pennyhp

Just wanted to point out as we came in the same year as you (May 2007) that the winter of 2007/2008 was one of the worst for many years according to all our local friends and the following one not too much better. Last year however was much better, so really its hard to judge NB winters on having experienced just a couple.

Tangram

^^^ What she said.

Tangram

^^^ What he said.

No1_mom

I think most of Canada has their bad days re snow. I have had one bad day in London (Dec 08) where schools were canceled, but other than that it has been heavy snow falls but cleared up quickly. I drove from London to Moncton n Dec 08 via the states and the weather was dreadful - you could not see in front of you and had to follow the trucks to know where the road was.

I'll be honest if we had found good jobs in NB we would not have left. We aren't over keen on family coming over anyway so flights didn't both us and we have no plans on going back to visit. I think the job situation is the biggest problem. I think anyone thinking of going to that side of Canada should really look at Halifax. Being larger there is much more choice and also less French. House prices though are slightly higher. We like driving rather than flying - we find flights in Canada very expensive and would drive to Boston to fly and in London we go to Detroit. We just drove down to Forida in a day and it was wonderful, we have done the route 66 tour and are looking forward to driving in other areas. And yes before anyone asks we also hope to tour more of Canada but we love the states and that is one of the benefits of both NB and southern ontario - the ease of travel.

No1_mom

It is just the normal pack of 8 rolls or hot dog rolls covered in cheese - so much cheese, yummy. Although I can find similar cheese rolls here I can't get the hotdog ones even in Sobey's London And here they are so much more expensive.

I also miss the chicken bakes in Costco, although we had enourage them to do this as the Glasgow Costco made them. I am disappointed with the Costco catering in Canada it is so limited. In Glasgow we had everything they do here - pizza, hotdogs, ice cream etc, plus chicken bakes, baked potatos, hot pies, salads, muffins, scones and cakes and even more importantly coffee.tea and capachino. I really miss my coffee and muffin. We also could pay cash or debit card - here it is only cash (or Costco cash card), they don't accept debit cards claiming health and safety - give me a break. Moncton at least had a coffee machine but neither of the London branches do this.

BristolUK

Ah, now I know what you mean. My wife loves the herb and cheese bagels...toasted with melted cheese sometimes.

Funny how they do "grilled" cheese in the frying pan in Canada.

Dave+Jules

Please don't assume from this post that you have to speak French. Moncton is a very french city, I think if you had moved to Fredericton or Saint John you would have a different experience.

The answer to winter is to embrace it, take the opportunity to learn cross country skiing / snow shoeing. Ice skating on free out door rinks in the towns (certainly around Fredericton). That way you have a great winter experience.
I certainly dont speak french and I landed a well paid job within 10 days of landing (but I did lots of research and preparation).

Dave+Jules

Same experience here in Fredericton, our first winter (2005/2006) was mild with snow disappearing in late January. The next was slightly more snowy but nothing really intimidating and I shovelled through both winters.... then 2007/2008 I shovelled and had snow banks 6 foot on each side of the drive .... I purchased a snowblower for the next year infact I used it today for the first time this season

Dave+Jules

Pub Night meet up in Fredericton - 4th Dec 8pm Lunar Rogue pub . Listen for the accents to find us

BristolUK

I'm a bit mystified at that. There are certainly some jobs in Moncton that you might need French for, but the city itself is a long way from being French.

The big shopping Mall is technically in Dieppe (which sees itself as 'French') but you wouldn't think it was French from walking around it. I don't speak French and it seems like any other English place to me.

The hospitals, supermarkets and government offices have bilingual signage but that's about the only real thing that suggests Moncton isn't wholly English.

The City of Moncton has just refused to pass a law requiring businesses to have French on their signs.

Dave+Jules

I'm glad the drive to make the signs for business bilingual has failed.

Tangram

Walk around Dieppe Mall and then walk around Fredericton Mall and the difference is obvious. A much greater occurrence of Acadian French than ever heard in Fredericton.

You can usually tell by the way the person doesn't say thank you when you hold the door open for them or are in any other way rude. It's a running joke with my wife, they are 99% always Acadian.

BristolUK

Yes, I'm sure.

But hearing French spoken a bit more doesn't make Moncton a very French City.

Something like 65% of the population of Greater Moncton is Englsh (75% in Fredericton?), with the 35% Acadians concentrated in Dieppe - meaning that you'll likely hear more French spoken in Dieppe than Moncton.

I note the multi-screen Cinema complex in Dieppe is currently showing 8 movies - just one of which is French.

Greater Moncton has something like 7 English radio stations to 2 French and I'm sure I read the readership of the English papers is way in excess of the french one.

I can't say I've particularly noticed any rudeness. But then if someone doesn't say thank you or merci, how can you tell?

Tangram

I agree, there are degrees of Frenchiness. But you were the one using Dieppe Mall as your example of how English it felt and I still disagree with that analogy of not knowing you are in a quite Acadian Mall and thinking you are in England somehow.

But, one can hear them talk, smart arse - that is how you can tell who the rude ones are.

BristolUK

Uh...what I actually said was
I said nothing about thinking I was in England. This discussion was about how "French" Moncton is. I was giving the point some context. Given that this mall is actually in Dieppe where most of the one-third of the French live I was commenting on it not really feeling so different to the "English" places like the other Malls, or Downtown or the other cinema complex.

Jeez, now I'm a smart arse after being called a twat by you a few weeks ago. What is your problem?

My attempt at humour was obviously a waste of time.