We all moved to Ontario in August this year after 6 years trying to get here. I hate it, am I the only one who feels like they've made the biggest mistake of their life when they've done something like this. We have two children aged 14 and 13 and am wondering if it's worth cutting our loses and returning to the UK so enable the kids to re-enrol in school and not lose any time with their education??. Husband likes it here as does one of the children, the other wants to go home. What do I do, any advise from those that have been here, does it get better, please tell me it does.
Desperate and despondent

I don't want to sound rude but you haven't really given yourself much time to get over the emotional upset of moving and time to find new feet. A month or so is hardly anything really.

It's going to get worse before it gets better, if you can make it through to June you may be OK. Whereabouts are you?

I am sorry you are feeling like this. Even though coming to Canada was something you wanted to do its still a big Culture Shock! It does take time. You are probably feeling like a fish out of water and wanting to have things that are familiar around you. I have been here for 13years now and still feel "not connected" at times. Give it a little time. Hope you feel better. PM me if you want to chat.
Buggalugs

What exactly do you hate? Why does your husband and one of the kids like it?

When I moved to Canada back in 1999 I also hated it after the first few weeks but as my OH and I had very little money going back to the UK wasn't an option. I think for most people it does get better and even though I'm now back in the UK I'm glad I gave Canada a fair go (almost 9 years). I can't imagine moving with teenagers though that's got to be tough, I really hope things improve for you soon.

After a month I could still barely find my way back to our condo , let alone consider if I had made a mistake or not.
It does get better , but some days it does get worse. I've been here a year now but will freely admit to having the wobbles on the odd occasion.
I love it here though , it was the best thing we ever did , I found the trick was to figure out what is making you feel this way and try to address the individual problems.

If you are missing friends then you need to socialise in order to find people to fill in these roles, It is very easy to feel overwhelmed, I felt very insecure to start with. I still do on some things. If this is the case then you need to research in order to feel more confident when dealing with new things ( i especially found this with banking stuff!)

Give yourself at least a year before you even consider changing , it may be you've just ended up in the wrong part of Canada , its a big place. If you are in a city , maybe you need a small town environment or vice versa

Feel free to Pm if you want to chat

Zoe

It does sound rude Lorna! A few months can be a life time when you are at the bottom.

The good news is that it does get better but it does take time. I understand your point about returning home sooner rather than later for the childrens education, and can see why that is important to you and would colour your judgement.

As some of the more seasoned posters on here will know I have been in the depths of despair at times, but now I feel at home here and can't see us going back. I can't define what has changed to make me feel better about it. Perhaps its becoming resigned to the Canadian way, accepting that things are just different here. I have also got over the resentment that the jobs dont pay as much as we were told, and that there aren't many jobs to get. Also now that I am working more we are no longer poor and I dont have to shop in No Frills which is the most dismal miserable experience.

Shopping was such a nightmare, having to read everything to see what was in it, work out what the cuts of meat were. It took forever too. I think in some ways its harder when the country looks similar, has the same language. If I had moved to a non English speaking country I would have expected it to take a while to settle, but coming here I expected it to be easier especially as I knew the area quite well.

I have found a great deal of support from people on this forum, and I am grateful for their help. There are also a fair few who see any criticism of Canada as treason and they can be pretty judgemental towards those who arent settling, or who those who dare admit that Canada isnt perfect.

So, enough rambling, lets see what others have to say.

Hey - like I said - I never meant to sound rude .... just to say that in the first month one is so overwhelmed with homesickness and doubts and questions that it is hard if not impossible to quickly get used to new surroundings and everything else a big move entails. And yes - a month can be as long as a year but is it really enough to give a place a fair chance ?

Hello there, before I reply I just feel it would be good to know what part of Ontario are you living?!

As you have no doubt guessed, I don't and my comments were not based on movers to Canada but movers out of the UK in general and the sense of homesickness and doubt that everyone feels, whether they move to Europe - Australia - America - Asia - Canada or anywhere

Ummm ....... JLT wasn't responding to you but to longwayfromhome.

But I take your point. There are some elements of moving that are common to all moves.
x

It is a big thing to up-sticks and move to another country and it will take time to adjust. Just because people here speak the same language as you does not mean they think or act the same way as you are used to. You will adapt.

The kids are a key issue. Find a way to get them to meet other kids. Even one kid. It's the domino effect.

I did the same with myself. I found a pub and got to know the bartender. I was very quickly introduced to other people. Etc, etc.

Give it a little time.

my mistake ...........
apologies to JLT

thanks for picking me up on it ......... otherwise i really would have come across as being rude and defensive.

Thanks Judy I agree with her points also, but yes I thought I was going a little crazy to see the response back to my question! As I have been in Ontario since 96 and gone through lots of whirlwinds just wanted to see if I could help further by knowing her location as Ontario as we all know is Huge!