my airline was $25 per leg, so round trip San Diego to London for instance at the time was only $50 total.

Could even fly concorde but there was a special fare of 2,500 one way.

Of course all space available, could be coach, or first, or biz, but if there was no seat, you went nowhere.....

BristolUK

You'll get by without. Just learn a few polite words. You'll probably hear better English than you do in Canada.