Mally Lass

I couldn't agree more.

I moved to a smallish village and was half expecting the quaint fetes and village speak etc, and instead we live in a snobbery filled area, where we weren't born and bred here and didn't marry our cousin, therefore we don't fit in, and of course the fetes are full of people who stare like you have 3 heads because you didn't submit a Jam or Cake and you have never chased a pig for fun as a child, and don't own a prize winning Cow or wear tweed We've lived here a fair while now and nothing has changed, including their unwelcoming attitudes. My children are ridiculed at school because they speak properly instead of village slang :scared: Villages are like holiday camps, nice to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there unless you were born and bred and knew no different.

As for rubbish. We have this problem all the time and it's becoming progressively worse.

The only way to know is to holiday here for a while, but whilst you're here, think of it as you are living here to see how you would be feeling.

Rich_007

That's the best approach, but it's tough....we tried it twice 2 weeks + 3 weeks and though it gave us a great feel for geography, environment, facilities etc, you can only scratch 5% of the reality of everyday life over here. Granted we had very few post-landing surprises that bothered us, but we were highly adaptable and very strong through the process with no kids or other distractions/stresses to worry about. Could be tough for others landing here with a heap big list of "needs" and no immediate support network.

Rich.

Mally Lass

I know it's hard, as when you're here on hols, you don't have to consider bills, taxes, everyday upheavals etc, and it does only vaguely scratch the surface. I honestly don't see why anyone would want to return here.

To be honest when we came back, it wasn't any of those things that got to me so much, but what really ticked me off on a regular basis and still does, is the rules and regs of everything that are so absurdly ridiculous, especially anything concerned with local councils and their ridiculous views, hypocrisy and self doubt in anything they tell you, including everything they tell you changing on a whim or someone's 'say-so' Nothing is written in stone except the absurd Soooo frustrating

Tim_in_SF

You might... This is really not a question that you are going to get answered in any meaningful way. Every + point about the UK can be countered by an equally + point about Canada (or anywhere else for that matter) and vice versa.

Everyone wants to "justify" their decision to move to a new country and those who make the return journey can equally "justify" their decision.

Where you live, what job you have, how much money you have, where your best friends live, if you have family and how close you are to them and (most importantly) how happy with yourself you are will give you the answer to your question.

Anyone who can't have the time of their life in the UK whether on vacation or living there only have them selves to blame.

Have a great vacation!

Tiffin Tease

My children are ridiculed at school because they speak properly instead of village slang :scared: Villages are like holiday camps, nice to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there unless you were born and bred and knew no different.

That's terrible (the children being ridiculed bit I mean) - I guess my experience of village life is massivley different because my Grandparents live in one (not cousins that married LOL) and the activities that happen there are hilarious - just like you said about the jam and prize cows but these villagers don't poke fun at us outsiders they just give us another cup of tea and shake their heads mildy when I look blankly at them when they are talking about the farming methods

But, as I said - i'll miss the villages themselves, the buildings and the overall looks, not so much 'Midsomer Murders' crazy folk! Still, not a reason to stay... just something to remember for me personally cos it reminds me of being small with my family staying in the village with my Grandparents (although saying that, the village they live in has changed into a bit of a yuppieville with villager wannabes that really ARE snobby so good job my Grandma is in the 'old' village section)

Tiffin Tease

[QUOTE=Tim_in_SF]You might... This is really not a question that you are going to get answered in any meaningful way. Every + point about the UK can be countered by an equally + point about Canada (or anywhere else for that matter) and vice versa.

That is very true - and each of them have to be considered on their own merits and weighed up against what you/your family want out of life.

The things I am going to miss, some are idealised I appreciate but others are not (such as wanting clothes that fit!!), are things for me to appreciate but not reasons to stay. Hubby and I made our decisions based on research and visits and how we hope our future will pan out in Canada.

It's a good thing to walk into your future with your eyes open but I'm not going to forget where I came from just because it isn't perfect. I can appreciate things from the UK whilst at the same time recognising that they are not the be all and end all for us and it's time for us PERSONALLY to move on to the next stage of our lives.

Some people hate the UK, some people hate Canada, no-one likes all the same places (be bloody cramped if we did!! ) but what is right for one person is not for the next and only the individuals involved can ultimately make the decision.

Good luck either way - to anyone that is thinking of moving to or from the UK.

Ki

acer rose

I had a similar experience as a teen, but the move was from a rural farming area to a very industrial town.

I have not really felt unwelcome in any of the villages I've lived in either as a child or as an adult, but I enjoy the lifestyle, got involved, and lived in larger working villages. I have found narrow minded and broad minded people alike in the towns, cities and villages I've lived in.

To OP, I think dbd said it best in the other thread (Is Canada better than UK Really ?) with something along the lines of it might suit you better or it might not. It is natural to want different things in you life at different stages. Knowing what it is YOU (and family) want is the key. Enjoy your trip.

Cowtown

Got to admit the UK vacation is falling in line somewhere behind a trip to Disney in California and fishing in Montana ...

windward

Find myself disagreeing with a few points.. I'm happy in England and will have to be for a while yet, but still heading out to Canada at some point (hopefully the immigration system will be fixed by then.)

One of my main turn offs for leaving England was actually the surfeit of opportunities for young people here (I 'can' spell, and don't worship ball-kicking troglodytes or their trophy clothes-horses, though both points were well made and I think I may be in the minority on those fronts.)

From large cities to the smallish town I live in now, despite a lack of a degree my limited skills and short CV have been met all over with chances of beginning what I see as excellent careers, and those friends I know who finished Uni recently (with useful degrees anyway) are being offered graduate schemes on much the same as I earn with excellent prospects working for companies like BAE, major financial houses, Shell whathaveyou.

There are jobs aplenty here, you can even become one of the much-maligned overpaid civil servants we all moan about from either side of the pond without too much effort (I did for a while, but left in disgust, all of what is said about them is true imho) and I don't see the same over in Canada.

As for rubbish, some of Rich's comments are pretty much spot on, and microchips have been introduced into the bins of 1/10 local authorities though simply for the purposes of data collection for now (we all know how long that will last.) As a side note I read today that an £80million Quango set up to encourage waste management has sent out a memo to every council advising them to stop once-weekly rubbish collection in the winter so resistance will be less than in the summer, when of course the smell, health risks, maggots etc will make sure everyone is up in arms about it.

The stealthy, underhanded lack of trust in the populace is one of my main gripes about the UK government and truly does make life in Canada seem more appealing, where it seems at least some of the politicians have a few grammes of common sense between their ears.

Canada2006

The UK is terrible at state led bureaucracy. I would suggest privatising almost everything

windward

See my reply to you in the other thread

The UK is still much better than most Brits give it credit for.

Canada2006

I agree with your second point 100%

Daedra

As many others have pointed out, the UK does have alot of positives along with negatives, it's not going to necessarily be "better" in another country, it will be different. It comes down to the good and bad you and your family can better live with & accept.

As for rubbish, I lived in a Montreal suburb (West Island) for 16 years, there was 1 garbage strike that I can remember and PEEEEUW did it stink as it was done in the middle of summer when temps were around 30+ cel everyday.

We had twice weekly garbage collection, Mondays and Wednesdays... Wednesdays was for your normal garbage bins to be emptied, Mondays would have normal garbage PLUS recycling box (Blue box as we called them) day... the recyclers picking up the blue box would empty glass/paper/metal/plastics themselves unlike here were the recylcing programs that are in place put the onus on the homeowners to have 4 seperate bins and have to sort out where to put them, what to sort in where etc... the local municipal (equivalent of council) govt arranged it this way so that NO ONE had an excuse not to recycle! The only places exempt from the blue boxes in Montreal (that I am aware of) were apartment complexes as they usually are 3+ stories high and most have a central garbage shoot that everything gets plopped down.

I don't think the recycling program in Montreal is necesarily "better" then the smattering of friends who have it in their areas, but its application across the board with home-owners has been a huge sucess, drive by any house on St Jean Blvd on a Wednesday and you'll see a blue box at the bottom of every driveway sitting contendly next to the big bins (we have to buy ourselves, not provided by councils!)

EDIT: And garbage collection would include closed/tied large plastic bin bags and we would use special orange extra large/strong bin bags for leaf collection/grass collection. Also, the rare occasions we had too much to fit in the blue boxes, we would tie the newspapers/magazines up in a package with string and put them next to the blue box. Plus the can's and bottles mostly have refundable deposits on them... ie; pay 65 cents for a bottle of coke, the bill will have 65 cents, plus tax then 5 cent deposit... it was an incentive for us kids to always collect our beer/pop glass, tin and plastic bottles so that we could bring them to our local supermarket to return them for a couple of dollars extra pocket money

Canada2006

In Bristol we had a similar scheme where you put all your recyclables in one black box and the binmen sorted it. I've seen the same principle near Leicester.

I know where you are every house has thousands of wheelie bins which seems a bit overkill. In Brussels we have 7 different bins for recycling and have to by bin-bags at extortionate prices.

The best scheme I've known was the one at Bristol. It's also one of the best places in the UK to live.

Daedra

7 bins?!??! :scared:

Ahh I'm niave about the other areas of England, only really hang out up norf in Bury... but yeah, if Bristol is like that then I can see how it would be less of a chore and more profitable (as dont kid yourselves, the recyclers DO make a profit on collecting our rubbish!) to do it that way then having umpteen bins to remember who does what where LOL!