My wife is a Canadian citizen so I know all about the hidden costs.

The good thing about coming to Canada from england is the equity it provides on the initial move after that though people earn the 'canadian wage' and therefore it is no longer cheaper.

I have done all the costs and the adding up and i should be earning quite a lot more than i would have done in the UK in terms of both spending and living money if you understand what i mean.

Point 4 came from watching question time on the beeb.

So no i can't prove that it is factually correct but during that programme they did state that Britain was one of the few EU countries that doesn't have any restrictions.

Once again you can't always trust T.V. or what the newspapers tell you.

But it is programmes like this that the politicians should be telling us that Britain needs this/that which we can only get through immigration. Basic success stories.

Much like the Canadian government did a couple of weeks ago. (which was posted in the forum).

Being that you are living in Belgium...do they speak of immigrants the way the brits do?

It's how much is left in your wallet at the end of the month.

I think most expats would agree its not how much money you have, how big your new house is etc.... that's important...it's are you happy and settled in your new country? The grass is always greener on the otherside of the fence. Most people have absolutely no idea...although they think they have...the culture shock that's about to hit them.

No, far too busy saying how horrible each community is. The Walloons are really quite open and welcoming. They're also the poor half of Belgium.

The rich half, Flanders, is really quite racist, towards the Walloons and towards Africans. They're fine towards other Europeans. About 30% of Flemish vote for the far right. Politicans have been using race as an issue for years and now it's come back to bite them.

In Brussels there are loads of Turks, Polish, Blacks, Marrocans. Some with veils, some without. If you're not pure white, it's harder to get a job and you're less likely to be educated etc, but it's no where near as bad as in Paris. There are no council estates, just run-down inner city housing. If I'm a Marrocan I'd much rather be in Brussels than Paris for the opportunities I'd have.

So, no they don't have the same issue that the Brits have.

The French, on the otherhand, they created the disease! The term "Polish Plummer" comes from Paris. I'm dismayed to see how like the French the Brits are becoming.

i was also under the impression that GB didnt have any restrictions

If I have money left in my wallet at the end of the month, well that'd be worth emmigrating for

I lived in Italy about ten years ago and the overt racism then was a real eye opener I can tell you. Belgium was pretty bad too when I was there (even longer ago) but Belgains suffer from a national inferiority complex so hate everyone, not just blacks/asians/muslims like your average racist. But, you're right, the French do take the prize for most insular and xenophobic European nation.

Belgains suffer from a national inferiority complex

Oh, now they've two tennis players, they seem to have got over this.

the French do take the prize for most insular and xenophobic European nation

I won't disagree with you, but don't know enough about other nations to agree either

What I know about the French is that:
- they're just like the Americans that they hate (think they're the masters of the universe - hence big chip on their shoulders)
- believed that everything they do must be best, other nations are inferior
- think their education system is fantastic and others are, frankly, second rate. Hmmmm.

The French don't hate the Americans. They love all things American. How else can you explain Lucky Luke and Jerry Lewis?

Debatable. How about the Austrians or Swiss?

True, it's more subtle than that.

They have a virently anti-American discours. The number of times I've heard "we don't do things that way, it's sooo Anglo-Saxon" I've lost count.

I think the dislike is based on jealously.


But you're right, individually the French love American things. Their suburban malls look very American, they're the biggests fans of MacDonalds in Europe (oh yes, the land of fine food), they love American mini-series....

It's very extreme in both ways I found.

There are many ways the US and French characters are similar. Very patrotic, believe their countries do things in the best way, think they should be leading the world etc... Many people would disagree with me, but that's what I think!

I left our garage door open all night once (by mistake) with $30k worth of replacement windows and a ton of other stuff we hadn't moved into the house yet, along with all the regular 'garage type' contents - it was still there in the middle of the following day when I realised!

BUT; if I was in a different area of the same city, it would have been a different story.

In another neighbourhood I lived in (in one of the 'better' parts of the city and voted the best in the whole of Canada in which to live about a year before), I witnessed a neighbours vehicles being stolen in the middle of the night by a gang of youths (I called the cops and fortunately all they ended up losing was a cell phone from one of them).

Just the other night, my son had a knife pulled on him by two guys, completely unprovoked.

Why?

- To experience being an immigrant
- To experience the adventure
- To be near mountains
- To eventually have children and bring them up in a cleaner, healthier environment
- To develop a healthier lifestyle
- To get away from London
- To get away from small minded racist brits (our nation is severly messed up)

[QUOTE=richardm123]To develop a healthier lifestyleQUOTE]

That doesn't come with the visa mate. For every one health & fitness freak there are probably 100 morbidly obese couch potatoes.

Sure. I was talking about the open air, being able to walk in the countryside and the like. Having lived for 15 years in London you forget that the countryside exists.

That doesn't come with the visa mate. For every one health & fitness freak there are probably 100 morbidly obese couch potatoes.[/QUOTE]