Anybody happy in Canada?
#31
Re: Anybody happy in Canada?
I am unhappy living in Canada, and my sojourn here is only bearable for me because it is time limited. However, I do not hate Canada, and have been known to praise or defend aspects of Canadian culture, on this forum, and even get attacked for doing so.
I've repeatedly praised Alberta's library system. I've praised Canada's literary culture and support for the arts. I've praised its cheeses. I've even suggested that the small-mindedness and limited mental horizons of many Canadians, often jeered at on this forum, can easily be matched in any saloon bar in the UK. I've praised the health system too, and I may have mentioned that Canada's universities and colleges are impressively funded and endowed.
Also, I've been married to a Canadian for a long, long, time.
Secondly, my husband had been made redundant in the UK, but he wasn't actually unemployed, and he probably wouldn't have been unemployed if we'd stayed, or at least not for more than a few weeks. He just wouldn't have been able to continue in the academic field he's devoted his adult life to.
#32
Re: Anybody happy in Canada?
They are going to have that on the menu in the "Fox and Fiddle"???
I'll probably scare the poor server to death!
Last edited by JamesM; Feb 12th 2012 at 11:14 pm.
#33
Re: Anybody happy in Canada?
I'm reluctant to reply to any post by Auld Yin, but I think I should qualify his remarks.
I am unhappy living in Canada, and my sojourn here is only bearable for me because it is time limited. However, I do not hate Canada, and have been known to praise or defend aspects of Canadian culture, on this forum, and even get attacked for doing so.
I've repeatedly praised Alberta's library system. I've praised Canada's literary culture and support for the arts. I've praised its cheeses. I've even suggested that the small-mindedness and limited mental horizons of many Canadians, often jeered at on this forum, can easily be matched in any saloon bar in the UK. I've praised the health system too, and I may have mentioned that Canada's universities and colleges are impressively funded and endowed.
Also, I've been married to a Canadian for a long, long, time.
Secondly, my husband had been made redundant in the UK, but he wasn't actually unemployed, and he probably wouldn't have been unemployed if we'd stayed, or at least not for more than a few weeks. He just wouldn't have been able to continue in the academic field he's devoted his adult life to.
I am unhappy living in Canada, and my sojourn here is only bearable for me because it is time limited. However, I do not hate Canada, and have been known to praise or defend aspects of Canadian culture, on this forum, and even get attacked for doing so.
I've repeatedly praised Alberta's library system. I've praised Canada's literary culture and support for the arts. I've praised its cheeses. I've even suggested that the small-mindedness and limited mental horizons of many Canadians, often jeered at on this forum, can easily be matched in any saloon bar in the UK. I've praised the health system too, and I may have mentioned that Canada's universities and colleges are impressively funded and endowed.
Also, I've been married to a Canadian for a long, long, time.
Secondly, my husband had been made redundant in the UK, but he wasn't actually unemployed, and he probably wouldn't have been unemployed if we'd stayed, or at least not for more than a few weeks. He just wouldn't have been able to continue in the academic field he's devoted his adult life to.
#35
Re: Anybody happy in Canada?
QUOTE=JamesM;9898610]Between now and when you leave make sure you enjoy every last sweet potato fry! If I learned one thing about this whole immigration malarky it is that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.[/QUOTE][
#38
Re: Anybody happy in Canada?
Try it. My local Indian from East Africa (specifically Tanzania) serves a superb version. Knocks the socks of potato fries and yam (sweet potato) fries, IMHO.
#40
Banned
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,088
Re: Anybody happy in Canada?
I can only speak from my experience in the Vancouver area but yes, I am happy. I can't think of any significant aspect of my life that would be improved by returning to the UK.
I don't really want to make a list because that has been done to death, resurrected and done to death again more times than a dead horse has been flogged. Anyway, whatever I say about my life here will have little relevance to you. Life experience and cultural values are worlds apart 50kms from Vancouver. I can't even begin to imagine what life will be like in Ontario, let alone Quebec or Nova Scotia. And there is no reason to assume that what I think is important will even register with you.
There are very many British and Irish expats around here. IME the vast majority are content with their lives. They don't post on this site.
You have to take the posts here for what they are. I remember an analysis of Labour's election victory in 1997. One strategy they picked on, long before the election, was to portray the Tories as the party of sleeze. So, on every possible occasion a Labour Party spokesman would get in front of a microphone and say this (whatever it was) was yet another example of Tory sleeze. They knew it was the noise that counts and not the facts. It was great strategy. By the time the election came round enough people believed that the Tory party was rotten to the core to hand Labour a stunning victory.
On here we get so many comparison threads that quickly descend into mind-numbingly petty gripes. It is easy to get lost in the noise and to stop evaluating the posts. No doubt we do have some mind-numbingly petty posters. However, the much missed Judy of Calgary identified that assigning unwarranted importance to trivial things is part of the adjustment process that is common to many immigrants. You don't see many posts saying, "did I really post that crap six months ago?" I suspect quite a few people think that.
And then there are the mischievous posters who just like to stir the pot every now and again.
For a happy immigration I think it is important to remember that things are different in Canada. That is DIFFERENT to those hard of hearing at the back. Different is not synonymous with bad, or worse, or behind the times. Canada is not a failed attempt to be the UK. There are usually good reasons why things are done the way they are. With some time and effort you can find out why.
I think a happy immigrant accepts the differences as they are until they understand what goes to make up the differences. Many equate being "not what I am used to" and "not convenient for me" with "bad." This is an attitude that usually softens with time and experience. Where an immigrant is in a position to influence change this is much more persuasive coming from someone with understanding. "We did/do it better in the UK" doesn't achieve a great deal.
One thing that concerns me after seeing many of your other posts is that you are doing an awful lot of research on costs. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but if small differences in costs are going to make or break a successful immigration you may want to pause.
Things never work out as planned. To bastardize the military saying, the best laid immigration plan is unlikely to survive the landing process. IME the reality is that everything is going to cost more than you expect. Are you the kind of family that can roll with the punches? If things don't go as expected can you say that we have put a roof over your heads and food on the table. Everything else is onwards and upwards?
If you are, then my experience from my bit of BC is that there are plenty of opportunities out there. You just need to see them and have the tenacity to make the most of them.
YMMV.
I don't really want to make a list because that has been done to death, resurrected and done to death again more times than a dead horse has been flogged. Anyway, whatever I say about my life here will have little relevance to you. Life experience and cultural values are worlds apart 50kms from Vancouver. I can't even begin to imagine what life will be like in Ontario, let alone Quebec or Nova Scotia. And there is no reason to assume that what I think is important will even register with you.
There are very many British and Irish expats around here. IME the vast majority are content with their lives. They don't post on this site.
You have to take the posts here for what they are. I remember an analysis of Labour's election victory in 1997. One strategy they picked on, long before the election, was to portray the Tories as the party of sleeze. So, on every possible occasion a Labour Party spokesman would get in front of a microphone and say this (whatever it was) was yet another example of Tory sleeze. They knew it was the noise that counts and not the facts. It was great strategy. By the time the election came round enough people believed that the Tory party was rotten to the core to hand Labour a stunning victory.
On here we get so many comparison threads that quickly descend into mind-numbingly petty gripes. It is easy to get lost in the noise and to stop evaluating the posts. No doubt we do have some mind-numbingly petty posters. However, the much missed Judy of Calgary identified that assigning unwarranted importance to trivial things is part of the adjustment process that is common to many immigrants. You don't see many posts saying, "did I really post that crap six months ago?" I suspect quite a few people think that.
And then there are the mischievous posters who just like to stir the pot every now and again.
For a happy immigration I think it is important to remember that things are different in Canada. That is DIFFERENT to those hard of hearing at the back. Different is not synonymous with bad, or worse, or behind the times. Canada is not a failed attempt to be the UK. There are usually good reasons why things are done the way they are. With some time and effort you can find out why.
I think a happy immigrant accepts the differences as they are until they understand what goes to make up the differences. Many equate being "not what I am used to" and "not convenient for me" with "bad." This is an attitude that usually softens with time and experience. Where an immigrant is in a position to influence change this is much more persuasive coming from someone with understanding. "We did/do it better in the UK" doesn't achieve a great deal.
One thing that concerns me after seeing many of your other posts is that you are doing an awful lot of research on costs. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but if small differences in costs are going to make or break a successful immigration you may want to pause.
Things never work out as planned. To bastardize the military saying, the best laid immigration plan is unlikely to survive the landing process. IME the reality is that everything is going to cost more than you expect. Are you the kind of family that can roll with the punches? If things don't go as expected can you say that we have put a roof over your heads and food on the table. Everything else is onwards and upwards?
If you are, then my experience from my bit of BC is that there are plenty of opportunities out there. You just need to see them and have the tenacity to make the most of them.
YMMV.
#45
Re: Anybody happy in Canada?
Repeats don't count otherwise this is my 5th and I'm younger than you. Beware I might follow you to France one day. Un jour on sera voisins!!!!