Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

For some people they know instantly they made the right decision, for others it takes a bit longer to come to that conclusion.

We have been here a little over two yrs, had bouts of homesickness. We have swung from loving it here and the lifestyle we now have, to picking fault with all the little aspects of life that are just different to the UK.

We went back to Cheshire this summer, a big test for us.............and despite being very emotional at being 'home' we can now see clearer that our life has moved on and when we landed back in Calgary we had a sense of instant relaxation at coming back. We feel we are finally beginning to settle.

So, throughout the ups and down people may experience, just stick it out............time will tell.

We do love living here, and are looking forward to all the adventures we are planning. We have only just begun !

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

Wait a while

The politicians and bureaucrats are at least as incompetent as their UK cousins and certainly more corrupt

The drunks around Canada granted don’t throw up and pick fights in the streets, but you still have to watch out late in an evening whist they drive their trucks down the rural roads

As for rip offs you’ll soon find out where your getting fleeced as you get used to earning in dollars and forget about spending in pounds

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

Yes you are quite right. There is no drink driving in the UK now, thanks to those wonderful TV commercials.

As for the comedy dollar- it's getting stronger all the time. And at least I can get on the property ladder here.

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

Are you being serious:confused:. There is still a big drink driving problem in the UK. These are figures from GMP from 2006.

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

sar·casm [sahr-kaz-uhm] –noun

1. harsh or bitter derision or irony.
2. a sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark.

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

Usually emphasised on forum's with the use of smilies;)

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

i don't do prompts.

:p

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

Hi there

Canada is a good place to live but it is racked with problems im much the same way as the UK. Similarly to the UK much depends on where you live.

I'll be honest it does offend me when people say the UK is a complete mess, especially without backing it up with facts where there is much the same going on under your nose in Canada.

I've used the health system here, waited 5 hours in A&E, seen mindless vandalism, homelessness, fights, and to be honest it all seems pretty similar to back home, sad really!! but then again I am in Montreal which is a city of 3.5 million ish.

I'm not sure what you mean by a sense of entitlement, but I don't know personally anyone with that attitude either in the UK or Canada.

I understand a lot of Brits come to Canada with pounds in their pocket and can afford to move to the better areas, and don't see much crime but for the average person things are pretty similar.

Jonathan

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

You should :D....... I read it in pi***d off with management at work for not completing forms for registration mode. Not able to process sarcasm without visual prompts :o;)

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

I agree with a little of what you say but for me geo4's phrase "sense of entitlement" really struck a chord - it summarises really well a particular attitude that a lot of Brits have - that they shouldn't have to earn something but that they are "owed" it. One of the things I've noticed about Canada is they way people and communities really work together to make things right. If there is a problem with a neighbour in a street or with crime or vandalism people really seem to rally round to help and put things right. people in britain generally are never prepared to lift a finger themselves to do anything but somehow feel they deserve everyone else to fix the problem for them. I think that approach to dealing with problems (social or otherwise) collaboratively accounts for a lot of the differences in quality of life between the two countries. Just an observation.

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

You know what I think, the areas of Canada are so diverse, things are just different in different areas. I mean lets face it Quebec thinks it's a different country anyway. I've not been lucky enough to travel to NS yet but I get the feeling that it's low population lots of space, nice really!! So what may hold true where you are may not be so here.

I live in a nice part of a not so great area (if that makes sense) in fact I'm cut of from the bad bit by water. However when walking around I see the Canadian's sitting on their balcony, drinking beer all day, living off welfare. Sadly like a bad part of London or Manchester I don't see much evidence of the community working together, and that does indicate some sort of welfare entitlement.

The whole Quebec/Montreal way of life, drivers trying to force you off the road, people ignoring unconcious people lying in the street. The state of the vandalism on the bus system and shelters just seem to highlight the same of what exists in London. Worse still the goverment intervenes less to help here than the UK, Montreal's famous crumbling roads lose chunks of concrete weekly and no one does a thing.

I think you can only judge things by what you see around you in your local area. Clearly it is different everywhere.

Jonathan

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

You hit the nail on the head.

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

Sorry I think what you say is rubbish. Did you read the article at all? You talk statistics yet the article starts off by stating: "England leads Europe in illiteracy, obesity, divorce, drug use, crime and STDs."

The annual quality of life index had Canada at the top for a record number of years until the SARS debacle. This is a purely data driven index. FYI the UK has not been in the top ten (to my knowledge)

But more than 'stats', I prefer to take a relative view. I live in downtown Toronto, a city in which, if you watch CP24; you are almost certain to be: shot; stabbed; gang banged; mugged; spat on; assaulted etc.

Absolute rubbish. In four years I have seen two fights (one an undercover drugs bust- which was kinda cool:eek:).

I went back to the UK last month and saw five in one night. My friend had his shirt covered in blood from trying to stop one of them.

I don't feel safe walking around your average English High Street in the day, never mind at night.

I'm sorry this turned into a rant. Yes Canada is no utopia and of course has it's problems. But compared to the UK it is a utopia. The poverty gap in the Uk is widening at an alarming rate- so much so that it won't be long before we have gated communities a la Joburg etc.

And sorry to rant on about the English as well. My Mum retired to Spain and every time I go to see her she will bitch and moan about all of the immigrants coming into the UK. She fails to see the irony with Daily Mail in hand.

Peace Out.

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

As I said it depends on your experiences.

I am back in the UK every 3 months ish maybe 4, it all seems the same as ever to me. Yes I take the tube and buses, go out late at night, not seen any fights as yet.

Maybe Montrealers are little more crazy then Torontonians, that I can believe

Jonathan

Re: Have you made the right decision????
 

It's all relative for sure. When i lived in London, it was almost a rite of passage amongst my friends to have been mugged. In Toronto i don't know anyone who has been. Are all my friends here agoraphobics? No.

Oh and violent crime rate:

Uk= 1,848 per 100,000
Canada= 1,000 per 100,000 (it was a graph- I couldn't see the exact figure)

Any-hoo <whistling> you're right it's all relative. I'd rather stay here. Hey maybe you could do me a favour and convince everyone else on this board that Canada is really the same as the UK. Then maybe they will go to Australia or New Zealand.

Or Zimbabwe- I couldn't care less.

:lol: