Elaine B.

God reminds me of when I used to work in a bar in Toronto and there was no escape

Cassie 10000

Well my happy bubble at work burst last night, so you must know what I might be going through

Elaine B.

It can be tough to stay cheerful somedays but don't let the buggers get you down

Cassie 10000

I worried about something that happened yesterday at work, all last night and also worried this morning.

I have decided not to get mad about it, but to get even. I'm not lettng the insecurities of one person drag me down This person hates to see me so happy and being helpful and friendly to others within my job, I think. Sad really.

Mistress Miggins

Willis had a huge unit in Ipswich, I bet we know some of the same people lol!

Um, for me though, back on topic, it's not been Canada that's been a surprise for me really. It's been the some expats that I have come across. There is little if any acculturation in to Canadian society, and just some of the dynamics that arise from this alone have been quite a surprise and not in a good way. I understand that we all come from different perspectives and with different attitudes to life, so c'est la vie, but none the less it's certainly been a surprise and not my idea of making a new life for myself and my family. I also appreciate though, that I am Irish, and never really "got" a lot about the "English" and what's deemed to be appropriate socially to begin with if the truth be known, so I have to take responsibility for that part. However, expats are notorious for having expat communities and limited involvement with their communities outside of expat circles. One could conclude that this could really interrupt the acculturation process. I am aware that this may not be the case all over Canada though, and I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had similar thoughts.

As for the dressing up bit, I do miss that! But hopefully from here on, now with being at the University we will make more of an effort to go the dinner dances and balls, there is an awesome social scene there for students of all ages because they offer masters and PhD research facilities. So yep, looking forward to putting a ball gown back on this year. Good job I brought mine from the UK lol as the only place I ever have time to buy clothes from nowadays is when I do the weekly shop at Walmart - and I don't think they do ball gowns!

Right I'm now off to bath two chihuahua puppies with my 5 year old daughter,

Have a great day guys!

Ms Miggins x

Cassie 10000

We don't live in an "Expat Community" and the only time I ever get a chance to speak or should I say type to any English people is on BE.

We are slowly building up some Canadian friends, with my other halfs job as well as mine. It only comes with time though and I do feel that you need to be a close family unit to hold up against he tough times with regards to emigrating.

We all have our off days and would like to chat with someone that understands Sorry but today is one of my off days and maybe I should turn off BE but its the first real one I've had in almost three months.

Mistress Miggins

Awwww Cassie, sounds like things are tough for you right now.......

I couldn't agree more with the need to speak to people who get you, and building up friends through work.

As for having an off day, the first one sucks quite hard when you get it. I noticed that you are having a bit of time of it at work with someone also, and the thing you have to remember is that you would have days like that in the UK too, so don't worry mate, it happens wherever you go, just sometimes our previous lives feel like a distant memory.

I hope your day gets better lady, and like you said in an earlier post, we can't be responsibile for other people's behavior, we can only be responsible for our reactions to it. It's seldom that people even realize the effect they have on you through their behavior and like you said, it's not your issue to deal with. Keep you chin up xxx

Cassie 10000

Thank you, you have no idea how your response has made me feel

I hate feeling down

BristolUK

Surprises.

No sink drainers without getting those plastic ones. It's obviously because of the dishwasher history, but they're not exactly rare in the UK and sinks still routinely come with drainers. It could be a space saver or to increase worktop area but then they replace it with a second sink.

Cookers/stoves.....the broiler (grill) feature...if there is one. Only having one power setting and having to lower the position of (whatever is used in place of a) grilling pan to get the equivalent of a 'medium' cook. How wasteful is that?

Mistress Miggins

Everything passes the good times and the challenging ones .....thank goodness

Why not take a step back and look at how you have got through bad days before, and what's kept you going, and then try and use that technique to get through the rest of the day. Sending you positive vibes anyway lady

I now have two clean chihuahua puppies, but I'm bloody soaked and so is my little girl

Take care and let me know how you are over the weekend ;

Mistress M x

ExKiwilass

How big and diverse it is. Like, I'm reading some people's posts in this thread and thinking but it's not like that here . Eastern seaboard canada is very diff to central canada (Ottawa, etc) which is very different again to BC, in terms of types of ethnic communities, fashion etc.

Someone said to me that BC (or rather, Van) is more like California/Washington state and from what I can tell that's true, as far as culture goes.

There are many, many other things that are weird to me but nothing that has been impossible to overcome or get used to. I guess the other big surprise is how americanised it is here (or rather, how there's a general north american culture). Overall, I really like it here.

dbd33

I don't think it's useful to think of Canada as a cultural entity. Rather, it makes sense to think of North America in nearly vertical slices, perhaps following the time zones. Atlantic Canada is like Maine, Ontario is like Ohio and Massachusetts, Alberta is like Texas, and the left coast is what it is.

DaveLovesDee

The gas is cheap though!

Being asked if I'm cold when walking outside without a jacket. I'm only walking from the car to a building.

Good point about the slices dbd, it makes sense to me.

Cassie 10000

Yes, I don't understand that one either

ExKiwilass

Yeah, I think that's true. The general myth of canada (snowshoes, 6 months winter, bugs, etc) is just not true where I live, where the climate is more like NZ and it's green all year around. And we don't have a bug problem. We don't even have screens on our doors/windows.

And that was a big surprise, cos I thought the whole of canada was like one big ice sheet before I got here.