Re: Glad to be back
 

We moved to Canada shortly after Shelly and her family and we are still here twelve months later. My husband works for the same company as Shelly's did and we too were given misleading information at our interview, you have to stick a it for longer than twelve weeks. Initially we thought we had made a huge mistake and were not sure how things would turn out. There are good and bad points with every company you work for. We came to Canada for a better way of life and we feel that you could not pick a nicer place than Moose Jaw. We love it here and could not imagine going back to England. All the families here were very sorry when Shelly and her family returned to the UK. We know of people going back to the UK only to come out here again, it is what you make of it.

Re: Glad to be back
 

In 2004 we moved back to U.K. from 3 years in Vancouver. And I am not convinced that it would be a good idea for us to move anywhere in Canada. For a number of cheesy reasons. My wife though, is still convinced that we should move back. Mostly to moderate family level of debt. (And who knows she may well decide for both of us, as often is the case with wives...) As for me Canada was a very unhealthy place where food was extremely stodgy and one had to drive everywhere - Fat went up in our family big time. Employers treated workers like muck. No one knew how to speak English properly. And the pubs were all rubbish. Clothes shops were not hight quality. In Vancouver there is only one shop selling quality Swiss watches - in West Hastings Street and the smell in it is revolting because it has in it some very mature Rotweilers guarding it! Elswhere unashamed begging and scavenging all over the town. Canadians Services ICBC etc . and even banks really take the Mickey big time with what they charge and minimum effort they make to provide quality service. I was very concerned about the level of education my kids were getting at schools. And what seemed most weird was the fact that in Canada various agencies require you to complete Canadian "so called" professional certificate at some ridiculous costs where the actual content value is quite frankly....*@%! I found also that people in Canada were all clustered in ethnic groups. Italians with Italians and British with British. We clung onto the British until it was time to ask what we were doing in Canada in the 1st place. Very little friendly social interaction happens between families across ethnic groups.
I like walking in the wild but in Canada I had to follow the beaten tracks everywhere for fear of the bears and cougars due to scary stories passed to us from Canadians. Eventually one of my daughters just refused to walk anywhere near a forest. In winter my outside smoke breaks were often marred by bitter frosty weather. Ohhh.... It was all Poooh! Telling ya! :D :D :D

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^^^ Yes, Canada is total rubbish.... so stay away.... please! :rolleyes:

Re: Glad to be back
 

You have to go some to make me think a post on this board is biased against Canada but what lot of nonsense!


There is no kind of food, except grits, unavailable here. All manner of food is sold raw or cooked by natives of the country of origin of the food. One can choose only to eat junk, just as one can choose to eat only sushi, but if one does that's not the fault of the country.

We choose to go to a place that could have been brought from Chiswick (and there is a pub nearby which literally was brought from the UK). It has cask beer, it has hundreds of single malts, it's as good as pubs in the UK except for not being old (nothing's old here). If we didn't choose an ethnic place there's no end of bars of other types; US style sports bars, Chinese gambling bars, karoake bars (God help us), strip joints. Whatever you want from a pub it's here.

The bac is the bac is the bac, it's not a better bac if you pass it in Europe. Likewise the SAT, one of my kids scored 1560 (on the old two paper one), that can't happen if the schools are not competitive (at least with US ones).

Our immediate circle includes, Americans, Indians, Swedes, a Russian-Polish-Israeli-who-came-via-NYC-and-Montreal-IM-JUST-JEWISH-OK?!, a German, some Swiss, Australians, a Saffer, some Newfies, a Greek, really everything except anyone born here to two parents born here. Note that we live in the Anglo-Irish ghetto, if we lived downtown we'd know a wider range of immigrants.

It is a running joke with my children that through school here they never brought home a friend who had two parents of the same nationality. When my eldest daughter went to university no two students in her first class had the same combination of passports. Assuming these children were created by live cover someone is socially interacting.

IMO, the biggest difference between society here and in the UK is that the ethnicity of children here is usually more complicated, mixed-race here means any combination of anyone.

At least you got your plonker well pulled.

Re: Glad to be back
 

That is the funniest thing I've ever read on this board, thanks you made my day :D

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Oh the horror of not being able to buy a Swiss watch.................

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Or a Swiss Navy knife!

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There's a Swatch shop on Robson Street :D

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Yeah but I'm talking about the horror of not being able to buy a 'quality' swiss watch. It's enough to make you leave the country eh?!

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I'd be out of here like a flash mate. I guess he'd need to buy a quality watch though so as it could easily be altered to accommodate his ever increasing fat wrists ;)

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The wildlife will come get you in Canada... stay away!! ;)

Sounds like the same kind of wind-up the Brits used on me when I moved here a few years ago "We don't get mosquitos in the North West of England... they don't exist... no no, I know it LOOKS like a mossy, but it's not, it's a midge!" :rolleyes:

Sad part is... only took me 2 years to discover my leg was being pulled... :o

By all rights, said leg should have rotted and fallen off by now & I could ring Sir Mcartney and ask if he wants a replacement :D

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What's got 3 legs and lives on a farm? Guess we can't do the classic jokes anymore :(

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Funny you chose NOT to contest any of my points. Isn't it? :)

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Life is too short ;) I think dbd and mdx actually agree on this one. Well done for promoting unity again here. And I had a good laugh at some of the responses :)

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I should get paid for this!