Alphawolf

Hi all, dont get on here much these days but we have celebrated our first Canniversary a week and 1 day ago.

15th May 2011 we boarded ouir flight from Manchester with 3 huskies on board and over our baggage limit hugely that cost us abit

We landed ok with 3 very desperate Doggies for the toilet and travelled south to Lethbridge to our rental which we are still in. We acclimatised pretty quickly, bought an old car and on the Thursday of our second week I started Job hunting. In the morning before setting off I faxed my resume for a job out of the paper and after visiting all the Electrical companies in town arrived home at suppertime to a phone call offering me the job I had applied for in the morning
It was just a 2nd year apprentice job but nonetheless a start and I had already decided to start at the bottom and go from there.
So a job within a day of looking and the promise of another a few weeks down the line, that just so happened to be the case, after 4 weeks in my first job I started work for the company I still work for now on twice the salary of my first job and could not be happier.

Our transition to Canadian life could not have been easier and was made easier by our networking before we moved over. We have a small circle of friends, the less Brits the better!!!

We have made some great friends though who are Brits, and one of them is even a distant cousin of mine from back home and neither of us realised until a few weeks ago

There have been a few ups and downs, my OH misses her sister but has a promising job with a bank for 10 months now, the dogs settled in straight away, as did I. Some things frustrate us, ie traffic signals that change without any warning, the way things work here, ie banking etc, and the fact that in work people are so laid back, emails and voicemails all the time

I'm always straight on the phone, no waiting for emails or return phonecalls and find I usually get results We had a major struggle getting a build mortgage but thanks to a resourceful broker we managed to get one and are now well into building our first house, something we have always wanted and I got to wire it, which we move into in September.
All in all we have had a whirlwind first year, made good friends, got good jobs, move into our new house in a few months and feel as we have lived here much long longer, who knows what our second year will bring.
We plan on visiting the UK in a year or two but hpnestly, if I never went back it wouldnt bother me at all. We now look forward to applying for our citizenship in a couple of years and making this officially our permanent home!!!! Oh and a trip to Vegas next month for my 40th

Dave n Ailsa

Great update!

Got any pics of this house you're building?

TheThornes

Nice post; thanks for sharing. Glad to hear it is all going well for you. Long may it continue!!

ann m

Nice to read - well done, and best wishes for another happy one year and one week!

Piff Poff

Lovely update, may the good times continue

MillieF

I really enjoyed reading your post, I'm getting to the point of moving and hope that the transition is as successful as yours has been (I have animals...so the stress levels are building!) May your happy days continue! Best wishes.

Geordie Lass

Great post. So pleased that you are loving your new life and have settled in.

Long may it continue

Mad Jockette

lovely post, glad it is all working out for you.

Alphawolf

Thanks for the kind replies guys, and yes I do have several pictures of the house and will post as soon as I can work out how to do it

jerseytocanada

Wow great post.

Can i ask the thought process that went in to choosing Lethbridge?

I am moving to Calgary in August-September for the simple reason its the city and i would assume the work would be there (electrician too) but would be just as happy out of the city but would't know where to start looking.

graham and george

Glad you settled in well ,what was the change like from uk spark to canadian,
Good write up

Alphawolf

Thanks G & G, the change was definately different, different terminology, different connection methods, mounting boxes although the 2 core cable is similar to twin & earth. The worst thing for me is the codes here, out of city limits things are less strict but inside city limits they have a whole extra set of regulations it takes a while to get a hang of them. One other thing, I was primarily a domestic spark in the UK and residential spark here is easy to come to terms with but conduit bending is very common here outside of houses and the bending machines are archaic to say the least. I havent yet taken my red seal exam as I am not primarily a Electrician anymore but I will be taking it later this year hopefully.

Alphawolf

I got to know an Electrician on here who i believed would help me make contacts and he did to a small degree but just by putting myself out to companies and being willing to work as an apprentice has allowed me to learn the trade over here to the point where I feel confident of passing the redseal.

Lethbridge seriously though is a quieter city than Calgary but we love it here. All I can say is visit and research your chosen area, Housing is also way cheaper here.

umpalumpa

Great post and good luck with the red seal i got my red seal plumbing licence
after working over here for a year so i know what its like getting used to the
different codes and names of parts and fittings I like those marretts over
here i don't remember seeing them in the UK?

graham and george

Have watched a few youtube clips on conduit bending withe a former stuck on a broom handle,like you say its all the same just different /terminology. When, and i mean when we get out there will try to work at fort mc murrary,the only bad thing is 14 on 7 off,but its all about the money,
Hope to go as 3rd or 4th year apprentice just to get me balance/speed up.