The best posts EVER...
#47
Re: The best posts EVER...
Bazzz's response was no more than TracyS deserved for her amazingly stupid post. ANYONE who cites distaste at "immigration" as a reason for leaving the UK and emigrating elsewhere needs a swift and hefty kick up the backside.
"Too many immigrants, corrupt government... oooh I need to get out of here and go somewhere where they're friendly and the scenery is nice." Oh do grow up.
And in Canada there are no immigrants and those in government are whiter-than-white...?
"Too many immigrants, corrupt government... oooh I need to get out of here and go somewhere where they're friendly and the scenery is nice." Oh do grow up.
And in Canada there are no immigrants and those in government are whiter-than-white...?
I didn't realise emigrating made people so rude and offensive to complete strangers. Maybe you and Bazzz should move back to the UK. You'd fit right in on the c2c to Fenchurch St
#49
Re: The best posts EVER...
Corrupt government is a canadian specialty by the way, you might want to look into that
And canada has its fair share of illegals too.
Last edited by iaink; Jun 16th 2008 at 10:27 pm.
#50
Re: The best posts EVER...
What govenment isn't corrupt these days. In spite of the obvious problems would you still emigrate if you had the choice again.
Tracys
#51
Re: The best posts EVER...
Thanks for an honest response, that's all I was after. I really was asking if my glasses were rose tinted, I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. You guys on here obviously know far more about Canada than I do.
What govenment isn't corrupt these days. In spite of the obvious problems would you still emigrate if you had the choice again.
Tracys
What govenment isn't corrupt these days. In spite of the obvious problems would you still emigrate if you had the choice again.
Tracys
To get away from immigrants. Obviously.
#52
Re: The best posts EVER...
I've only been to the UK and Continental Europe as a tourist, so it's really hard for me to judge what I would do if I were British. It's so common for people to want what they don't have.
I was in Italy in April 2008. During one of my day tours, I was on a bus with other people from "new" countries (the USA, Australia, etc.) as well as people from other European countries (Sweden, Spain, Greece, etc.). Every single one of us from the new countries was drooling over the old buildings, the art, etc. Every single one of the Europeans said I was so lucky to live near the Rocky Mountains.
I've only ever lived in "new" countries (or at least new from the point of view of European settlement). I've lived in Swaziland, South Africa, Canada, the USA and Australia. I would love the opportunity to live in a place that had old buildings, gorgeous churches, great museums. I also would love to live in a place that was very close to other places that were really different.
During that same trip to Italy, I met an American couple who had been transferred to London. That weekend they were in Rome, and the previous weekend they'd been in Paris. They told me they were lapping up the cheap flights and the proximity that enabled them to see more of Europe during their expat assignment in London than they otherwise would have been able to see in a lifetime. And, on top of that, they loved doing touristy things in London itself.
So, you're contemplating giving all that up for the scenery in Canada which, I grant you, is stunning. But will the scenery always float your boat, or will its draw on you fizzle out? That is something that is very difficult to know in advance.
The photos in your profile and in your signature suggest that you're an outdoorsy person, so perhaps the outdoor pursuits that are available in Canada really will hold you.
But even then, you may be surprised that Canada lacks some of the outdoor freedom that you have in the UK. Are you aware that Canada does not have the system of rights-of-way through farmers' fields that you have in the UK?
And then there's the matter of family. Some people feel okay living far away from their families, and some people do not. Again, it's sometimes difficult to assess what your family means to you until you don't have them nearby.
The fact that my Canadian-born kids do not feel at all close to our family is a source of sadness to me. But I think it affects me more than it affects them. I'm guessing that, if you were to ask them about it, they'd shrug and say it's no big deal. Not having grown up with an extended family around them, they probably don't know what they're missing.
Novocastrian is an example of someone who misses the old buildings of Europe. His job is holding him in Canada for now, but he wants to retire in France.
In the three decades that we've been expats, a large proportion of our vacation (holiday) time has been spent showing visiting rellies and friends our part of Canada and also travelling overseas to visit them. This has really made a big dent into the time and money we would have had to visit other places that have been on our wish list and that we have never seen, e.g., Atlantic Canada. Keep in mind that Canadians generally get less annual leave than British people do. So, after a while, sacrificing that annual leave for other people becomes more and more vexing. It's a good thing I like Moraine Lake as much as I do, because I've lost count of the number of visitors I've taken to it.
But, with that having been said, one can find creative solutions. For example, this past winter, iaink, his wife and kids went on a Caribbean cruise with his brother and his family from the UK. That sounds like a win-win idea to me.
So, at the end of the day, will Canada make up for what you will have sacrificed by leaving the UK? I honestly don't know.
x
#53
Re: The best posts EVER...
Yes, I do know that in the high schools here they study Shakespeare.
Mind you, I almost despair of the present standard of education when my granddaughter, who is 15 and in grade 9 at high school told me that the English teacher wrote some sentences on the board and the kids had to say which was correct. For example: Here are your assignments. or Here is your assignments. She said that a lot of the kids did not know the correct one. Some of them said "they are the same thing."
I suppose what they mean is - if someone says "here is your CDs" or "Here are your CDs" that would mean they were getting their CDs back!!!
She said she hated it when kids say "I seen her" instead of "I saw her".
What kind of jobs do these kids get when they can't even speak the language properly?
Mind you, I almost despair of the present standard of education when my granddaughter, who is 15 and in grade 9 at high school told me that the English teacher wrote some sentences on the board and the kids had to say which was correct. For example: Here are your assignments. or Here is your assignments. She said that a lot of the kids did not know the correct one. Some of them said "they are the same thing."
I suppose what they mean is - if someone says "here is your CDs" or "Here are your CDs" that would mean they were getting their CDs back!!!
She said she hated it when kids say "I seen her" instead of "I saw her".
What kind of jobs do these kids get when they can't even speak the language properly?
Last edited by Dave+Jules; Jun 17th 2008 at 12:20 am. Reason: grammeer
#58
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,682
Re: The best posts EVER...
In one of the wikis Judy quotes anthropologist Wade Davis who said, “The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit."
I like that. Very much.
The British are prone to cultural imperialism. (I could equally have said cultural snobbery, but that might have caused offense.) However, think of Britain's greatest contribution to world culture, William Shakespeare. We all know of at least one of his plays because we all had to "do" Macbeth or Much ado about nothing for GCSE, but how many people in Britain actually pay money to go and see a live performance? How many people know any of his other works? In truth, Big Brother represents mainstream British culture much more realistically than any DWM. I am not going to say that Canada is any better, but it is certainly no worse.
We now live near Vancouver, and here we can live our lives in peace, accepted for who we are and not what we are. We don't miss the overt and covert racism and bigotry that we found endemic in British "culture". I'll happily give up a thousand years of the past for a hopeful future.
I like that. Very much.
The British are prone to cultural imperialism. (I could equally have said cultural snobbery, but that might have caused offense.) However, think of Britain's greatest contribution to world culture, William Shakespeare. We all know of at least one of his plays because we all had to "do" Macbeth or Much ado about nothing for GCSE, but how many people in Britain actually pay money to go and see a live performance? How many people know any of his other works? In truth, Big Brother represents mainstream British culture much more realistically than any DWM. I am not going to say that Canada is any better, but it is certainly no worse.
We now live near Vancouver, and here we can live our lives in peace, accepted for who we are and not what we are. We don't miss the overt and covert racism and bigotry that we found endemic in British "culture". I'll happily give up a thousand years of the past for a hopeful future.
#59
Re: The best posts EVER...
BTW, Although I thoroughly enjoy socializing with dbd33, clashing wit over myriad pints and such like, I'd like to nominate Judy's long reply to whoever it was as the new Best Post Evah!
D+J's comment on Brits in France qualifies for due consideration as the worst.
D+J's comment on Brits in France qualifies for due consideration as the worst.
#60
Re: The best posts EVER...
Of course we're in an unusual position in knowing people from the city, they're from everywhere but here, and local people many of whom are from here and who are not comfortable with people from the next county nevermind "kaffirs". Still, things weren't widely different in Mississauga, the children always had two birthday parties as their anglo and francophone friends couldn't be placed in the same room.
The cross-burning bigotry here leaves me gobsmacked, there's hardly a day I don't see a confederate flag on a truck or house and lawn jockies are common. "America in the Fifties" describes the desirable side of Canada; slow pace, children playing in the street, but also the attitudes to women and minorities outside of the big cities.