zannab

Hello everyone,
Hope you are all well and had a good christmas and new year. Well we arrived in toronto on the 8th of dec and it was a shock to the system to say the least.
We came down to London on the sunday and then moved into are short term acc on the wednesday. We have done well doing all the paperwork stuff especially having 2 small kids in tow!!!
Everyone has been very friendly and helpful and we have been welcomed to canada by almost everyone we have met.
Christmas was quiet as we dont know actually know a soul but the kids had a good time.
Billy my other half starting looking for work after the holidays hes a carpenter by trade and was shocked to be offered $16 an hour. We were expecting more and he has been for another job and if he gets it he will be on $20 an hour. It has totally knocked our confidence and we now feel we have been a little naive , the cost of living seems high and to to have the quality of life we had expected that wage is not enough. I will work too but it appears good quality child care is hard to find and it will cost.
We like London and all it has to offer but we have had a very hard time coming to terms with the compromises we will have to make in respect of the area we will live in and the type of house we can afford.
When I used to read peoples threads and they said they were lonely thinking of going home after a few weeks etc we scoffed at them and said they must be mad. I completely apologise as we have discussed going home everyday for the last two weeks I want to stay its Billy who is unsure and it was he who had to convince me to come in the first place.!!
I miss my family and friends and I have cried badly several times but I know this is the right thing for us and the kids.
So any words of encouragement would be gratefully recieved ort any other comments nothing to awful please we feel a bit fragile at the moment
Thankyou for any replies in advance and it is nice to be back
oh and any good pubs in london so at least billy can have an adult converstion besides talking to me if voyager reads this Billy is a big rangers man too!!
Regards
Zannah

Ruby Murray

Hi Zannah,

We lived in rural Exeter, 30 mins north of London, in 2004.....such fond memories
We only went to one British pub on our trips to London and that was to The Waltzing Weasel on Adelaide Street. Nice atmosphere, kiddie friendly (crazy golf just behind). Hubby had a couple of lovely ice cold draft Guinness

Jaycee

BTW....homesickness is to be expected and is very normal, you are bound to be on an emotional rollercoaster for the first 3 months at least. I know I was when I first moved to Red Deer in 2003 but then I got better and used to my surroundings. Then we moved to Exeter in 2004 and I was homesick for Red Deer!!! But then I got used to Exeter. Yes, we are back in Red Deer again but now me & OH pine for the nice quiet life we had in our big house in the country.....no pleasing some people, I know - I'm one of them!!

Voyager970

Hi there

Have sent you a PM
Have a look

Eddie AKA Voyager

raine66

Hang in there

TLB

Hi zannab,

We've been living in London now since September and still haven't made any friends but we have found that the first few months were incredibly hectic!! We both have relatively low paid jobs but we didn't come to find our wealth and fortune (and I doubt we ever will with the wages here!!). You have to remember that the first couple of months are likely to be expensive and unsettled, for example you will have to totally restock your kitchen cupboards, have to go to Home Depot for the screwdriver that is on its way over but you can't wait, taking the whole family to the OHIP office instead of being able to sort it out yourself, quickly and with familiarity.

My OH often lies in bed while I get ready for work and he feels incredibly guilty that he isn't working as many hours and as hard as he was back in the UK but I remind him every day how lucky he is as this is the laid back lifestyle we came over for!!!

You say you miss your family terribly, do you have MSN or a webcam? Phone calls back to the UK are inexpensive. We find our phone bill is incredibly cheap especially now we have the webcam (though I hate looking at myself on it!!!).

Like raine66 says hang in there. You have waited so long to get here don't give up or even consider it - yet!! Give it a good shot. You say your kids are small, they will pick up on your stresses which this may magnify your worries.

PM if you like.

Tracey

tnkngn

I totally feel for you guys, but I KNOW things will get better, as long as you hang in there and try.
I have lived in London myself for two years and found it kind of hard to make friends at first, but after a while that changed.
Go put yourself out there, I connected with people through sports, maybe go to the local YMCA for example, they have programs for newcomers.

If you think about going back, try researching another area to live maybe, they are "crying" for carpenters out west for example if your husband doesn't find the work with the wages he expected.
20$ isn't all that bad to start though I think, he will have to get some of the so called "canadian experience" and he will be fine.

Good luck in Canada and London specifically!!

Gezza

It really sounds to me like you could be one of those very unfortunate people who must move from U.K. to Canada..twice!
If you have started thinking and talking of going back it will become a nasty habit that can only be halted (albeit temporarily) by actually going back.... Once in U.K. you will realise how you have gravitated in the prosperity ladder, how there had been certain "small but good" bits in your London.Ontario. And after some 12 months of meditation you will plunge again into your "goingback" self . Going back to Canada, that is:
You will decide life really was what it should be there except you kind of missed it, much to the excitement of your Removal company!
Second time round your husband will also only earn $15.00 an hour.
But it will seem,well...sort of, Right.

Sorry to be harsh.I am just trying to prevent you from mutilating your own finances over the next 5 years.

stepnek

It's such a massive move to make and it's bound to be so unsettling especially when things aren't working out as they were expected to. We've been here for nearly thirty months and I often think that I'd like to move back but I'm glad that I've stuck it out this far. That's not to say that everything is perfect here because it isn't but I know deep down that a move back will bring about a whole new set of problems. Whatever your reasons were for moving to Canada they likely are still valid so give yourselves lots of time to make it work and see what happens.