SANDRAPAUL

Its about $600,000. That will enable us to have a good lifestyle in Canada and I will love working again on new projects. Work excites me when its a challenge. I love stress of this sort. £250,000+ will not go far in the UK!

Glaswegian

Does your wife?

SANDRAPAUL

No. Worrying a bit for me?????

MikeUK

I'm not saying my wife view point is correct

But her reasoning is comparing notes from her friends..

Two teach in Ontario, one in Burlington the other Brampton, we also have her experience in London ON, northern Quebec and some UK experience, however we also real feed back coming from two of her friends who teach in two separate schools in Newcastle.

The consensus between all these people is that the UK kids are head of their Canadian counterparts by about a year plus…

Does this make it better…I’m not sure.. are Canadians more rounded… again at my level of work my ‘Canadian only’ friends are just a limited in their outlook as my ‘UK only friends’

Do both countries have good universities yes… both have a good amount of world class uni’s…and top students coming from them too…..

Me… from over hearing… all these teachers talk… I’ve got only one clear viewpoint..

If you want to bugger around in school the Canadian system will allow you to fall further than the UK system…. Not that both won’t allow you to drop a long way!


But if your on about who’s got the best I don’t know and I’m sure it’s totally dependant on the actual school you go to….

And the crunch is if your kids are in a good school.. then think hard… if their school is crap… then it’s a better bet!

squarepants

Once again, go for it, the quality of life here is much better, and when you are coming over with cash like that, you will be ok, until you get something going, with your house paid for, you have enough left to keep you going, and the interest on that should be nice too.

Just look at the link below

http://www.newhomesreviews.com/g_-_h.htm


For those prices, you will be getting a box in the UK. Here you can have a van and a car, a boat, and even bu a cottage if you like that sort of thing, that you can rent out when you are not there, labour day coming up, a lot of folks heading to the cottage.

julius smith

hi, sandrapaul! well, as a recently arrived brit, maybe i can leave you with my ha'penny worth....! if you read my recent posts, i got here around a month ago, thats ontario by the way. i, too, just like yourself, wasted at least 4 years thinking, jiggling ideas about going to the usa instead, being frightened off by soothsayers on the net saying this and that, etc etc. in fact, it even came to the point that we had already applied for immigration and when the date for the interview at the embassy in london came up, we kept putting it off (we put it off at least 2 times, until we were given a final chance by the embassy, and if we didnt take that, we would lose it!). so anyway, we finally went to the interview and it went well. so by then, we had all agreed that we would get outta the uk, so here i am! what i would say to you is--firstly, you dont need an agent; they will charge you unnecessary money for a job that you can do yourself for free! second, as some guys here have already well advised you--if you dont take it now, you never will. i dont know how old you are, but i am in my mid 40s, with 3 teenage kids, and if i hadnt taken the plunge, my kids would never have forgiven me for not taking the opportunity. you probably also know that the points go down once you are over 45 as well, so thats another reason to get in there now. my family is still back in the uk, as i decided to come over first, get a job and then bring them over. so far, i am still looking around for a job, but it is looking very hopeful. ok, i may not get what i was earning in the uk, but you have to start somewhere! if you want more encouragement, keep pestering us here on this site! we will all try and get you over here fast (well, i speak for myself anyway!!). also keep an eye on my postings here--i am trying to keep posting tidbits of my experiences here every other day (i may even knock up a website where anyone interested can take a peek...) cheers.

Friar.Tuck

[QUOTE=SANDRAPAUL]How does... and did you make the eventual decision to move to another country and try to do something different. QUOTE]


"Hello, is that Air Canada? I would like one ticket to Nova Scotia please!

Voyager970

My family and I are going through the exact same emotions as yourself

Are we making the right choice for our kids future. I think I am, my wife thinks we are making the right choice.
I am in quite a fortunate position with regards my job. I work on the other side of the big prison wall, I see slashings, stabbings, fights, drug taking, all on a daily basis, I have cut prisoners down when they have hanged themselves trying to commit suicide, and this is all in a days work.
If I see this most days in my daily duties inside, multiply that to the outside world, YES pretty scary stuff, this is my reality check on a daily basis, this is why we are ditching this country.
I am not saying that Canada is exempt from this, but I see Glasgow as one of the leaders in drug induced crime, it will not get any better, only worse !!!!
I am seeing it just now when I drop my 12 year old daughter at high school, wee boys and lassies all hanging about the outside of the school smoking their wee lungs out. This is just the start of the long slow decline.

We will be coming over next July (05) to have a wee reccie, suss the place out. My wife reckons we will love Vancouver, she has been before and has fantastic memories of Vancouver.

I guess what I am trying to say, and loads of other folk are to

Try it, as you may some 20 years down the line say,
WHAT IF !!! , IF ONLY WE DID GO TO CANADA !!!!!!

Anyway my tuppence for today

Eddie

MikeUK

You'll love Vancouver its as beautiful as they say it is.. I go and work there about one a month…

However you’ll have to forgive the kiddies on the street corners smoking their little lungs out…. BC’s best export is its marijuana..

squarepants

Air Canada, are you for real? They nearly went down recently, try flyzoom, and mytravel




[QUOTE=Friar.Tuck]

Glaswegian

We first considered it back in the 1980's - we really regret not having done it then.

But, it's a big move ... I think a lot of people who are disappointed have probably emigrated without a clear idea of what they're getting into and why they're doing it.

If they're being honest, I think most people who emigrate have ups & downs - I've felt like going back to the UK at times, but I'm much happier now and I'm really glad I didn't.

Canada isn't the UK, but it isn't Utopia either. It's got a small population spread over a huge landmass, which affects both job prospects and potential business success.

In the end, emigrating is all about managing your own expectations.

And always remember, never take the advice of an idiot - I've done some really dumb things in life, so I'm not fit to advise anyone

stepnek

It's 4.28 am here and I'm up with my mind racing with everything we have to get done to move by the 17th. We fly out on that day. Yesterday as we feverishly continued in our efforts to get organised the Estate Agent calls because the proposed buyer for our house want to get another couple of thousand knocked off the price because "values have dropped since they put in their offer at the end of June". Oh and they know we are really anxious to complete the sale. Don't they just! I'm full of misgivings at the moment and I almost feel like I wish we'd never started the whole thing off. But my daughters would never forgive me, my wife won't get to go home after all and I look at that visa in my passport and get a real buzz about the life ahead. I know, I just know that an oppertunity lies ahead that not everyone is lucky enough to get to try so thank goodness we are now at the stage where I can't get out of it!

MikeUK

Moving to another continent is like a roller coaster… enjoy the ride.. take life by the horns… if it’s “you� you’ll still be here in “x� years time telling the world how great Canada is….if not you be telling a different story….either way you’ll be a much more worldly person.. much less naïve about the ways of the world and eductated in ways you never expected… you’ll find that the grass isn’t greener.. just a different shade of green… if that shade suits you sir then you’ll enjoy the style… good luck..

Don’t worry.. what is about to happen is an adventure…



I have drunk several molson exports before typing this so take this into consideration

Rhodes

I hope you said no!

kkat

Hi SandraPaul

I completely empathise with what you're going through.
My husband and I went and did the whole Rockies thing in 2002, and fell in love with BC. We couldn't stop talking about it. One day, shortly after our son was born, he came home and said 'why don't we?'
This completely threw me, you don't expect your daydreams to come true do you?
In the last year we have been to Vancouver twice, checking it out.
My husband is 150% for it! Obviously my son, being 15 months has no opinion, so it comes down to me...
I love Vancouver, there is nothing I can say I don't like about it, the people, the culture, the scenery... beautiful.
BUT.
I also have a love for the UK. My family is here, and my son's grandparents.

I completely appreciate why my husband wants to go - he feels very strongly about the uk, and does not want our son growing up here, he wants a better life for all of us. He feels very similarly to you, and in our (many) heated discussions about it, he says that maybe he should be selfish and just decide for us.
It's a double risk for us, we are taking the emotional risk with our family and relationship, but also a financial risk, sinking everything we've got in opening a business out there. Also while my husband starts his new business I will be at home with children while he works 7 days a week initially.

I know that life is short, and we only get one chance at it, but still I am too scared to go. But at the same time if we don't go, and in 15 years time we still live in the same house, in the same time, boy will I be pissed off.

I REALLY don't know what to do. We are going over again in October, and this time taking my dad with us. It's crunch time.

Should I go with what my head tells me, take the risk, we can always come back (penniless), or what my heart and chicken liver tell me, stay where it's safe?
If you manage to come to any conclusions, or feel that you can help me, please tell me.
I have been thinking about this every waking moment for months, and cannot come to a conclusion.

Please feel free to email me [email protected], maybe we can help each other's families take the plunge!