el_richo

I wonder how much happier people would be in the UK if they put as much effort into life and/or change than they do when they emigrate.

Years of uncertainty, hardship, job hunting, moving, stress, and upset just don't seem worth it to me. But i'm lazy.

Almost Canadian

I certainly agree with the comment about the UK

I am minded to agree with the bit about you being lazy as well but, other than your posts on here, I don't really have much evidence to support such a position

Guinness

I agree with you there almost canadian, it takes at least 2 years before things start to look better. I came to Canada when i was 25 and I pretty much cried everyday for a year!!
i have now lived in TO for nearly 20 years and it is now time to move back to the UK. Canada is a great country but I would not say that it is better than the UK, again it all depends on what you are looking for. As you get older you change and your priorities change with it.

Boris-canadabound

Congrats on the job. Just to say that I know how you feel, although it is just me and my husband here and we came because he was offered a job. He travels a lot so I have been on my own most of the time, in an apartment where I don't seem to meet anyone much. I miss not being able to meet up with friends sometimes. I have been fortunate enough to find a part time shop job, which is not what I really wanted and not what I am qualified to do, but it isn't easy to find a job here. In addition I have a bit of emotional blackmail from an elderly parent we had to leave behind (but who is well and living in a retirement flat with activities and people checking on him).
I was also disappointed to find that despite all the space, many houses are built practically on top of each other with hardly any garden and those that do have gardens are usually small, not fenced in, and overlooked.

However, it has only been four months and I feel that it is not long enough - I am certainly not going to allow myself to become despondent yet. I intend to keep plugging away at finding a 'proper' job, think about moving to a housewhich will make it easier for my father to visit, and generally try to stay positive. We haven't really made the most of the winter activities but I am looking forward to the arrival of spring.

Good luck and hope you feel more settled soon.

The Davenports

Thanks everyone, trying to be strong and positive. x

canbritdenise

Moving to Canada. We take so long to make this happen, years of our lives in England making this happen, stress, working it all out. We wait for the day when we can land and start out new life.
Then we arrive and the stress continues, no fully finished basement with toys, no outside, in-ground pool,sometimes no job, kids hate it, the weather is sh.......t, and England doesn't seem so bad after all. Why cant we give ourselves a break and just sit back and look at what we have achieved. Many people say they want to immigrate, but don't, we have. Pat yourselves on the back, take deep breaths, cup of tea, and enjoy. If not, England will always be there, and at least you can say you tried it.
Goodluck Davenport family, im only down the road for a cup of tea, if ya need it.

The Davenports

Thanks for that post, so true. I have met up with some english ladies here in Lasalle this week and they are taking me under their wing. Karen and Monique came to visit on Monday and we had lunch out and we've been chatting alot since so I know I'm not alone.
hopefully things will look up only time will tell.

Monique_in_Canada

this Monique chick sounds asssssome wish I had met her when I came

G77

Not been on here for a while, sorry to hear you're finding it hard.

To be honest, moving to Canada in winter, even this relatively tropical part, quite frankly sucks. Just wait till next month, everything will seem better - spring/summer/autumn here is spectacular. Everyone gets cabin fever from time to time in winter - have been there and got the t-shirt!

Drop me a pm if you want to meet up, we're only 5 mins away!

S_B

Hi,
Hope you are feeling better today

I haven't got much advice i'm afraid but i just wanted to say that i moved around a lot due to my Dad's work when i was younger, although granted it wasn't to a different country, but never the less, the friends i moved away from might as well have been half way around the world as we lost contact after so long!

Basically what my point is is that i can still remember when i was around 15 and had to leave all my friends behind (i'm now 23), i was absolutely gutted at the time so much so my dad actually cried and said how sorry he was (which even to this day still breaks my heart to think about it now! the silly bugger, he was moving jobs & i know it was for the best but at the time seemed like the worst thing in the world at that age! ) BUT once i had settled in with my new friends, and had lost contact with those who couldnt be bothered wiht you anymore as they move on too, i soon realised it wasn't that bad; I guess i just wanted to share with you that even though she may be feeling a little lost with the move she'll soon start to feel better about it all Try not to be worry too much or feel too bad about it as it wont help you either- it won't last too long and she'll soon be rockin around with other friends

Don't know if that was much help or not but just wanted to share! All the best, Steff x

holstein

....Just telling my story, and take from it what you will. I may have made some bad decisions and some stuff didn't go according to plan, but i'm in a better place in life than I was at home.

I still love my home land and didn't leave because I hate Scotland, I came for the opportunity, and i'm going to stick it out and give it a chance, that is all.

I have done more research than most believe or not, but thats for another day!

Hollis Family

We moved with a 15 year old and a 12 year old. Almost 2 years on we can't believe how settled both the boys are (now grade 9 and 12)! We visited the UK in Nov for the first time since moving which I thought would unsettle them but it had the opposite effect. Both boys say they loved seeing their friends but they prefer life in Canada! Hang in there - its early days!

xxdb

It's really really hard to leave the big social network you have back home behind and that's probably a lot of why you're feeling so sad, not having as many close friends to talk to.

It can get remarkably lonely out here. Unfortunately it can be hard to make friends in Canada because they do things differently. Friends generally don't just drop by, it seems to be considered rude (!) so you will often only see your "friends" every few weeks.

It's also hard if you're having to count the pennies.

I personally reckon (having gone both ways - back home twice and back here twice) that it takes a full year to find a full social network.

My wife lived on facebook for a full year and would cry every day. My kids were depressed. Now two years later more or less we're settled in but our social network is much smaller than back home, you just have to fill your time up with activities instead.

Good luck and hang in there.

My 2p/2c.

xxdb

LOL this is so true.

xxdb

But NB doesn't get Chinooks either.

If you look only at the lows you get the (mistaken) idea that we're living in the arctic.

If a Chinook blows in it can go from -30C to +10C and stay there all week.

Yes it gets cold out here but you just need to dress for it and also you get a break!

I remember when I lived in Toronto it seemed to me that it was -10C to -15C straight with no breaks from november to may when it miraculously changed into summer. And -15C in Toronto is colder than -15C here because it's dry.

I prefer a Calgary winter 10X over a Toronto winter because of the Chinooks.