Originally Posted by Dave n Ailsa

What I'm saying is, if you choose a new country based on perceived positives over your own county's negatives, you're going to be disappointed.

Originally Posted by Dave n Ailsa

I don't know what I'm saying half the time.

Originally Posted by Howefamily

I think I did a bit of both - I escaped the UK because I found it grey and miserable and it did nothing for me. I am happy to go back and visit and do all the things like eat a curry, fish and chips, take photos in Waitrose and have sunday lunch in a 16th century pub BUT then I know I will happily fly home because we emigrated to Canada where my heart belongs.
There are good and bad things here in NS but on balance it just feels right. I LOVE all the stuff like the lakes, the school buses, the highways, the stop signs, the weather bombs, the flurries. Love it all

Originally Posted by Tangram

The 'stop signs' ?

Originally Posted by Joolschweetie

I agree there are far too many (IMHO) vague 'Daily Mail' type reasons for emigrating including the classic "this country has gone to the dogs" and "we want a better life", but I guess these are reasons nonetheless, who am I to judge.

In truth, it was as simple for us as my (now) fiance living in the UK for 5 years and not being able to settle and it being a case of me trying to live over here or us break up eventually. I had a great job in the UK and am close to my family, however I owe it to my OH to try life over here (it helps that I do love Canada and have spent considerable time out here before moving).

However, I have been guilty of using the above vague answers in response to people constantly asking why we were moving. It's just easier than being mocked and sniggered at because you moved for your relationship. Now if anyone asks, I usually say " Because we were looking for a better quality of life", they nod along sagely and agree that the UK has gone to the dogs. Lol.

Originally Posted by Howefamily

I think you should be able to say that its for your relationship. Thats an admirable thing to do in my opinion - to move for your other halfs happiness if you are ok to try it.

Originally Posted by Joolschweetie

You should be able to say it, and we did try to explain it but the way people have responded to that was truly depressing; morbidly trying to figure out how it would work if we split up "what about your stuff? the pets? the future kids?"
Seriously, people just automatically then want to give their 2 penn'orth about your relationship - it's tiring and totally bloody irritating

Also, I'm not one of those misty-eyed, softly-spoken people, who could say something like "we're moving because we're in love" without being laughed at.

Originally Posted by Jingsamichty

I think Dave's getting a pretty hard time here. There he is, sitting in Glasgow, dreaming of "barbeques, Timmies, Canadian Tire, metres of snow and muscle cars".

Unlike many people who come here with fantastical aspirations, he's set the bar at a level that Canada can easily deliver. His dreams are going to come true.

Canada is a great place if you're easily pleased.

Originally Posted by Dave n Ailsa

I've been on this forum, on and off for over 4 years. In that time I've seen the good and bad stories of the immigration process.

So I've starting thinking, that a high percentage of expats have moved to Canada for the wrong reasons. Things like "I hate this country now", or "there's no work here", or even "my children have no future here" etc etc.

My pet hate is when I read about folk who move to Canada because it was "too hard to get into the USA", or "Australia was too far away"

These are not reasons to move to Canada, they are excuses to leave your own country. And when you do make the move, how depressed will you be when you realize it's just the same, and maybe even worse than what you left behind.

I think the reason I'm getting so uptight about this, is because of the application delay stories I'm reading about. Is it possible that if more people took the time to assess their situation in this country, and decided that they could have a better life if they just changed a few things and made more of an effort, then CIC wouldn't have such a HUGE pile of applications to sift through, from people, many of whom decided to move to Canada on a whim, or because Oz was full.

So what's my story, and could we have a better life if we stay here?

Well, yes, probably. We could get a bigger house. I could get some daft American rust-bucket, I could go fishing every weekend, Ailsa could get a much higher paid job, I could grow my own small business into something big, and our kids are at an age where they will go with the flow.

But it's not Canada.

We want to move BECAUSE of the differences. We won't be looking for british pubs, or footy, or be upset with not seeing eastenders, or not getting baked beans etc etc. We want Tim Hortons, and Canadian Tire, and rusty old muscle cars sitting on the driveway, knowing I can buy parts and if I do get to drive it, it won't look ridiculous like it would on a narrow wet road in Scotland. We want to know it will be sunny in Summer, and snowy in winter, even if it is extreme. We like the accents, we like the space, we even like the stereotype attitude that Canadians seem to have from other nations.
Some seem to complain of Canada having no culture compared to the UK. What do they mean by that? Going to a museum then back to ye olde pub for a steak pie and a pint of best ale?

Maybe I'm lacking in Culture then. I want to have Barbie's at the weekend, maybe go to a comedy club once a month, teach my kids how to ice skate, maybe get them into Hockey, learn the rules of baseball and football, and drive on the wrong side of the road, lol, I want all of that.

We are not moving across the Atlantic because we feel our country has nothing to offer. We just want to do all things we've wanted to do half our lives, but were unable because Scotland was not the right place for us.

So now we sit, and wait for our application to be processed. My only link to Canada is reading this forum, or some excellent blogs from folk on here, or googling Canada for places to work live and play. Ailsa has work coleagues she can contact for the odd photo update, but it's really tough living here, knowing that your heart is in another country. Every day just watching the clock tick by, waiting for the day you can book flights and get on with the rest of your life.

Now I know I'm going to get the odd flaming, but the truth is, I'd rather be miserable in Canada, than miserable in Scotland

Dave.