Sorry - which bit did I miss?... many thanks for your kind wishes

Have you met Karla Homolka? Peter Sutcliffe was nothing to write home about either. What's your point? My neighbour knows Russ Williams. That doenst mean most canadians arent nice enough.

Like adults anywhere in the world though they already have their own circle of friends built up over years, through common experiences. They probably are not actively recruiting new ones, which is the primary difference between canadians and anyone washing up fresh on these shores.

Immigrants to the UK in all lightly-hood are having the same conversation about the difficulty in making lasting friendships with Brits.

For MillieF, mags and tracys

As said above, I don't believe anyone who emmigrates believe they will return to the UK - we certainly didn't. In fact we were adamant that Nova Scotian life was for us etc etc.

In hindsight wish we hadnt have sold all of our worldly possessions - without a doubt should have stored some, until we decided catergorically to stay in Nova Scotia. Also wish we had our dogs microchipped as now have to wait 6 months in order to bring them back to the UK without them going into quarantine. Such is life......

In no way do I wish to dampen your spirits or knock you or anyone else for that matter in having the balls to walk away from your current life and start a new one. I am sure you are full of excitement and I truly wish you all the best but no matter how much you believe you will not return to the UK - without doubt there is a chance, no matter how small and better that you account for it now! All the best

Thanks Sammypeeps for your good wishes. I'm sorry things didn't work out for you and hope that you will find happiness back in the UK.

My family and I are very excited about the prospect of living in Canada but we are under no illusion that all will be plain sailing. There are push and pull factors involved and it may not work out how we hope, but it is an adventure and if it doesn't work out at least we gave it a shot.

I think in life there are people who do and those who don't, take chances, that is. We are definitely people who do, as long as it's a calculated risk and won't bankrupt us We have two children to consider so can't be too flippant in our decisions.

Don't think I'll come back though, (that's if we ever get our darn visas), prob try somewhere else first. Canada's a big place and each province like a different country in some ways, so prob try a couple before giving up, finances permiting.

Tracy

I was rebutting the suggestion that Canadians are super-nice. I don't really have contact with them so for me it's like speculating about the niceness of, say, Macedonians, but I imagine some are quite pleasant, others not.

I certainly is, and that's why I'll add my experience to the sample.

Since moving to Canada, 5 years ago, we have made some great, close friends. The ones we are closest to have good senses of our humour and don't hesitate to speak their minds and argue/debate a range of subjects, every bit as much as any Brits we've known.

Our social life has actually improved since we moved here and our children (7yrs and 11yrs) have made some great, close friends too. We have more people that we could call on for help or a favour, at zero notice, than we ever did in the UK... We have needed to at times, and vice versa in return, so that's not just a case of "rose tinted glasses" or delusion, LOL - it's fact!

There was also some reference further up-thread to their being none of that "popping round for a cuppa" that there is in the UK... I'm not disputing that whoever wrote that has found that they don't get that any more. Maybe it is less common, overall - I don't know - but that's definitely not been my experience (although it's generally coffee, not proper tea ) so I think it's more than a bit presumptuous to sweepingly say that it's not a "Canadian" thing...

I'm not going to arrogantly say stuff like maybe it's the person who is finding it difficult to forge close friendships' fault in some way I know, in my case it's not down to me and it's all down to simple good luck in having moved to where we did. I'm not someone who easily made close friends in England, and I didn't act any differently when we moved over here. The people in our area are simply much more friendly and accepting and welcoming than any of our neighbours when we lived in numerous/varied areas of England...

My advice is don't move over with rose tinted glasses on, but equally, don't blindly believe the "Canadians have no sense of humour, don't get into heated debate, aren't open to making friends with newcomers" line either...

Alex in BC - by no means do I believe that my experience is felt by all Canadian immigrants, and there are many like you that have successfully built a great life here in Canada. However, there are always two sides to every story - sometimes more!!

By your own admission it would seem your social life/friends circle was limited in the UK. I however, have come from the flip side of your situation with many friends in England - not that I really had a great appreciation for them until now. Most of them have been over here and stayed with us, which may have in a way delayed our reaction to feeling so lonely now???

With regard to people here and my related comments - I had purely meant in Nova Scotia, not all Canadians - I mean I have no idea how the people are anywhere else as I have only lived here, so I apologize if my previous statement was too generalized.

No worries

One other thing intrigues me, we have also said to each other that if things don't work out for us where we are going initially then we will move to somewhere better suited in Canada as its such a vast country, just wondered why more people don't do the same instead of heading back to blighty which, no matter how much you think you miss it, is worse than the place you left if that was one of your reasons for leaving
Or is it the case of better the devil you know!!

Nail - head.

I expect it's simply because many people end up missing their friends and family far more than they expected.

If you miss family and friends and the pub then moving within canada wont help.

If you are short of funds (after not having a job for 6 months for example) moving within canada may not be an option either as it could wipe you out and leave no contingency to return to the motherland.

Some people just realise on leaving it that perhaps the UK may not have been as bad as it seemed at the time, and that lifes problems have a habit of following you wherever you go, often with added magnification from the stress of emmigrating.

As to why not try elsewhere.......

We actually had been looking into moving to Ontario, mainly because both my husband and I wish to work in the horse industry and the industry it is much more developed over there than here in Nova Scotia. However in the areas of interest to us compared to Nova Scotia - there is a high population, land values are high, roads are more congested, there is more pollution and crime. hmmm this then of course begs the question all of those things apply to the UK too (maybe to a higher extent) - better the devil you know me thinks!!!

My husband and I are country folk with agricultural/equestrian backgrounds and I dont think anyone can argue being from the country in England is worlds apart from being from the country in Nova Scotia-maybe all of Canada. And yes maybe we should have worked that out before we came here - but we know now!

Also when you have invested years of your life into 'living the dream' and setting up a new life, when it doesnt work out - the idea of doing it all again (as it is not easy for anyone to begin with), investing more years of your life (because you do have to give it time), is a very scary thought!! You could be 5 years older and have waisted that time searching from something that may not be there? The question is: how many years is anyone willing to spend searching? For me three years is enough, my husband and I are young enough to start again in the UK with the support of friends and family, just not prepared to use up more of our healthy young years searching, searching, searching....... meanwhile spending copious amounts of money, getting older and loosing in touch even more with those in England.


I know this is only based on my experience but, from reading posts on the 'returning to the uk' thread I am certainly not alone in this way of thinking

You state that you have been searching for your dream.

What exactly is your dream?

I'm not being pedantic or anything,not by a long way - but if you couldn't find it in the UK, you can't fnd it in NS - what makes you sure that Ontario is it? And do you think that instead of a dream you may be looking for Nirvana that doesn't exist?

Maybe if expectations were a little more realistic (I don't know what your current ones are so don't take that the wrong way) then they would be easier to achieve.

Surely there is no point searching for it in the UK though... you left the UK cos you didnt find in in the first twenty something years.

FWIW there are dozens of horse business in my area, fairly low land costs, no traffic really, relatively low population density and at least one expat couple in the area making a living from an equestrian center, and another that came to do that and ended up switching to hay farming as more profitable.