Rob_999

I only come on here occasionally, but of late there seems to be so many stereotypical threads.

UK full of chavs, going down the drain..... blah blah blah. Get a grip, the UK is an amazing place to live, the diversity, history, culture & varied scenery in such a small place, plus Europe on your doorstep. There are many who would kill to live in such great country.

And the crap posted about Canada too - no good jobs for immigrants, my qualifications aren't recognised. Oh please... do your research and do something about it. Some things cost more, some less - if you're moving purely for financial reasons then think again.

I loved living in the UK, and love it here in Canada too. I miss my family & friends, and yeah the immigration process is a bitch. But I'm prepared to go through all this because Canada is where I want to be right now.....

I find it hard to believe that anyone would be put off moving here just because what they've read on an internet forum, but it does suck reading all this negativity.

Now bring on that SNOW

yonk

Well, I'm pleased to hear you are doing great! I was a newbie on the forum when you were moving over and you certainly inspired me and eventually, we got our place in the queue, so thank you!

windward

Wonderful to hear you're doing well Tia

As for the forum, yes there are people here who point-score but that happens on 'every' internet forum. I promise.

Regarding negative posts - on the UK, well we all have our complaints and many of them are valid. Anyone remember Voyager's little boy being beaten? He and his are recently arrived in Canada are probably living it up, or soon will be once they're settled. Who's going to tell him he shouldn't have posted because he was being a 'whinger'?

Re those on Canada, if the only people that posted just helped those of us still in the UK strap on the rose-tinteds what on earth use would this place serve? We all need to know the downsides too or we 'would' be upset when we went searching for car insurance in BC wouldn't we.

There are some great, truly helpful, and charismatic people here and let's face it, this place is designed to let us share personal experiences. If it wasn't all we would be able to do is swap timelines and share a moan about CIC's ineptitude in the immigration forum.

I like it here... don't scare away all the nice people please...

edit: sorry Yonk. Not directed at you. Just hit reply on the last post. N00b error.

britishvixen21

Im sure if you started a poll on who people prefer out of the two of us posting im pretty confident you wouldnt lead!

Calgal

LOL - You insinuating that all the "nice" people are whingers? )

Grah

Here's a bit of Advice you can't research Life you live it.

Sunshine Girl

How Bizarre.
Antecedents/Consequences?
Just renounce me as a snivelling brit, with a learning curve tendency!

Sunshine Girl

Depends on who would bother to reply.
Having said that, it is pretty clicky on here, so I'd guess you'd win!

kt0157

Very good. Did you read that off a pappy greeting card or make that syrup up for yourself?

K.

rae

my 2 penneth.
i'd never really used the net at all before finding this site. Clearly such a massive change in life style required lots of research, for me anyway. I've found the forum mostly very, very helpful and i'm grateful for the time people have taken to contribute and reply. it must get quite tedious at times, as i'm sure the longer serving members have answered the same questions many, many times before, yet they are still patient and understanding enough to do it again.
unfortunately these posters have their polar opposite. it appears the main reason these people post is to read what they have written, with a wry smile on their face, thinking "oh i am so clever". actually they are rather obtuse, cynical and sad. i really cannot ever see the need for direct or indirect attacks on other posters, generalisations and insults, because they think its amusing. its not.
i'll not mention any names, we all know who they are and i'll not give them the oxygen of publicity. there is more to life than how many stars you have after your name on expats.
once again completely drifting from the o/p's original question, sorry. I can't wait. still having good and bad days, but when i do get news, i'm thrilled.

Investor

Well done Tia, you have done fantastically well. Having read some of your earlier posts I had been wondering how you were doing.
Please don't allow these spats between some people to make you stay away from the forum for good.

Tiaribbon

Oh don't be so ridiculous, LMAO!! Where in my post did I say go to any country without doing research and without safeguarding your money? If people are prepared to move/emigrate without ensuring these 2 factors have been covered.....then sorry but they are complete fools and it is no wonder they don't succeed....but then they probably never succeeded in England either if this is the flippant way in which they deal with life! Generally success breeds success.

10 trips to British Columbia and countless trips to Ontario helped us enormously.......... but it wasn't until we actually lived here that the real learning began.

If people are sensible and of a pleasant demeanor then they will likely be just as happy living anywhere in the world. Some people will never be happy with their lot in life - which one are you kt0157?

--------------------

To all my old friends on here; some were established members who inspired me tremendously; some were going through the whole "Immigration thing" alongside me - thank you to all of you!! It is really wonderful to see you all again I truly hope that all has worked out well for you and whatever choices you made have been good ones.

As we all know, the waiting game is a long time and there are many worries and concerns along the way, particularly if you were like me and were very happy indeed with your lifestyle in the UK. Lots of people on here were incredibly helpful and informative when I was going through the process and I don't believe these people have changed any - it seems that they are still as kind to spend their valuable time to try to answer any questions others might have.

The reason for my initial post was that I felt that for those who haven't made it here yet, or are just embarking on their new adventure, that this forum (and Canada) must feel like a very depressing place for them. I wanted to even things up a little.

Canada is a nice place. There are lovely people here. Many many Brits are happy here. Some are not, however, I know that I for one did have a Plan B if our Canadian life were not to turn out the way we hoped ........ sounds blatently obvious to me but here's a tip - you know that huge organ that we are all given at birth? The one that lives inside that funny round thing which perches on top of our neck........it's there to be used!

Winter is on it's way, so I will likely pop on here more as life starts to calm down a bit.

Tia

willmore

Wonderful to hear from you and that everything is going well...keep in touch!

Hudman

I cant believe anybody visiting this forums life is any way validated by subjective views of posters. The balance of all points of view seems fair taken from peoples personal experiences, but I for one would not gain much insight from somebodies rantings about living in Toronto, as BC is a world apart as far as I am concerned.
Information about black and white issues is perhaps more useful to folks researching. Having said that people obsessing about taxes, cable Tv and marmite are not really going to be factors that make or break the process once here.
Somebody mentioned the foolishness of not having plan B or being financially covered, maybe if you come from a comfortable background thats an issue.
Some of us needed the challenge; to get out of the comfort zone that the UK can be, and have a real life make or break challenge.
I suspect the vast majority of successful ex-pats have no time or inclination to post, so by definition people here have an axe to grind and so may it continue.

Pretty Flowers

I've been here for nearly 2 years now (Canada, not the board).

This is my home, my country, my people, my friends, my family.

Some people can adapt to change, and others cannot. Canada is not Shangri-La, the streets of Toronto are not paved with gold. Like Brits there are good and bad, I've actually encountered the nastiest person I've ever met in my life in Canada. But then I have several friends over here that I know would do almost anything for me. There are good things and bad. But on balance the quality of my life is immeasurably higher than it ever was in the UK. I'm about to start my first Christmas here, and I have to say, I'm really looking forward to it.

I could never imagine going back to the UK to live. But then again, never say never.

I don't post here much often now (I can remember coming here to read every day at one time) because I'm just too busy getting on with life, paying the bills, having beer with friends and I'm not too interested in all of the Canada, Good or Bad arguements that always seem to break out. Personally I've never had a problem with the Canadian Experience thing, and perhaps uncharitably, I think that for some it indicates a failure to adapt, to recognise that they are living in a different country with a different culture, and therefore work practices are much different. I have also found Canada to be much less racist than the UK, and at times I've been shocked by my own UK prejudices.