callé

Julius, In your doubt could you in fact be noticing all the bad more? Maybe its the area you are in but when I read other expat sites it seems there is a lot of good about the UK as well. Theres lots of trash in the streets here as well in the US. I guess there areas like that everywhere. It starts small. If theres trash, pick it up. If the government is bad vote for the other party. I know its fustrating. there is a lot that cant be changed but there is some that can even if it takes time. I'm just saying, dont give up. Look on the bright side. And if its still that bad for you then i wish you luck on your return to Canada.
I'm really not trying to sound sarcastic or anything. Just maybe try to look at it in a new light. If not then you know only you can make that final decision (well, nothings final) to move on. Sorry its been bad for you. Hope you get to the place you want and feel comfortable in. Then again, as you say, once you've seen both sides its hard not to keep comparing.

julius smith

hi, calle! saw that you were online so i thought i may as well share my thoughts with you, as you seem to have been through all the hard times i had over in canada right up till now! yes, its a catch 22 situation. there are always bad things everywhere and you cant have evrything in any one single place, too. what we have in the uk we cannot have in the USA/Canada and vice versa. so its a question of what do you want in life. at the moment, we are in turmoil, just like a see-saw, up and down, up and down! very difficult position to be in, but, hey, i shouldve known that when i made the decision! how about you? when are you upping sticks? sometime in may if i remember?

callé

Hi Julius!
It is turmoil isnt it. I know it will be some turmoil for me as well. Not so much myself I dont think but for my daughter maybe, who loves the sun and has lots of friends here. OOOh! I know i'll have a battle on my hands with her. She's 15 and as teenagers get, its all about her. I think about everytime when things dont go quite right in our move, maybe my husband and children will blame me some. I hope not but its the kind of stuff you worry about. So many decisions! I guess you are officially joining the 'ping-pong' group. At least you are not alone. As you have read, there are others on here in that same elite group. I really do hope you can make the 'right' decision (if there is such a thing). I wont be making my move yet until October. So do me a favor and get all those dirty streets cleaned up before my family sees them! Well, let us know what decision you come to. best of luck.

Calgal

Julius, I agree with most of what you say. I had doubts - and yes, the first thing I started to do was comparing everything. I was horribly home sick for the first year. What really cured me, though was the VISIT back home - it was like magic and I couldn't wait to get back here. My kids are truly Canadian now. I know they wouldn't be able to hack it back in the UK

julius smith

oh, graet, calgal! its so great to hear that someone has finally been able to get themselves in a strong position, wherever they are. as i have said before, we are constant tumult right now--comparing the uk to canada and vice versa, then making our minds up to go back , only to reverse our minds later in the evening or the next day! we cant carry on like this--the kids SATS are starting soon here, so we need to make firm decision and fast. only thing, or one of the only thing that winds me up about education in canada is why the heck does it take so long there compared to the uk and why does it cost so much? take the medical degree there--it apparently costs $18 000 a year for 4 years, on top of the initial batchelors degree( another 3 years @ $8000 per year!) you have to do to get onto the medical course in the first place? here in the uk you do your a levels then its straight into uni for 5 years and you come out as a doc!! look atthe difference in both cost and length of time! if someone here can clarify this problem for me, i would really appreciate it. i have been onto the uni in canada, but i keep getting garbled and conflicting answers about costs and duration etc. thats our problem now--whether to stick it out here till the kids qualify or to go back to canada and let them study there, albeit at a much higher cost in money and time!! nice position to be in, innit? NOT!!! :scared:

Calgal

Hmmmm don't think I can be much help with this one (and I have two 17 year olds graduating high school in June, and will be looking for further ed in the near future :scared: )
One has his eye on Industrial design in Seattle ('only' $28k US a year for four years............. :scared: )

The thing is with the education, is that not all countries recognise the same qualifications, the same way. I know of a cardiac RN from the YUK who came to Toronto last year, and had to pass all the Canadian exams to be able to work. Before my husband could get his US visa, he had to have his qualifications reviewed and 'translated' into the American equivalent in order to get the visa and work. Confusing, isn't it?

Nicky & Dave

Then an incredible drive up through the North Yorkshire Moors, past Helmsley and down sutton bank before making our way back into Leeds.[/QUOTE]

Probably should not reminisce about this when you're feeling homesick but just have to agree with you about the beauty of Yorkshire. I know when we finally leave the UK, I am going to miss it just the same as you are.

We moved 'up North' to a village near Wetherby in 2001, and one of the first walks we did was along Sutton Bank and over to Lake Gormire. It was one of those beautiful winter days - clear blue sky, sun shining and you could see for miles from the top of Sutton Bank. I remember standing there and feeling like I'd found where I wanted to be for the rest of my life. I had a little plan about moving to Helmsley and running a B&B .....unfortunately a dream it's going to stay as it now appears that Sydney is actually where we're going to be! And as lovely as Sydney is, it's still got a long way to go to beat Yorkshire for me, but ho-hum I'll just have to get used to it.

Keep smiling! and I hope things start to look up for you soon.
Nicky

baileyalison

just stick it out and try harder the uk is finished its a sh**hole and you know it what will it be like here in 15 years like a third world country thats what just come back to see it and you will get an instant return flight :scared:

Manc

A failure in the UK, whom blames the UK, will blame their situation on anything else when they ***** up abroad too.

nice grammar by the way.

flashman

Used to live in Lancashire 30 years ago when there was cotton and other industries but I guess they are all gone now so what's the basis for the economy? Is the North the poor side of the divide?

baileyalison

open your eyes its everywhere london liverpool leicester birmingham bradford further north and south its totally f***** theres more and more places shutting down boarded up shops kids out of control spineless government the list is endless why anyone wants to come back here beats me its the pits

baileyalison

hello no its not the poor side of the divide we have a sense of humour and talk to people up here but the country is knackered as a whole 15 years and its totally knackered

Manc

do you not understand, that wherever you go in the world, that life stinks?
That you have to get up in the morning to go to work and that you still have to pay a mortgage?
and that you CAN be burgled once you've emigrated?

Life is shit wherever you are, unless you're independently wealthy, that life is a hard slog?
there is no utopia anymore.
there aren't magical factory jobs paying £50,000 in Australia that people are flocking to.
Life is a grind.
The UK is no different to anywhere else.

iaink

Hmm, at least my mortgage is a managable proportion of my income here, and there will be a point where it is paid off in my lifetime. In fact thinking about it many people coming to Canada cash in on the UK property boom and live here mortgage free. Property crime is still relatively rare here, as is petty chavism too, I guess it does happen, but its not something I think about on a daily basis. In my sleepy small town muggings still get radio news time!

Life may still be a grind if you have a job you dont like, but at least most of the petty irritations of life can be minimised. A take your point though that no place is completely crap, and no place completely perfect, but some places are definitely better than others.

Manc

it's all personal circumstance Iain.
Did you get where you are today because

a) you grafted your balls for it?
b) or JUST because you left the UK?

there is no utopia.

The country doesn't make the person, only he can do it alone.