BristolUK

Ah...the very cute Michaela Strachan


Suzi Quatro in a skirt!!

Oink

No, there are people on here who try to provide a more balanced view its just that most prospective emigrants don't want to hear anything but joyous adulation for the place.

Lorry1

Same apart from change NB to NS.

MarylandNed

There isn't "3-4 months of relentless grey sky" in Toronto. In fact, it's often sunny, blue skies in winter. Toronto has many more hours of sunshine annually than the SE UK.

Former Lancastrian

Average number of hours of bright sunshine a year in major Canadian cities. City Hours
Calgary, Alberta 2405
Winnipeg, Manitoba 2372
Regina, Saskatchewan 2338
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 2329
Edmonton, Alberta 2299
Victoria, British Columbia 2193
Hamilton, Ontario 2088
Ottawa, Ontario 2061
Barrie, Ontario 2055
Toronto, Ontario 2038

Be like the Village People and Go West.

victorfoxtrot

Me too Chromeo! Although I wasn't as lucky as you to live further in or work in the city - I grew up at the western end of the Central line and lived in Kingston for a while. But I love London. It just makes me happy. I like TO. I do like the fact we can closer to downtown than we ever could in London. But like you if I could move back tomorrow, I would.....I'm very lucky my OH is happy to do that.

se1zm1c

Can you give some more details as to why you feel like this?
I live in the same neck of the woods in London ...and am seriously contemplating a move to Canada ..!!

victorfoxtrot

Well I should probably preface this by saying that prior to meeting my Canadian OH, I was very happy with my life in London, and had no desire to emigrate. Ultimately for me it boils down to family. We have none here - all OH's are in B.C. and all mine (with the exception of an aunt and cousin who are 3 hours from us in TO) are back in London. There was an interesting thread on here a week or so ago from a chap who's wife was seriously ill post-pregnancy. She is Canadian and so he has his in-laws close by to depend on, but it seriously made him thankful for that. We have no children yet, but are planning to and whilst I am happy to be living here together for the time being, once kids come along, we'll need the support of family. A lot of people move so their kids can have a better life - for me, part of what I loved growing up was being close to my cousins and my large extended family.

Think carefully about any move though. Be aware of what kind of person you are and what you are trying to get away from. I am eternally grateful my OH lives in Toronto, if it had been any other city or in a rural location I think I'd have lost patience by now! I love the draw of a big city, i miss the history of London, and TO for me whilst it may not be as big, it is probably the best option for a Londoner who truly misses London!

Atlantic Xpat

That chap is me. I wouldn't have moved to Canada, much less Newfoundland, if I hadn't met the Mrs and she persauded me to move over. I was perfectly happy in the UK despite living in Essex. A year in to living here I lost my job and back then, the economy wasn't so strong in St. John's. Moving elsewhere to find a job looked like being a likely outcome. As there is little point in living in Canada a squllion miles away from the relatives, we'dve as likely moved back to UK as elsewhere in Canada.

victorfoxtrot

Yes I thought it was - couldn't remember, but my best wishes to you and your wife. Your thread really struck a chord with me. My OH has no interest in moving back to BC, he's from Penticton and moved out of there to go to uni in Calgary just as soon as he could. He then out-grew Calgary and moved here. I don't think he'll outgrow London ;-)

Don't get me wrong, I am happy here. We've made friends and it really suits our no kids lifestyle - it will be even better once i have a job! Hopefully if we are lucky enough to have kids, I want them to know their grandparents, aunts, uncles and if we stay in Toronto then both sets are going to be a 5-8 hour plane ride away.

scrubbedexpat133

frederictonians don't like outsiders not as friends nor as employees

A bloke at work is from Fredericton and he says the same - small town small minds big heads!!!

I must admit that I dont understand the mindset of a lot of the locals Its like they have small man syndrome and does not take much to get them upset but Its unlikely that they will change based on what I think!
I have found it difficult to make friends here (being long haul trucker does not help)

My Dutch mate says that they are friendly but not sociable - I agree.

MillieF

Oh Dudlek, what an interesting post....we are moving to Fredericton in the Summer. I really hits a chord, because, we do have doubts.....you'd be mad not too. Also, frankly at the moment my stress levels are somewhat hyped up by the selling of the house, packing and planning - so none of me is normal. I think one of the things that possibly makes it easier for us, maybe like AX and Victorfoxtrot, is the fact that the OH is Canadian, and certainly my OH wants to go back to Canada....although we both want to discover somewhere 'new' together so are not returning to BC where he is from. I love London, the life, the activity (and certainly the shopping!) but I wouldn't want to live there now - I think both 'it' and I have changed too much. I want a sense of 'belonging' and I don't have it now - maybe Fredericton won't give it, but I think it's going to be a hell of a lot better for our son, which for now is the most important bit. We sort of feel that if life there is good then great, but in any case we will give it a shot, because by then we are 'in' Canada, so it's just a matter of shuffling off somewhere else - albeit a few thousand miles!

I find myself worrying about 'silly' things, that don't matter, because I am generally just a bit 'all over' scared, so focus on the minutiae. I know the first year is going to be fun, because it will be different, and then the second year probably ghastly, as suddenly all the differences might seem more negative.

Whilst you can't change the entire character of the natives of the province, is there anything else that you could change that might make your life happier?

Oink

I think that depends on you and what you do. I couldn't give naffing toss about making mates with anyone over here, I wish they'd just piss off and leave me alone. That said, I've ended up with way more I want, mainly due my access to a boat and that and I make a bolloxy hot curry which they seem to snaffle up like its the best thing they've ever had.

yogi.bear

Hi, I read with interest your posting as your doubts sounds exactly like what we are going through at the moment.
We moved here from the UK in November 2010 and bought a house on the northside of Fredericton. We had visited the province before we came here and thought it would be nice to have a country lifestyle and improve our quality of life. Whilst we do not regret our move as it has been an experience we do wonder if we have chosen the wrong province. We are both having to work in jobs with funny shifts and so do not spend as much time together as a family as we would like although at least I get to work from home and so no childcare is necessary. We chose to pay for a private school for our eight year old as we have found the quality of education here to be dreadful. Fortunately we only have one child or we probably would not be able to afford it. When you have a teacher tell you that it doesn't matter if the spelling is incorrect as long as they understand it, it does make you wonder doesn't it!
Like you we do not find the people of Fredericton to be particularly friendly and welcoming, now I don't think this has much to do with us being 'foreigners' as we have spoken to other Canadians who are now living in other areas such as Moncton as it is so much friendlier. We have therefore made very few 'friends', acquaintances yes but that is about it.
I do miss the shops and the choice of goods, very shallow I know. I also miss the British sense of humour very much, we can't remember the last time we had a really good laugh with anyone other than each other.
When I look at what I have written it all looks very negative, maybe I just needed to write it down. Of course there are good points to living here, there is very little crime and it is a far more relaxed way of life. It is a nice place to bring up children. We have a much larger house than we did in the UK and I love seeing deer in the garden and watching the woodpeckers.
Maybe we should have actually done more research, we thought we had but maybe not enough. Maybe we just haven't given it long enough, but we can't see the job market changes dramatically there are not not the opportunities here.
Anyway my husband has now started applying for jobs in Ontario so we will see how it goes. If its meant to be its meant to be.

dudlek

Hi again
thanks all for all your supportive comments, it really helps to know that I am not the only one that feels the way I do, though I do appreciate not everyone feels the same way.
We are now,probably, moving to Kingston, Ontario this summer. OH is being posted there so maybe a change of scene might help and closer to bigger cities? For those of you out there about to say how similar Kingston is to Fredericton eg history, retiries, 'in with the in crowd' mentality, I do appreciate it may be similar to what we are leaving but at least we are not too far away from day trip to Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal etc for a dust off the cobwebs.
So, I am off to plan a mad rush 2 week holiday down the east coast of the US to Boston and NYC and a summer week to the tourist hotspots of th maritimes ie Shediac beach, whilst doing a housing de-clutter assessment of our home here, with a positive view of downsizing being less to dust and hoover! Think I may insist on a pool this time! Here's hoping.
Yogi.bear, we moved out oldest daughter from Naashwaaksis middle school to Ecole Sainte Anne, where she, and we, are much happier. Hope Kingston schools turn out to be OK, english middle school curriculum seems same as NB curriculum so we'll see. PM me if you want to have a chat or meet for a coffee?