Let's be honest
 

Ignoring forum members who are students, spouses of students, people on work visas and spouses of people on work visas ... which admittedly rules out a fair chunk of the forum membership ... of the forum members who actually came to Canada as bona fide independant immigrants (ie. no existing ties in Canada, no freeloaders) and had to actually work to establish themselves, who would do it again?

Re: Let's be honest
 

Absolutely no question in my mind.

YES!!!!!!:D :D :D

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Cool ... good to know someone is so certain :D

Re: Let's be honest
 

and what about you?

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I came with nothing; no money, no education, no possessions. I have one more payment and then I will have put two children through university. That's what I came for, so yes, it worked for me.

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I sold a stack of stuff off to come here, between us my partner and I have 17 years of post graduate education and we came here with half a container (less than half of our possessions) ... seemed like a good idea at the time ...maybe it helps if you come here sh*t poor and uneducated?

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If I knew then what I knew now, I'd be living in comfort in the south of France .... f**k the Alberta winter ... much as I've now adapted to it and deeply love it.

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I'm not sure, while I came as a poor an uneducated person, one of our best mates here came as a PhD, he's even more poor than he was in the UK but he seems thrilled to be here because he thinks his project could be important. Perhaps people want to be where they want to be, perhaps it's not always about money ?

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Probably true ... got a stack of money ... not sure where we want to be ... money isn't everything, friends and family count for more.

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Speaking for my grandparents and parents, they came to canada dirt poor but with the attitude that anywhere had to be better than where they were living. They struggled for many years but my grandparents were able to put all there kids through university.

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That's what immigrants do, innit ?

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Some yes....others just prefer to complain about their new life every chance they get! :D

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I think such people are few and far between. I think immigrants generally work hard to support the population of cradle Canadians without complaining excessively about the burden the people born here place upon them.

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I think things are very very different now to the time when my grandparents/parents emigrated here just before WW2........

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Hmmmmm Interesting one......

Is life better here? Hell, yes!

Would I do it all over again? With hindsight, definitely NOT! The cost is just too darned high, (and I'm not talking financially).

Ask me tomorrow and the answer might be different. I've learned SO much from the people on this forum since I found it; and probably more about myself than I care to admit.

However, I still can't see myself living back in the YUK, either.

Re: Let's be honest
 

Eh??

I wander in here twice a year and this is the abuse that I get??

I'll find a better place to waste m time in future :p

Hang on ... I tried that already ... I set up a forum for happy immigrants and nobody visited.

Hmmmm... I guess trainwrecks have a certain fascination .... looks like I have to put up with the angst of being a successful immigrant for another generation.

Where's Calgaryblade when you need him?

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Oh deep joy ... finding someone else with the unbalanced mind of an immigrant ... today its hell, tomorrow its good, who knows what it'll be the day after??

Nothing to do with altitude, is it?

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Five weeks in now and at this particular moment; this frozen instant in time; this point in the journey.... :p I'm leaning towards no.

Ask me again next week at the same time and who knows, it might be yes?

It's cost a heck of a lot more financially than I would ever have believed. Emotionally it's been an interesting way of finding new forms of depression, anger, sadness, euphoria and hope. Maybe it will make me stronger and gain a new found appreciation of what I had back in Scotland and have now in Canada? I'm not a philosopher and can't go down that route.

One thing I'm sure of now is that I'm unsure of most things.

I'm glad we've done it as I know that I would always regret it if I turned the chance down.

So, I'm now going to take the blue pill.......and press the No button. :rolleyes:

J

Re: Let's be honest
 

PMSL - at least my feeble attempt at sarcasm wasnt totally wasted. :D That comment was NOT directed at you by the way! ;)

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No, I don't think so.............assuming you did mean altitute, and not attitude? :D

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No matter how feeble you are, you comments are never wasted ... your blond moments will live on forever.

Keep working on the sarcasm, some day you'll master it :p

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In Calgary, it's all about altitude ....

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Would I do it again? You mean immigrate to Canada? Or leave the UK? Or have all night sex with Rachel Welch?

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Dude ... isn't she like your granny's age?

Stops the fun when you have to search the black satin sheets for her false teeth ...

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Well actually, no. She's more my wife's age.

Nonsense. You should try it.

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I certainly wouldn't apply to emigrate as a skilled worker applicant now. The timing with a two year wait when we applied in 2003 meant it fitted us perfectly. If it had been 4 years back then we'd probably never have started the whole business.

Also, had we known how the cost of housing and living would rise in Calgary since 2003 we might have not ended up here at least. I dunno. It's a bit horrifying, and I can see how moving here might not suit everybody.

That said, I have absolutely no regrets that we came. The boys have metamorphosed and are tremendous, and I really could not see that happening had we remained in the UK. The move has been stupendous for us!

We have just come back from a weekend trip to the mountains, made it to Moraine Lake and then to Golden, BC today. The beauty of it moved my OH to tears! (Not me, I'm made of sterner stuff! :p )

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Good for you Morwenna. Always enjoy your posts. (Well, not exactly always, but almost always ;) ).

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DOB circa 1940?

I'm a 60's child and I feel old enough as it is ....

How long would that all night be??

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Thankyou! ( I think) :p

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Depends on the time of year and latitude I might think. :eek:

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Hi Morwenna!!

It's been a while since we talked in one guise or another!

Got to agree that my boys love the place too, but as a workaday slob, it isn't a great improvement ... maybe I should take up hockey or lacrosse??

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Been here a year next week & still can't answer this one :o still sat on the fence scratching my head :( .
I think speaking for myself (& possibly hubby).......probably not, for the kids........definately yes :rolleyes:
Swings & roundabouts I suppose.

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The only downside of sitting on the fence is it hurts yer bum ..

Personally, I don't think there's a straight answer to the question ... it all depends where you're coming from and where you're going to.

In the UK we had to draw $10K from our property to pay the tax bill when Blair hit us with IR35 in a single year ... then again, we blew the best part of $150K in our first year in Canada ... choose which foot to shoot yourself in!

Now Canadian citizenship is on the horizon and life seems less painfull.

If I knew then what I know now ... well, hindsight is a wonderful thing ... it shows the decisions you got "wrong" but doesn't really tell you what the full results of the other options were.

Overall, I'd choose to live somewhere really close to a good trout or walleye lake ... after that, everything else falls in line.

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Experience is something you get just AFTER you need it!! :rolleyes:

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That's pretty much life in a nutshell, hindsight has 20/20 vision.
As for myself, I would have looked at options other than Canada as well, now that I know how hellish the Immigration Industry really is. For those who have already successfully made the jump and are wondering if the grass is actually greener back over here then I have this message DON'T COME BACK THE UK IS SINKING FAST
For those of us about to make the jump to Canada, life is for living, mistakes are there to be made, you only get one life so live it, regrets are for the old, and not forgetting many a mickle macks a muckle ;)
Oh and if you find that lake let me know as that is the utopia for which I search. :D
Stuarty

Re: Let's be honest
 

It's unlikely that I would do it again because the circumstances that brought me here were a one-off. I was kidnapped by a returning Canadian. She could just as easily have been Australian, German, Italian......

That being said, I'd stay here even if we separated. I'd probably move to a different part of the country but I'd stay here.

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Would I do it again? Without a blink of an eye. This move has turned out to be better than we could of ever imagined. But... if I had a 4 or 5 year wait then to be honnest I think we'd be looking at alternatives. When we were quoted 24 months we were gobsmaked and discussed different options even then!

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Bit confused as to whether I fit in the 'please answer the question' category or not as in reality the only reason I am here is 'cos Mrs AX is Canadian and she persuaded me to move to the tropical island paradise of Newfoundland.
Was it a good move? Yes in balance so far although it has been incredibly stressful at times. But when your partner is a Canadian then as a couple you have a choice, one of you has to live in the other's country or both of you have to live somewhere neutral!

From a career perspective the first year was good with an effective promotion from what I was doing in the UK. The second year after being made redundant (which had nothing to do with being an immigrant) has resulted in a step back. But it's interesting enough and pays enough to keep body and soul together. Mrs AX's career is taking off in a bigger way than in the UK and she sure as hell is paid a lot better than there. (She's a teacher).

Would I move here as a skilled worker? Emphatically NO not with the wait times at present. But then I was happy enough in the UK. Would we go back? Dunno but I wouldn't rule it out. Who know's what the future brings!

Re: Let's be honest
 

Your position doesn't sound all that different to mine. If we won the lottery tomorrow, Madame Souv would ship us down to the south of Spain in an instant.

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Ah yes, we dream of being the people one reads about in glossy magazines, or successful authors etc.....'AX has houses in Canada, UK and Mustique!' ;)
Incidentally, I told Mrs AX the story behind your username, she was most amused and has taken to describing me in a similar vein. Apols for breach of copyright.....