JSHalifax

Hello Hampshire..I'm from Southampton, lived in Fair Oak nr Eastleigh...We have never regretted our move either love it here..my hubby worked for a company for 27 years and was waiting for retirement (or redundancy) when we decided to leave...I'm going back for a visit soon Feb 22....any questions I'll also be glad to help..
June

RedMonsk

How did you ladies do when it came to making friends/social life?

JSHalifax

you are kidding aren't you, my husband says I can talk to anyone!
well we found people here very friendly, they love the english accent, they were always curious about why we left so converstaion always turned to that. We live in the city so no problem getting out and about even in a snow storm so never felt isolated. In general though the Brits tend to be more stand offish with people they don't know well where the Maritimers just jump right in and adopt you..we got invited to family dinners and Barbeques and we had more firends in the first year than we did after years living in our street where only the neighbour next door would say hi when he put the cat out! Its also good to have a selection of friends rather than hang out with just ex -pats , although our English friends are still the only people that can make a decent cuppa. hope that helps, you really are worrying too much you know if you can live all those years in U.K. you can survive Canada.

RedMonsk

Thanks for the reassurance. When I get to know people I am fine, my friends would laugh to hear this, but I am initially a bit shy and this can sometimes come across as snootiness! I wouldn't want the Canadians to think I am just another stuffy Brit!

Coffeepot

Hi, i was raised on the solent, but now in Cambs been all over actually, love the sea and always hope to live by the sea or water again, maybe this move to Canada could do that, there are so many lakes, still have lots of family in Gosport Lee on solent and hillhead etc

JSHalifax

Hi , yes thats why we chose Halifax it somehow reminded us of Southampton being a seaport, Its also the home of Mr. Cunard and lets not forget that we Titantic link as well ..thats about all the links it has to Southampton though I spent many cold days shivering on Lepe Beach when I was a kid , our parents read newspapers in the car and promised us all an ice cream if we were good .......Ah sweet memories of childhood
June

Coffeepot

Going a little of topic here nice as it is, We have 4 children, 3 older ones and one 6 year old, the older ones have all gone on to uni Ones an Architect

JSHalifax

well it is 6 a.m.! here I own a bed and breakfast so started really early so I could check emails... We brought a 13 year old... shes 24 now shes on her way To Cayman Islands to work for six months! she didn't go to Uni and she doesn't have a huge student loan either to pay back..
better go and put the coffee pot on
June

Coffeepot

Going a little of topic here nice as it is,
We have 4 children, 3 older ones and one 6 year old, the older ones have all gone on to uni Ones an Architect ( 7 years ) ones at uni doing animation and graphics, will probably go on to do TV work,she has done fine art at Cambridge so still has other doors open, The other who will be strarting in sept as an older student, change of course has completed photography and now has decided his love is Rugby so is doing Rugby training and sports Science whatever they choose we would only hope that they are happy, as it is these are the things that make them happy, You work for such a long time in your life its important to enjoy it.

The younger one we are taking to Canada not for a better education because i still think there are some very good schools here, but we feel we can give him a better way of life, Daddy can be home more instead of 4 hours on the train each day, just in time to kiss good night if the trains are on time,
we can go out and play on the icerink in the garden even in the dark, www.nicerinks.com spend more time out of the house skiing instead of once a year for 1 week in Austria, walking with our dogs, we want more time together, not just sat and sundays when you have to fit everything else in, the hardest part will be leaving the other children, but they will be over every holiday so its not much different to here,they can't wait to come snowboarding and swimming in the summer, only they won't bring all there washing ( i hope ) there are lots of things we will miss here, life is an adventure and you have to do what you think is best for your family and yourself. We have experienced first hand some of the extreme violence thats going on here in the UK and it has changed a lot even in the past 2 years, we had already decided to leave before all this and i do think some of the people that have posted on here who are in Canada do not realise how much it is changing here, i know its not all roses on the other side, but hope it will give us more time together as a family

derryck

They always love the English accent. I think that North Americans (broad generalisation) do have at least a few chromosomes that/genes that trigger anglo-deference. I think that (over here) an English accent does tend to impart an aura of authority about subjects being discussed, and (Sad to admit) but I think that it has assisted me and many of my friends in the process of persuading people about something (making a sale, getting a job, pulling a mate/partner ;-) - etc).

I am hoping that (after 11 years of living in Canada) we'll get to see the sea this summer (Maritimes or BC) - it's going to be a hard sell at home, but I think it'll be worth it.

Generally, I have found two types of brits. One type you can drop at the North Pole, and they'll just get on with life. The other type you can drop in Brittany, and they'll pine for England. Hardly any in between....

burtreynoldsisonit

Oh hi,

My parents moved to Canada when I was 14 and I left when I was 18 to come back to the UK. I missed my friends a lot but as I was so young and I was in school in Canada I had to stay. We went over in summer and when I got there I really liked it. It was just like being part of tv as everyone had a northern American accent and everything looked just like how all the shows on tv looked. When it first snowed I really enjoyed it. After about a week of it and the constant freezing I really got over the novelty of it. Fast. I didn't like the school that I was attending. Not that the school had anything wrong or because I wasn't fitting in, it's just that I prefered school in England much more. I even went to school with my two cousins from England (they were both my age too) so it definately was not because I was lonely. I'm 20 now and living in the UK, but it has changed so much now. I've been back here for 2 going on 3 years now and I really have decided that I need to move. I am going to Vancouver for two years while I study Film and Tv production and screen writing. I like Vancouver, but I still am not so keen on living in Canada. I would like to move to Australia by the time I am 25 or 26. I really don't want to be one of the people who says "Don't go to Canada! It's terrible and cold!". No, this is was just my perspective as a kid who lived there for a few years. If it puts anything into perspective my brother, who is two years older, loves Canada and is still living there with my mother and father. They really like it and don't plan on comming back. I hope this helps and remember to wrap up warm in winter!

neekie

Hi,
Cant seem to PM you on that link so will keep in touch with you through here if thats ok unless you know another way?

rae

compared with inner city manchester, i have actually found the rate of stabbings reported here is higher than what i am used to. yes knives were carried and produced on a regular basis and on arrest i found many a knife when it was not in issue in the first hand back home. here though so far they not only seem to be carried more from the reports we receive, but used more when people get them out. there was a double stabbing only a couple of days ago in north edmonton. could be due to more open reports/records i suppose but i doubt it.

rae

yep pretty much just that, wondering if it was worth it. 1 8yr old daughter. repeating work at school, bullying here issue as everywhere i suppose, not integrating as well as i hoped, does not seem to have as many friends.
having said that the school is a huge improvement on what it can offer, its location in the community and the kids that go there do seem to be generally better behaved and more polite.
on the whole i would say better here, but its not as huge a gap as i first thought. i think we will see the real difference at high school, with hopefully less drugs/pregnancy/crime and so on. we'll see. maybe.

RedMonsk

How long has she been at the school?