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Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Old Nov 27th 2011, 1:12 am
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by ehl250
VAT we are supposed to be able to get a refund however, just returned from Hereford where none of the stores could produce the necessary paperwork.
It is only participating stores and subject to a minimum purchase at each place. Worked well in London.

If you do this and are flying back from T3, don't queue at the crazy place before check-in on the outside of the terminal. Go through security and near the duty free there is a customs guy and a refund point. No lines and very easy.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 6:19 am
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by Steve_
I usually end up comparing with the US, and the cost in Canada is definitely way, way lower than in the US which is how Canada gets to have a crappier than Europe healthcare system imo. If the US had a halfway decent healthcare system then Canada would be held to a higher standard.
My wife and I have lived in the UK, Canada and the US and have had at least one kid born in each country - so we have used the healthcare system in each country a lot. My wife is a registered nurse who has worked in the healthcare systems of all 3 countries. She now works in the US but still has many friends who work in healthcare in Canada and the UK. I also worked in healthcare in all 3 countries in an IT capacity.

In our experience, the US has provided great health CARE - we have access to great medical facilities with very little waiting. It's actually the US health INSURANCE system that is the biggest problem. Although the US is capable of delivering great health care, it currently does not do it efficiently or effectively enough to cover everyone at a reasonable cost. The health insurance system excludes millions of people completely, restricts services for those that do have insurance and also allows health insurance companies to make decisions about care that really only doctors and patients should be making. Dealing with health insurance issues has been by far the biggest disadvantage of living in the US in my opinion.

So there's great healthcare here if you have the right health insurance - but life can be tough if you have poor coverage or none at all.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 1:58 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by Editha
And you can bash contributors to this forum from anywhere too, even Maryland, which isn't even Britain or Canada.
Well, since I'm a British and Canadian citizen and have spent most of my life living in those 2 countries, I simply hope that I can contribute something to this forum.

I see a lot of Canada bashing here. I don't take it too seriously because it seems so biased and unbalanced. The UK has serious problems but some people simply refuse to acknowledge that fact - and so their arguments lose some credibility.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 2:02 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
I see a lot of Canada bashing here. I don't take it too seriously because it seems so biased and unbalanced. The UK has serious problems but some people simply refuse to acknowledge that fact - and so their arguments lose some credibility.
With most of the posts on this forum, you could interchange Canada and UK in your paragraph above quite easily!
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 2:32 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

The thing I've noticed when travelling back to the UK in the last ten or so years is propensity for using wheelie bins as household decorations, they're everywhere. Can't people put them in the back garden at least?
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 2:35 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by rubberduckofdeath
With most of the posts on this forum, you could interchange Canada and UK in your paragraph above quite easily!
Most? I doubt that.

The fact is that there are pros and cons to living in either country and those pros/cons will be different for different people. If someone constantly bashes one country while refusing to adequately acknowledge the problems in another country then they lose credibility simply because they come across as biased and unbalanced. There are quite a few people here that I would place in that category and definitely more of them are Canada bashers. Ironically most still choose to live in Canada rather than return to the Utopia Kingdom so life in Canada can't be that terrible after all, can it?

Many people remember the old country as it was when they lived there and forget that places change over time - sometimes not for the better. In fact, they tend to view even their own time there through rose-tinted spectacles.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 2:49 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
Most? I doubt that.

The fact is that there are pros and cons to living in either country and those pros/cons will be different for different people. If someone constantly bashes one country while refusing to adequately acknowledge the problems in another country then they lose credibility simply because they come across as biased and unbalanced. There are quite a few people here that I would place in that category and definitely more of them are Canada bashers. Ironically most still choose to live in Canada rather than return to the Utopia Kingdom so life in Canada can't be that terrible after all, can it?

Many people remember the old country as it was when they lived there and forget that places change over time - sometimes not for the better. In fact, they tend to view even their own time there through rose-tinted spectacles.
I think you'll find its rather the opposite. If you actually read and analyse the responses, many of the so-call 'Canada/Canadian bashers' are simply providing a balanced view given their experiences of both countries and cultures, rather than a useless blinked vision by desperate prospective emigres.

The bottom line, if you have an interesting job that pays well either place will be fine.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 2:50 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
Most? I doubt that.

The fact is that there are pros and cons to living in either country and those pros/cons will be different for different people. If someone constantly bashes one country while refusing to adequately acknowledge the problems in another country then they lose credibility simply because they come across as biased and unbalanced. There are quite a few people here that I would place in that category and definitely more of them are Canada bashers. Ironically most still choose to live in Canada rather than return to the Utopia Kingdom so life in Canada can't be that terrible after all, can it?

Many people remember the old country as it was when they lived there and forget that places change over time - sometimes not for the better. In fact, they tend to view even their own time there through rose-tinted spectacles.
Hello my name is Lorry and I am biased and unbalanced
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 2:50 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
Ironically most still choose to live in Canada rather than return to the Utopia Kingdom so life in Canada can't be that terrible after all, can it?
How is it ironic that people live in locations they might not choose? Is, for example, the entire population of the West Bank living ironically? How about the people in Fort McMurray; I don't suppose many of them see it as nirvana.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 3:17 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by dbd33
How is it ironic that people live in locations they might not choose? Is, for example, the entire population of the West Bank living ironically? How about the people in Fort McMurray; I don't suppose many of them see it as nirvana.
When someone has the OPTION of living in Canada OR the UK yet CHOOSES to live in Canada even though they can hardly find a good word to say about the place in comparison with the UK, then I find it ironic that they continue to live in Canada. Especially so when they've already proven they are the type of person who is willing and able to move from one country to the other (by the fact that they moved to Canada in the first place).

Obviously circumstances can change and it can become difficult to uproot and relocate. However, considering the apparent level of unhappiness with (and disdain for) Canada that exists among some people here, I find it hard to believe that they would endure such misery rather than find a way back to the mother country.

My suspicion is that things are not as bad as they like to make out. That's a shame really because, whatever their motives are, they are doing prospective immigrants a great disservice with their biased and unbalanced views.

Last edited by MarylandNed; Nov 29th 2011 at 3:19 pm.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 3:26 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by Lorry1
Hello my name is Lorry and I am biased and unbalanced
Can you put that in your signature line? That way everyone else will be able to give your posts the respect they deserve.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 3:35 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
When someone has the OPTION of living in Canada OR the UK yet CHOOSES to live in Canada even though they can hardly find a good word to say about the place in comparison with the UK, then I find it ironic that they continue to live in Canada. Especially so when they've already proven they are the type of person who is willing and able to move from one country to the other (by the fact that they moved to Canada in the first place).

Obviously circumstances can change and it can become difficult to uproot and relocate. However, considering the apparent level of unhappiness with (and disdain for) Canada that exists among some people here, I find it hard to believe that they would endure such misery rather than find a way back to the mother country.

My suspicion is that things are not as bad as they like to make out. That's a shame really because, whatever their motives are, they are doing prospective immigrants a great disservice with their biased and unbalanced views.
We realize there will be people like you that only want self-affriming blinkered drivel but its incumbent of many on here to provide honest analysis about living in Canada. It's not all beer and skittles and of course you don't live here either.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 3:37 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
When someone has the OPTION of living in Canada OR the UK yet CHOOSES to live in Canada even though they can hardly find a good word to say about the place in comparison with the UK, then I find it ironic that they continue to live in Canada. Especially so when they've already proven they are the type of person who is willing and able to move from one country to the other (by the fact that they moved to Canada in the first place).

Obviously circumstances can change and it can become difficult to uproot and relocate. However, considering the apparent level of unhappiness with (and disdain for) Canada that exists among some people here, I find it hard to believe that they would endure such misery rather than find a way back to the mother country.

My suspicion is that things are not as bad as they like to make out. That's a shame really because, whatever their motives are, they are doing prospective immigrants a great disservice with their biased and unbalanced views.

Well, since you're putting thoughts in the heads of people here, why don't you name them and then ask them specifically if they're living ironically?
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 3:40 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by Oink
We realize there will be people like you that only want self-affriming blinkered drivel but its incumbent of many on here to provide honest analysis about living in Canada. It's not all beer and skittles.
Aha! So there is something you like?

As I said, there are pros and cons to living anywhere. I've lived in the UK, Canada and the US and there are things I like and dislike about all 3 countries. Nowhere is perfect. My point is that the level of negativity towards Canada is really over the top in some cases. It's so biased and unbalanced that it loses credibility - for me at least. I just hope that prospective immigrants can see that too.
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Old Nov 29th 2011, 3:42 pm
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Default Re: Your observations when visiting UK from Canada !

Originally Posted by MarylandNed
Aha! So there is something you like?

As I said, there are pros and cons to living anywhere. I've lived in the UK, Canada and the US and there are things I like and dislike about all 3 countries. Nowhere is perfect. My point is that the level of negativity towards Canada is really over the top in some cases. It's so biased and unbalanced that it loses credibility - for me at least. I just hope that prospective immigrants can see that too.

I completely disagree, if you actually read most of the posts I believe, given the totality, you'll find a very balanced view of the place.
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