A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
#151
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
Thanks for all your replies.
Anyone else?
Anyone else?
#152
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Pitt Meadows,BC
Posts: 105
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
Hi ,
Been here since September and LOVE IT. have thought about home and my family all I miss is chicken parmos,chips and beer .Thats a takeaway and pub crawl ,if thats all I am missing its ok by me we have never felt so relaxed and chilled ,hope you feel the same when you get here
Been here since September and LOVE IT. have thought about home and my family all I miss is chicken parmos,chips and beer .Thats a takeaway and pub crawl ,if thats all I am missing its ok by me we have never felt so relaxed and chilled ,hope you feel the same when you get here
#153
Account Closed
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 7,284
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
Hi ,
Been here since September and LOVE IT. have thought about home and my family all I miss is chicken parmos,chips and beer .Thats a takeaway and pub crawl ,if thats all I am missing its ok by me we have never felt so relaxed and chilled ,hope you feel the same when you get here
Been here since September and LOVE IT. have thought about home and my family all I miss is chicken parmos,chips and beer .Thats a takeaway and pub crawl ,if thats all I am missing its ok by me we have never felt so relaxed and chilled ,hope you feel the same when you get here
#154
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
Hi ,
Been here since September and LOVE IT. have thought about home and my family all I miss is chicken parmos,chips and beer .Thats a takeaway and pub crawl ,if thats all I am missing its ok by me we have never felt so relaxed and chilled ,hope you feel the same when you get here
Been here since September and LOVE IT. have thought about home and my family all I miss is chicken parmos,chips and beer .Thats a takeaway and pub crawl ,if thats all I am missing its ok by me we have never felt so relaxed and chilled ,hope you feel the same when you get here
#155
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
i lived lived in Kingston ontario since 24th August and really love it! i know ive only been in canada a short while but we have really settled and have no thoughts of going back, my OH wants to go back in November for his sons birthday as he is 18 i dont even want to go back then!
#156
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
i lived lived in Kingston ontario since 24th August and really love it! i know ive only been in canada a short while but we have really settled and have no thoughts of going back, my OH wants to go back in November for his sons birthday as he is 18 i dont even want to go back then!
sometimes I have second thoughts....
#157
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
How is your OH coping with leaving his son? I have two daughters who are 20 and 16 and we are all shattered at the prospect of my leaving, they refuse to come and dont care much for my Canadian OH. It's so difficult I am really torn
sometimes I have second thoughts....
sometimes I have second thoughts....
We can sure relate to that. We're in the final stages of a long awaited paperwork from CHC, and like most are cheesed off with waiting!
Our 19yr old son in the meantime, as met a girl, and fell "head over heels" we've all been there I guess Just couldn't have happened at a more critical time.
We're dreading the fact he might change his mind, and hoping he will see the much - much bigger picture!
Fingers crossed for all in this situation.
Y
#159
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
How is your OH coping with leaving his son? I have two daughters who are 20 and 16 and we are all shattered at the prospect of my leaving, they refuse to come and dont care much for my Canadian OH. It's so difficult I am really torn
sometimes I have second thoughts....
sometimes I have second thoughts....
#160
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 548
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
Our 19yr old son in the meantime, as met a girl, and fell "head over heels" we've all been there I guess Just couldn't have happened at a more critical time.
Hi
I can so relate to your post ~ just when you think you have it all worked out, then something else gets put into the mix, both of our boys are in the Uk and we are here in Canada but although we miss them ,it kind of works out as they need to be ,where they feel their opportunities are
All the very best
Hi
I can so relate to your post ~ just when you think you have it all worked out, then something else gets put into the mix, both of our boys are in the Uk and we are here in Canada but although we miss them ,it kind of works out as they need to be ,where they feel their opportunities are
All the very best
#161
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
The biggest differences are the sense of humour and social interaction in Canada compared to the UK. There is a more insular family type society in Canada as opposed to the UK. In the UK most people have a large circle of friends that they hang out with. In Canada we can get to our friends houses in the UK quicker than we can visit some of our friends over here.
BUT, you have the Carribean at you fingertips. The States on your door step and you can buy a mansion with a sea view for the price of a 1 bedroom flat in London or Edinburgh.
And.... Never say never. There are plenty of flights back to Europe when you need to get a dose of some real culture.
BUT, you have the Carribean at you fingertips. The States on your door step and you can buy a mansion with a sea view for the price of a 1 bedroom flat in London or Edinburgh.
And.... Never say never. There are plenty of flights back to Europe when you need to get a dose of some real culture.
#162
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
I grew up in a Coronation Street environment with nosy neighbours dropping in unannounced and booze fueled social interaction at the local.
Canadians respect each others privacy and get together more formally which is fine by me.
#163
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
Did you, by chance, happen to live near Jim Royle and his lot.
#164
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
I know this post is quite a few weeks old now, but I've only just come across it as I've been away from the site for a couple of weeks for a mental break!
If you'd have asked me this question between August 2005 and August 2007, I'd have said "Yes, absolutely settled and totally LOVE my life here". From Sept '07 onwards, my feelings changed and so did situations in my life that influenced these feelings.
**Note to those who are bored sh#tless with people's bad-luck stories, stop reading now 'cos this might be a bit long-winded!**
Many people on here know my circumstances but in a nutshell things began on the downward slope when we bought this house. Because the housing market was right at it's peak in Aug '07, we paid $305,000 for it but we didn't have any deposit to put down, and therefore 100% financed I knew by Christmas '07 that we were going to struggle to pay for it as our funds in the bank were going down each month by about $500. Soon enough we were approaching, and then going under our 'safety net' figure of $5K. Then January, my FIL died; trip home for 4 of us for one week was approx $5K - all added to OH's M'card. The death in the family created an overnight change in me, I was no longer settled and had a gut feeling to end our Canadian adventure and return home to be back with family - but OH didn't want to go back and our relationship hit a very rocky patch. Swamped with depression, battling my feelings and trying to carry on with my job with the AB government, I had a mental breakdown at work in the April '08 and was off for 3 months. This reduced pay and added pressure created more tension in the house - by now our money was at least $1000 below our 'safety net'.
Then in June, news from OH's family back home was that his mum was losing her battle with Motor Neurone Disease (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and so another trip back home ensued, as well as another $6,000, this time, whacked onto my M'card! Thankfully, MIL had life-saving surgery and began to pick up and amazingly, she is still hanging on there but her condition is deteriorating. I loved being back home for those 2 weeks in June '08....I relished in my family's company, took in the scenery with appreciative eyes, had fun at the seaside and not to mention was in my element when shopping!!
Back in Canada, I had to return to work in the July on a graduated part time basis - again, on reduced pay and by this point, we were about $2,000 below our 's.n.' figure. In all honesty, I was never truly happy in my job and found it stressful even before the problems set in, but I knew when I went back there after my 3 month stress leave that it wasn't going to work for me. I was still suffering depression but I had to go back to work for the money's sake and because my OH was pressurising me constantly about the funds going lower and lower. By October, something snapped in my head and I decided I couldn't take the job no more and handed in my resignation. I was so relieved to be free of it, and so confident in getting another job because of the experience I'd gained and where I'd worked. I registered with 2 recruitment agencies in Red Deer - top ones - and to this day have not received a single assignment. I'm told it is because of the slow down and lack of jobs and I do believe that. I had my first interview of the New Year just yesterday - a job for a Receptionist/Office Assistant. My interviewers told me that 66 applications were received over 2 days - some from highly skilled and top qualified women - and they chose just 6 out of them. I felt lucky that I was selected, however, whether I get offered the position is another thing. Our situation is so bad now that we are $4,000 below that 's.n.' figure Our house, in today's real estate market prices, is worth approx $280,000 and our mortgage lender tells us we still owe $310,000. We owe $17,000 to the lenders of our truck finance and Chevy Avalanches are being sold for peanuts now. We owe a combined total of $12,000 to M'card. I feel we have no-one to turn to for help and advice on our financial situation.....no Citizens' Advice Bureau or Debt help-line. I saw a Bankruptcy consultant last December and he told me that our best option was to file for bankruptcy....but when I told that to the OH, he was adamant and wanted to plough on. We will run out of money very soon, and probably next month, I won't be able to pay the bills at all. There are still jobs out there like store work and fast food, but (and Piff Poff will back me up on this) a lot of these jobs since New Year have been reduced to part-time work only. This makes me laugh......I have put in 3 applications to Costco since leaving my gov. job and even though I have had great experience of customer service, I have not had any response - but I go in there every week and see so many "South American" and other ethnic races working there on the food sample stands, and I swear their English is next to nothing! Go figure!
It's hard going here in Canada when you're on the bones of your arse...believe me. I am scared to death, but more like a "paralysed rabbit caught in the headlights" way of what's going to happen to us. I know there are many, many like us going through the same in the UK, but there is help available there and a benefit system to fall back on if and when it is desperately needed.
Sorry for waffling I had to get it all off my chest. I want people to realise what could happen to them when the chips are down.
R.M.
If you'd have asked me this question between August 2005 and August 2007, I'd have said "Yes, absolutely settled and totally LOVE my life here". From Sept '07 onwards, my feelings changed and so did situations in my life that influenced these feelings.
**Note to those who are bored sh#tless with people's bad-luck stories, stop reading now 'cos this might be a bit long-winded!**
Many people on here know my circumstances but in a nutshell things began on the downward slope when we bought this house. Because the housing market was right at it's peak in Aug '07, we paid $305,000 for it but we didn't have any deposit to put down, and therefore 100% financed I knew by Christmas '07 that we were going to struggle to pay for it as our funds in the bank were going down each month by about $500. Soon enough we were approaching, and then going under our 'safety net' figure of $5K. Then January, my FIL died; trip home for 4 of us for one week was approx $5K - all added to OH's M'card. The death in the family created an overnight change in me, I was no longer settled and had a gut feeling to end our Canadian adventure and return home to be back with family - but OH didn't want to go back and our relationship hit a very rocky patch. Swamped with depression, battling my feelings and trying to carry on with my job with the AB government, I had a mental breakdown at work in the April '08 and was off for 3 months. This reduced pay and added pressure created more tension in the house - by now our money was at least $1000 below our 'safety net'.
Then in June, news from OH's family back home was that his mum was losing her battle with Motor Neurone Disease (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and so another trip back home ensued, as well as another $6,000, this time, whacked onto my M'card! Thankfully, MIL had life-saving surgery and began to pick up and amazingly, she is still hanging on there but her condition is deteriorating. I loved being back home for those 2 weeks in June '08....I relished in my family's company, took in the scenery with appreciative eyes, had fun at the seaside and not to mention was in my element when shopping!!
Back in Canada, I had to return to work in the July on a graduated part time basis - again, on reduced pay and by this point, we were about $2,000 below our 's.n.' figure. In all honesty, I was never truly happy in my job and found it stressful even before the problems set in, but I knew when I went back there after my 3 month stress leave that it wasn't going to work for me. I was still suffering depression but I had to go back to work for the money's sake and because my OH was pressurising me constantly about the funds going lower and lower. By October, something snapped in my head and I decided I couldn't take the job no more and handed in my resignation. I was so relieved to be free of it, and so confident in getting another job because of the experience I'd gained and where I'd worked. I registered with 2 recruitment agencies in Red Deer - top ones - and to this day have not received a single assignment. I'm told it is because of the slow down and lack of jobs and I do believe that. I had my first interview of the New Year just yesterday - a job for a Receptionist/Office Assistant. My interviewers told me that 66 applications were received over 2 days - some from highly skilled and top qualified women - and they chose just 6 out of them. I felt lucky that I was selected, however, whether I get offered the position is another thing. Our situation is so bad now that we are $4,000 below that 's.n.' figure Our house, in today's real estate market prices, is worth approx $280,000 and our mortgage lender tells us we still owe $310,000. We owe $17,000 to the lenders of our truck finance and Chevy Avalanches are being sold for peanuts now. We owe a combined total of $12,000 to M'card. I feel we have no-one to turn to for help and advice on our financial situation.....no Citizens' Advice Bureau or Debt help-line. I saw a Bankruptcy consultant last December and he told me that our best option was to file for bankruptcy....but when I told that to the OH, he was adamant and wanted to plough on. We will run out of money very soon, and probably next month, I won't be able to pay the bills at all. There are still jobs out there like store work and fast food, but (and Piff Poff will back me up on this) a lot of these jobs since New Year have been reduced to part-time work only. This makes me laugh......I have put in 3 applications to Costco since leaving my gov. job and even though I have had great experience of customer service, I have not had any response - but I go in there every week and see so many "South American" and other ethnic races working there on the food sample stands, and I swear their English is next to nothing! Go figure!
It's hard going here in Canada when you're on the bones of your arse...believe me. I am scared to death, but more like a "paralysed rabbit caught in the headlights" way of what's going to happen to us. I know there are many, many like us going through the same in the UK, but there is help available there and a benefit system to fall back on if and when it is desperately needed.
Sorry for waffling I had to get it all off my chest. I want people to realise what could happen to them when the chips are down.
R.M.
#165
Re: A question for all you people that are now living in Canada!!
We love it here too and have done since they day we landed 2 years ago.
We had a good life (financially) in the UK but wanted the adventure and having visited Canada several times we felt a definite pull.
A major mistake some people make, especially moving to another English speaking country is thinking its the same as the UK but maybe with more sun, wide open spaces, etc. Whether its Canada, USA, OZ, NS etc, each country has it's own customs, people, food, etc - if you can't learn to embrace those differences you will struggle no matter where in the world you move to.
Research, research and research some more.
Someone in this forum is heading back to the UK after a living here a few months stating one of their reasons was the cold winter climate - in Canada............... really, who would have thought it ???????????????
We had a good life (financially) in the UK but wanted the adventure and having visited Canada several times we felt a definite pull.
A major mistake some people make, especially moving to another English speaking country is thinking its the same as the UK but maybe with more sun, wide open spaces, etc. Whether its Canada, USA, OZ, NS etc, each country has it's own customs, people, food, etc - if you can't learn to embrace those differences you will struggle no matter where in the world you move to.
Research, research and research some more.
Someone in this forum is heading back to the UK after a living here a few months stating one of their reasons was the cold winter climate - in Canada............... really, who would have thought it ???????????????
Very good advice that