frankieforehead

Well for us it has been a huge adjustment...and we were quite used to moving around. At least before I had a Job to go to...But coming to Canada has been a struggle, getting a decent job was the hardest part, I did a couple of naff jobs for a pittance, and was beginning to wonder if I had made the right decision. Having a house to move into straight away was a big plus for us. The only negative now; is the kids miss their friends from the UK...thank goodness for MSN...however I dont know if this makes things worse for them.

They have loads of friends here, and I suppose things will take time, as we've only been here a few months. Anyway to add my answer to the topic question....Yes it's still a Dream, we spend more time as a family as we are more active here...so for us the grass is definately greener over here...at the moment.

britishvixen21

Great post, Ive been here 3 years now, and it has always been the dream never the nightmare, homesickness the first 2 years plagued me and getting on my feet (although my circumstances are a lot different toy yours I met a canadian while travelling and stayed) however I feel like this country has always given me far more than England. I talk to a lot of immigrants and the general concensous is the first year is the hardest. stick with it frankie you wont regret it, as for the kids they have any amazing ability to re adapt.

So in answer to your question im living and loving the Canadian dream!!

andy_sheila

i wouldn't call it a dream or a nightmare, when we came over it was never in some sort of misty eyed, rose tinted glasses dream but a chance to get some rewards for our hard work.
In England both Sheila and myself worked hard and were getting deeper into debt, here we work hard but have the extra's we could never have had in back home.
This is not dreamland but it is better for us and it's definately closer to a dream than a nightmare.

nivlad

I agree. Life is life and if you are/were happy in the uk then you are probably going to be happy in Canada. You still do the same things here as u do back home. Homesickness and missing friends is the worst bit. I do find the Canadian people a little dull (sorry) and overly PC, not like the brits, I miss the the humour too (although I work at a university and most the people I am with are good fun)

hot wasabi peas

(ignoring the irony of the Red Green avatar)...

I think you mean that the Canadian people are lacklustre-friendly.

nivlad

That is exactly right - lacklustre friendly. I'm going to use that at work tomorrow!!

NorthernStar

am absolute dream.
It's been great getting away from the place I was born, starting over here. I wouldn't have changed anything, of I had to do it all over again (well, except for winning the lottery).

steve of 5-0

You are to be commended for admittin` your experience here.

I have said on this site many times to other posters - not to expect an economy like the UK.

I had to settle for a pittance per hour in a p/t job (along with our B&B operation) - but for me it still outweighed what the UK had come to be!
Also in the UK, I had mainly driven for a living - here in Canada - I have got a nice p/t job in an office - sat with a dozen others - inside, out of the winters cold.

The rule for all those coming out here soon is - do not make plans, where you first buy using a mortgage or line of credit commitment - if ya do - you will be under pressure straight away - exactly what you might have left the UK for - originally?

JulesinUK

HI, out of interest, how old are your children? Ours are at present 13 and 16 but knowing that we still have a couple of years before we can move out to Canada, I wonder if perhaps starting new friendships becomes harder. As you say, MSN is really good! and must be helpful in the early stages of settling in.

macadian

I have nothing but admiration for anyone moving here with a young family. Hats off to you all. I moved just me...and I found the first year tough...but only emotionally...so I am lucky.
Glad you are are living the 'dream' Frankie...more power to you (and everyone else taking such a step) with a family to consider too.

Piff Poff

Hi,

We moved out here last year - hubby on a work permit - stage one of "The Dream" Through misinformation, I spent the 1st 6 months here with a visitors permit - couldn't work. So Hubby at work all day, 11 year old at school all day, me in a house that doesn't feel like home all day. I was struggling to cope with all the changes and learning to cook with electric didn't help. Not knowing my way around and my Mum falling Ill with cancer - prognosis excellent, she's doing well and talking about comming out as soon as her chemo is done. Not having our nest egg anymore and hubby having to sell his 3 dream cars to get here was making me wonder if it was all worth it as our marriage started to get stressfull too. After crimbo my work permit came, I started work 2 weeks ago and we have put more personal touches in the house - starting to feel like home. Never once have I thought I need to go back. I want to stay so we can got to stage 2 of the dream - PR Once we have PR we can start looking at stage 3 Our own campground. Our nest egg is now in the house - not hard cash, hubby has one of his dream cars under restoration. Don't think he'll ever have the Rolls again or the Challenger - we should have brought that one, but the dream cars change - he now would like a hot rod. Our daughter has been fab, she only got tearful about friends at christmas time when the traditions changed for the 1st time, under no circumstances does she want to go back - she just loves it. The only thing I would do different would be to land at the same time as hubby rather than a month later - but that all went out of our control and we probably wouldn't have bought a house this big either

scrubbedexpat074

Hmmm... Having been visiting for 14 years with my wife (albeit in Quebec which is by no means representative), I'd have to agree that it never started as a dream. It was a desire to get a fair chance to live comfortably without stress, maybe do a fair working day, maybe have more children and for the ones I have; a chance grow up outdoors having fun without me continually watching over them and wondering if they are safe.
So far we'll be mortgage free next month living in a house twice the size of our previous place with immeasurably more land. Before I go on, this isn't materialism, it's a comfortable place for a family of four with a bit of room to expand. Today my daughter (four) disappeared for nearly five hours in the street with the neighbours kids. This was probably the best thing to see of all as she was a very social child in the UK and has suffered more that the rest of us due to lack of similar aged friends, finally this is changing.
There's been the odd hiccup, but overall a realistic move is turning into a dream...

R2D2

Hi all

For us it has all gone smooth sailing really. PR application went through smoothly. Hub secured a good job for us to come to. Only rented for 3 months then bought our own place here. Kids were extremely adaptable and only little, so didn't have the issue of leaving close friends.

We have been here for 10 months now, and have felt up and down on occasions. Not because we don't like it here, just because emigration does funny things to your emotions. Its only really the last month or so that it is starting to feel like 'home'. Things go from feeling strange and unfamiliar........to normal and day to day. Thats quite a nice feeling.....when you realise you are starting to grow fond of a place, and quite honestly now...........theres nowhere else I'd rather be.
If I could just guarentee that Id see family and friends once a year, then we'd be happy bunnies.
So YES, it is still the dream and we are enjoying all the things we hoped would open up to us living here.
As our children grow up, more and more things will open up to us too. There is so much opportunity here and we feel its a better environment to raise our family.
We have no regrets.

oceanMDX

Do you believe that New Brunswick has a similar level of economic activity to Ontario, BC or Alberta?

frankieforehead

They have just turned 17 and 15, They are already making plans to go back to the UK in the Summer....They both have p/t jobs, and are saving like crazy. Also some of their friends have been out already to see them. Part of me hopes that they'll see for themselves some of the reasons why we decided to emigrate to Canada. but there is also a part of me that knows it will reinforce their feelings.

Ahh well time will tell.

It's been interesting to read some other comments on here...we know that there is a huge adjustment period....and it takes a lot to forge a new life...we're not quitters, just because things get tough.. I think that we have reached the "H" out of the place we can call......Home.