Shirtback

All of the above? (Seriously!) (But not in the GTA). You forgot torrential rain & biblical flooding...

I thought about referencing Oink...

Novocastrian

If that was @ me, then you're wrong. Eat your heart out. Or eat out anything available.

Life has moved on since you found yourself in the wasteland of Toronto.

not2old

add in the odd earthquake, which should let the OP feel right at home [Christchurch reference']

switched on...

Not to mention to have JamesM jump in on the lore of the foreverToronto (GTA) commute transit breakdowns , or the major 400 series highways shut downs due to the 40 - 50 or so vehicle pile up's

As the threads twist & turn as they usually do, this beats the ever-so w(h)ine of NZ or OZ building irregularities - minus the on line BE experts of cheese & pork

not2old

what about a Gorgonzola Grilled Cheese sarnie with a glass of shiraz

Novocastrian

Ooh, the unintentional irony. Although it should be Christ Church.

Figure it out for yourself.

JamesM

Certainly the hangovers don't get any easier but the girls come and go. You miss some more than others. The sweet potato fries stay the same! Do they get those in New Zealand?

I don't think I've aimed anything at you for quite some time.

You didn't have a particularly long commute when you were in this part of the world either.

JamesM

That's a sense one looses when they move to Canada. The ability to spot sarcasm written or verbal

Irony is lost here.

not2old

on that 'living in the city' commute. Our son lives at Vaughan/St Clair.The distance to the core to where he works is 4.7km, which, according to google maps is approx 16 minute travel time. From leaving his apartment to boarding the street car, changing to the subway (undergound rail) he reckons the travel time is 30 - 40 minutes (without transit breakdowns). Go figure that one out

JamesM

I feel his pain. It's taken me longer to do journeys on transit over shorter distances.

If I rode the Street Car to work the journey time is the same as if I walk. I'm just marginally less sweaty in the summer and marginally warmer in the winter.

It's not worth the money and I like the "fresher" air and exercise. Another 15 minutes though and I would have to "Ride The Rocket".

Streetcars are more problem than solution in my opinion.

I'm weighing up moving neighbourhood but your son's situation prays on my mind.

not2old

issue for me, is being away from the UK for 48 years, having lived in other countries, travelled to some hell holes (exclude Hooters) & knowing anything British (other than being on BE) is as foreign as a Hooters bar or a church

Shirtback

Well there's a more than usually subtle thread twist!! "House" building included ...

JamesM

I vacationed to Italy and Czech Republic this year.

I realised I looked North American by the way the street pedlars were targeting me.

It's hard to go back to Britain and elbow your way to the bar when you are used to table service.

I remember ordering a mojito in an exclusive Mayfair bar and watching them butcher making it. It's just not a proper career over there.

Going back would be like moving to a foreign country for me as well for a good 12 months in many ways and that is just 6 years being in Canada.

Oink

I come across as that much of a dick?

Pine Cone

I've spent some time in Canada and have travelled around several provinces. Family in Hamilton, you see. Sadly we're not closely enough related for any kind of family sponsorship. They acquired British citizenship very easily but we'd have to jump through more hoops to do the same in reverse - go figure!

No, we do not have Canadian work experience, however as I've mentioned already, we've already established that it would be pretty easy and straightforward for us to get a work visa and transfer via one of our employers, and that would get us the required 12 months experience, not to mention an opportunity to live there for a while and decide for certain whether it's worth considering appplying for PR. However it's quite different moving there with the potential to stay long term as opposed to moving shorter term for a work contract with an end date, as this impacts on kids and their education, what we do about a vehicle and even whether or not we dispose of some of our electrical items.

Sarcasm aside, I do actually want the nitty gritty and all the dirt from people who have some perspective of living in other places too, as long as the information I'm getting is not exaggerated. When you go somewhere for a visit, you are somehow completely blind to loads of stuff and then when you move there later you wonder why the hell you didn't notice it all.
Some of my friends from Canada are still very enamoured with the fact that you can grow a lemon tree in your garden down under. Other than comiserating with us Brits, Europeans and Americans about how damn cold our respective antipodean houses have been over winter, our perspectives about various other things are quite different. For example one the things some of my Canadian and American friends seem to be especially bothered by is the size of houses here. They think they are small and bemoan the lack of a basement. Being British, we think houses here are pretty damn big. My South African friends, for the most part anyway, seem to think that NZ and Australia are almost a utopia, because they find is so much safer here and they are more relaxed as a result. They often don't even seem to notice or be especially bothered by anything housing related, because their improved quality of life outweighs any change in standard of living many times over.

Pine Cone

No different anywhere though is it? All these journey planning websites take absolutely no consideration of how long you spend standing still, whether it be in the pouring rain waiting for that bus that is running late, on a crowded station platform when the last train was so full you were forced to wait for the next one, for the 3 hours you have to spend sitting around a boring airport waiting for that one hour long flight or just sitting on the M25 (insert any other major road here)in gridlocked traffic.