British Expats - 2 years 3 months 26 days

My husband and I have lived in Kamloops since we emigrated here. It's taken all of this time to really feel like our stars might be aligning. No milestone anniversary to report on, but today felt right to type.....

I was a UK police officer for 9yrs, I didn't have employment for 7 months after getting here, but set up a business in that time which was and still is a slog! My first job, ultimately set me on a course for as much job security as I could maybe hope for! Through meeting someone while ice fishing and becoming friends with him/his colleagues in the BC Govt, I was introduced to a summer-work employment opportunity and subsequently managed to get an auxiliary position in the Provincial Wildfire Coordination Program, Air Tanker Centre..which meant that I could access BC Govt internally advertised job opportunities, even after I finished at the PWCC. It really was a joy to be interacting with numbers of humans again and making good contacts has really become the key for us here.

In Nov '13, i was successful in securing a full time permanent Govt job, albeit in a pretty unskilled & repetitive, menial job. I had to network for this, go out of my English comfort-zone and visit the potential new boss with coffee, stay in touch regularly until after an absolute age, the job got advertised following Deputy Minister Approval, (usual procedure). But this job meant that I could run our business on the side & in between. Without compromising on my duties, of course ;)

I have now managed to secure a new job which I start on Monday, in Emergency Management BC, Ministry of Justice. Don't get me wrong, I'm starting out as the admin, salary-wise its a side-step, but the big difference is this is the first hope of career development, once I learn the ropes, due to my emergency services background. I can't tell you how nice a feeling this is. It's also a comfort to have extended medical with a Govt job. We have friends who are lifelong Canadians who have basic medical MSP and go to Mexico for dental work due to perceived cost saving.

The business is not doing too bad, but it takes big balls to drop full time permanent employment to run an archery & outdoor gear business. So primarily retail with some teaching/coaching. Don't think we have the nuts, but it's manageable as a side enterprise at the moment!

Husband is in a job which he finds boring and repetitive, but he has great co-workers who are good mates, so this makes it more bearable. Also, the facts as far as we're concerned is, it's tough to find good work here...and keep it. I'm talking specific about Kamloops. Especially in the trades. So he is grateful in that respect, despite his alarm clock going off at 4am Mon-Thurs (wonder if any Kamloops residents reading this know where I'm on about?!!)

We've been lucky with our accommodation, been in the same rented property with a relaxed landlady, on acreage since we lived here. But, just bought our own house though and are moving out of City limits in a month's time. Very excited about this! Oh and I've now discovered what the hell Pinterest is all about, ha ha!

We're on our 3rd truck. Ford Ranger, to F150, back to Mazda B4000, essentially a Ranger. Thought we needed bigger, turns out we couldn't stomach the gas bills of the bigger truck, so downsized and bought a stick shift too. The Govt Coffers got loads of tax from us on these bad decisions! Tax on second hand vehicles? Still not happy about that one! Bought a new car in April '13 and have put 45,000kms on it up to press. So, what's that, 28,000 miles approx? Longer driving distances than the UK, but unnoticeable to us now, really.

We are pretty much used to everything now, food style, crappy booze prices, bad Kamloops drivers (I'm waiting for it!). Will never get used to the country music! This place, for us wants to be a big city but has small town values and mindset. But we do love it here and have put our utmost into being good citizens. BUT, we did have big interests in outdoorsy activities before moving here and find Kamloops fits well with our lifestyle, which is why we chose it.

The majority of people I've met are friendly & welcoming...unless they're behind the wheel of a car when they can be demonic over the smallest of bollocks little thing. Also, everyone thinks we're from Australia when they first hear us, which I still can't wrap my head around! Yorkshire? Oz?!

Miss some things from England, for sure. Not been back yet. Husband plainly says he is in no way arsed about going back to Bradford! I am considering a return visit in 2016 as I really want to re-bond with my niece and nephew, plus meet the nephew who was born after we left. This aches my heart, missing out on their growing up. A return visit for me would mean time spent in Wakefield, Bradford and Scarborough.

Overall 2015 has much for us to look forward to, new job, first Canadian home, travel opportunities and the longer we live here, the more people we meet and the network gets bigger & bigger.

My advice to people emigrating to Canada: give it time. It's different, but you'll hopefully get used to it (I say hopefully, everyone's different!) Choose where you want to live according to your interests and hobbies. Aim to meet and be nice to as many people as possible, doors will open. Networking is the key and nepotism is unashamedly practiced. If you are shy and can't talk to people, you might struggle. You do stop thinking about how much you pay for cheese and booze eventually. Occasionally you have a flashback and it hurts, but overall...life is not perfect, but bloody good! Where the heck would it be perfect anyway?

Makes me smile to look back to how things were after 8 weeks! -

http://britishexpats.com/forum/canni.../#post10368019