I'm just curious to find out peoples reasons for moving to Canada.

What do you feel you have achieved by moving to Canada?
How does your life compare now, to before you moved to Canada?
Did you move with the intentions of a better life for your offspring?
Did you move because you had a partner that wanted to?
Do you consider yourself a wilderness or city person?

Responses would be awesome!

No more than I would have achieved in the UK.
See above.
No.
Yes.
City person, but I do like to visit the mountains.

I have an overwhelming desire to be awesome! So here goes...

I am British but left the UK many years go as I had no family and wanted to work abroad, kicked around for more than a few years and loved most of it. Met a Canadian who seemed much nicer than some of my previous disasters...hung around with him and after 17 years living all over he said " I want to go home" so we did, bringing 12 year old son with us, and bit by very small bit I think it's becoming a success, and I have reservations about things because I'm human!...I hate the winter! Our son loves everything....which has pushed my contentment level up no end. I thought I would fit into society here and find my level....I am, but it's taking longer than I thought it might.

I have found me again, by moving to Canada...'I' as in nobody's wife or mother had been lost for a little while.

I am scared in the wilderness, it is really profound here. I am in a teeny tiny City here, but I am still in a city of sorts and get nervous when I venture out! I have lived in other rural areas in other places, but in Canada I get scared it feels too big for me.

What do you feel you have achieved by moving to Canada?

-Overall we all feel happier and have a better work/life balance. Back in Edinburgh OH and I had very long commutes and stressful jobs. The weather was always rainy and windy and everyone moaned all the time.

How does your life compare now, to before you moved to Canada?

- Life is pretty good here. Better weather, better work/life balance, slowly making some nice friends and doing much more activities cause we aren't permanently knackered from commuting and moaning about the rubbish weather and commute.

Did you move with the intentions of a better life for your offspring?

-I didn't think that simply by being in Canada the sprogs would have a better life but I didn't think they would be any worse off being here either.

Did you move because you had a partner that wanted to?

-I'm not from the UK and OH always had itchy feet, we'd done a fair amount of travelling and living all over before we both decided upon BC.

Do you consider yourself a wilderness or city person?

-City living definitely, but with the option for outdoorsy stuff like skiing and biking on the doorstep, hence why we live in Kelowna. The idea of permanent cabin in the wilderness living is not for me.

To gain employment.

Responses in red

* Because I believed the grass would be greener

* It brought out a side of me that I never imagined was possible.

* As an immigrant it was about adjustment, challenges, work, money & one big adventure - once we got those things sorted, life in Canada was a breath of fresh air. It has been a good country to us.

At different stages of our lives its been one extreme to the other. At present we are city dwellers, this time next year it could be rural or remote.wilderness. Today I'd say we could be either one.

I think you're awesome Millie (...but not in a creepy way)!!

Have you ever tried writing as a pastime? Seriously....?

and yours is?

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=757273

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=811997

What do you feel you have achieved by moving to Canada?
Absolutely nothing that I couldn’t have done somewhere else too (other than understand the difficulties of tuning a snow blower engine to run at very low temperatures) possibly missed the brunt of the recession?

How does your life compare now, to before you moved to Canada?
Pretty much the same

Did you move with the intentions of a better life for your offspring?
Nope; moved to follow a good Job

Did you move because you had a partner that wanted to?
It did influence the choice of the Job as we were having our first child when we moved, and thought that having her family close buy would help, didn’t turn out to be true

Do you consider yourself a wilderness or city person?
Neither but I like living in the country side and currently live in a small village in rural Ontario, but 1 hr from Toronto (which is up for sale)

And after 10yrs here I have an offer of a Good Job in Europe and will more than happily leave a Canadian winter behind… Canada has a lot of plusses, down side is that a commute in the winter can wipe out most of their value

Given the pluses, did you ever consider reducing the commute time?

The winter commute isn’t bad time wise, it’s the driving in bad conditions, combined with bad drivers (read Canadians, phones and drinking coffee) and the genuine feeling why do this when I don’t have too…

That makes sense. Are your kids up for the move?

9yr old is thrilled, to him it’s a big new adventure, the 6yr old flips, but that mostly around his lack of understanding of what is actually happening, what's moving what's staying

I don’t think either will miss their school, both are bored and the wife (an ex-teacher) is looking at what will be needed over the next few weeks to help them catch up with UK syllabus

Having said all the above, once the accelerated learning starts, they may hate the move