How does this country survive?
 

My Mrs and I are going back to UK but thought I would pose this question anyway.


How does Canada work the way it does and not disintegrate into a 3rd world country?

The following things have happened to me since I got here, and I have only been here 5 months.

And I will just mention the cloak and dagger secret society - unions, you have to have shared the same womb with someone, before anyone will give you a decent job if you are not Canadian. How come the half decent jobs never go to an immigrant, but all the jobs that require you to say "Is that for here or to go?" welcome immigrants with open arms?

Why are the Canadian government and the TV stations saying that they are desperate for well educated, skilled workers when the actual companies are ignoring them?

You ask about getting a 6CD auto changer for your car and the technician look at you like you have just asked to be transported to the Star ship Enterprise. They respond " we don't do them here, they are in the future". My God!


Traffic - oh yes lets talk about that little one. 3 or 4 roundabouts in Kitchener/Waterloo. Having come from the UK, I felt confident about using them. Until I realised that Canadians do not know any of their own rules of the road. The main 1 being what an upside down triangle is. It's not hard, it is the same in every country GIVE WAY! Now I approach any roundabout here like I was trying to drive a double decker bus painted with the Union Jack flag on it round the Arc de Triomphe with a big sign saying "Up your's Frenchies". :scared: Going round a roundabout here is like sticking your penis in a lion's mouth and then flicking his love spuds with a wet towel.

Canadian traffic surveys found that roundabouts cut emissions, reduce congestion etc but they still slap traffic lights on every 3rd metre of road. No wonder it takes 4 hours to get to the local shops.

Why do pedestrians keep getting run over? Well lets see. In most civilised countries if a pedestrian is crossing the road then no other traffic will be. You wait for the little man telling you to walk and you calmly step out. Here, you get told to walk into the road when traffic can have a green light. To coin a phrase - "It's just an accident waiting to happen".

Right, rant over. I'm out of breath. Just waiting for all the arguments coming back. I know what's wrong with the UK so I am formulating a plan to fix it when I get back:

Oh , hang on, I think I have just listed the election manifesto of the BNP! ;)

Right, you can call me all you want.

"Come and have a go if you think you're 'ard enough"

P.S. Can someone create a Canadian national identity and culture so that they don't have to use the American ones. Oh my God. Please.

Re: How does this country survive?
 

Five months huh?

Sounds like you really gave it a good shot. :rolleyes:

Have a great life.

Re: How does this country survive?
 

Sounds to me like you were just unlucky! :p

Re: How does this country survive?
 

Sounds to me like Canada is better off without you. Have you not found anything positive in your 5 months?

Re: How does this country survive?
 

Gave it enough of a shot to figure out that it aint gonna work. No way I would get as good a job as in the UK with a bit of culture and friends the way friends should be, not acquaintances

Re: How does this country survive?
 

Your welcome to it. Yep, have found the cheap flights home positive.

Re: How does this country survive?
 

You are right. What I should have replied is that I would rather have a leg off!

Re: How does this country survive?
 

From your list above you should try Australia :rolleyes:

Re: How does this country survive?
 

Good job you are leaving, if you weren't happy after 5 months I don't reckon you ever would have been. I gave it 2 1/2yrs and was still very unhappy living there so moved on. Best of luck with your return to the UK.

Re: How does this country survive?
 

We've been here 5 months now too (in BC) and whilst I would pretty much agree with your recommendations for rectifying the issues 'back home' I can only think you've had a bad time of things out here. Maybe the lack of work issue is linked to your views of Canadians? We were fortunate in that I had a job lined up before we landed - a professional, well paid permanent job with the Government, working with exceptionally friendly Canadians who embrace my 'foreigness' and all that means, rather than viewing me as an immigrant who is stealing their jobs.

I've lived in America (and Australia), and the Canadians we have met, either my colleagues, neighbours, shop assistants or tradespeople working on our house have been some of the friendliest, most helpful, genuine, honest people I have ever met. My folks (and partners folks) have all visited and agreed with this - despite us telling them how great Canadians were they didn't believe it until they stayed with us out here a while.

Take most of what is wrong with society in England and, IMHO, you'll see the converse out here. Today, with unusual snow here in Victoria, was a prime example - people out helping others, chatting to their neighbours; children relishing a day out from school enjoying simple pleasures of building snowmen and tobaganing, and parents feeling secure in letting them go to the park on their own to play; people doing communal 'store runs' for their neighbours; teenagers clearing the paths of their elderly neighbours - not because they'd been asked or bribed but because it is 'the right thing to do'. And all that was just in our small cul-de-sac of the world.

Sorry things did not work out for here - maybe an element of you reap what you sow, but I don't know your situation so I can't comment.

Enjoy England, and I hope that gives you what you obviously have not been able to find here in Canada. I speak to my folks back home daily, and read BBC news enough to know that returning there is certainly not a panacea...

Re: How does this country survive?
 

I agree with the escapea that in general the people over here are a lot nicer than back in the UK.

But also I think (and if you look at my thread today) there are some major cogs missing/screwed up over here when it comes to immigration/successful immigration.

The closed "must be in the network loop" attitude to recruitment only seems to obstruct worthwhile immigrants not help them. As we have all seen the government shouts out loud that they need skilled immigrants but when they land the employment culture only seems to force people to return from whence they came (well as long as it's not some third world country).

I'm heading back to blighty myself I came to canada to improve my quality of life but it seems that I will have to take a drastic drop in quality of life (and ask if they want to go large) I am not going to do that.

Plain and simple if canada needs educated people it needs to change it's attitude towards intergrating those educated immigrants. This means changing it's networking attitude and taking a more open UK style approach if it doesn't then it will get nowhere.

If however it doesn't need skilled people then it should stop asking them to emigrate.

Seems like cake and eat it to me

Re: How does this country survive?
 

What do you do for a living?

Re: How does this country survive?
 

So if you look at the list above how the hell do you think you are going to settle back in the UK. These things will never change and are probably what made you leave in the first place.
Just someone else who will never be happy no matter where they live but it is always someone elses fault or in this case Canadas fault. GROW UP. :zzz:

Re: How does this country survive?
 

Hey I have been in Edinburgh for 7 years and I still only have aquaintances and I have tried many times to get real friends but it doesn't bother me anymore, I realise I can't get back what I left in East Kilbride. Do you complain like that when meeting new people I hope you didn't scare them off. :p

p.s. Oh and they slap lights on roundabouts in Scotland too

Hope going back to the UK gives you what you need all the best.

Emma

Re: How does this country survive?
 

Culture shock is a b*tch, isn't it?