2 years and hate it 2
 

hehehehe

boy what a struggle, I read my old posts and though, jeez what a div ! :thumbdown:

Hey I'm older and wiser...

Since coming I learnt

1> That, "there's no place like home" queue Judy Garland
2> I miss drving my Porsche (sold her) and driving on the correct side of the road
3> I miss decent food
4> I miss not being tailgated at 100kmph's on the 401
5> My daughter has challenges and advantages in any country
6> The UK school system works ! Never done my nuffink wrong :o
7> I hate having to park facing the right way down the road
8> I hate getting tickets outside my house at 3am in the morning
9> I hate having to shuffle 2 cars around
10> I HATE doctors here, diabetes care in the UK is better than anywhere
11> Its called fish and CHIPS and its a can of coke not a POP
12> Its called Petrol not GAS
13> I miss my dancing, my social life, my friends
14> I hate to admit it I MISS my old job
15> $250 a month for car insurance , for a crappy Dodge Neon (I was paying £400 a year for my Porsche)
16> I hate starting again , all over again :eek: :eek: :ohmy: :(

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

7 out of 16 of these issues are related to 'cars' ....... I suspect you may be some sort of car enthusiast who is having a bad time????

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

OMG. If I had so much agro, especially at 3.00 A.M. IN THE MORNING I'd be on the next plane home ! ;)

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

sorry to hear you are unhappy here, seriously though, after 2 years in Canada and these are your gripes, perhaps it wasn't meant to be, good luck with your future plans:thumbup:

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

You must have had a reason for starting all over again..or you wouldn't have done it?

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Almost 8 years on I miss my old job still too. If its not for you move on, dont get stuck unhappy. The car situation frustrates my oh too.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

The trials and tribulations of being an immigrant- took me 10 years to get into my previous UK level job....

If I could have a do over- we would have stayed in UK.

We love the space around us in Canada.

I have a long laundry list of "not likes" but we made our bed and until we retire we have to lie in it!!

Its a compromise!

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

This is what I worry about, actually moving to Canada and hating it, where are you and how extensively have you travelled to find somewhere you can call home in Canada? Did you plumb for somewhere that was just a job, or did you do your homework and travel Canada until you found where you thought would be suitable. I really would not want to be mirroring your post in a couple of years, and I hope I don't! Sorry to hear your predicament, hope it works out.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

No offence but are you really saying you hate living in Canada because they don't use the same words for things and they drive on the other side of the road? You do know you moved to a foreign country, where they do things differently? Didn't you know that before you went? :confused:

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

I think he misses his Porsche. He mentions it in every post;)

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

The OP could buy a Porsche in Canada, I suspect it is more than a car thing.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

yep eh :)

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Reason was my wife was here, although (from previous explation posts 2 years ago)

She was keen on coming to the UK, but my mates al said how great Canada sounded (grass greener syndrome) and I was also lead to believe my daughters (or familly) would have a better advantage.

I came over here and got married and returned to blighty

Holiday eyes is really not a great way to judge a country

However I thought my wifes 10 years living here expereinc should have guided me.

However she left Sri Lanka as a teen and lived in Dubai for 10 years before emigrating to Canada so for her it was a constant state of moving up.

From the uk at 40+ years old its moving backwards ;)

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

I agree 100% Shelley,
I suppose it depends on your age, starting again and battling for 10 years say at 20 or even 30 is not too bad at 45 its not dooable, especially as I had been told oherwise prior.

And then to be told when I'm finally here that "Oh really, things must have changed" really makes you want to hit somone one

Love the space and the houses, howevere my old house and a much bigger Garden, hindsight is a wonderfull thing isnt it

"Decide in haste, repent in leisure" and listen to your gut works better than to others.

for sure .. its a compromise

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

For some it works others it doesnt.

I suppose it depends on your expectations and I suppose your homework.

I lent more on people who where already here, i.e. future wife and in-laws.. and thats never a good starting point.

It also depends what "level" your moving from and coming "to", the grass is never greener as they say.

I'm in Miss.ON and thats becuase my wife has a house here. We had thought about moving on to a differnt part of Canada, but I'm too afraid that this expereince will get even worse if I go to anther state, where not only me but my wife has to start again.

Have only got used to the 401/403&407 routes :)

I took a year of paternity leave which was proly not a good idea so a fair chunk of my savings money, was redirected/spent and invested.

My first job in a factory just about paid gas and some utuilities, I leaned on my savings, this job now (1 year on) is actually covering my spending, so have not had to dip into my savings. Luckily my wife has a good job so she's paying the mortage and taxes, I'm doing the utilities, cars, food and baby stuff, treats, movies, clothes, toys... you get the jist :p

I would say to anyone 3 simple things

1> For an English speaking/English country; there is a fair bit of differances, its not the UK, nothing like the UK but a load better than the US

2> Jobs: regardless of what you've been told, if your anglo, with an anglo accent, caucasian, have all the work ettiquetts and skills you are 110%; you WILL STILL NEED Canadian expereince; it sucks, unless your quals are 100% international and verifiable, they mean jack here, your references from UK work mean jack here, (even your car insurance NO claims discount means JACK here). You will end up (unless you have made arrangements) on a minimum wage job or even volenteer work to get this CE.

An employer wants to pick up a phone and talk to someone in Toronto etc about you not from the UK

AND your CV is trash, you need a RESUME and even that will end up in a trash can... it is who you know not what you can do.

It is allabout networking, get signed up on LinkedIn, Workopolis, Monster, get brown nosing with the Employment agencies and get to know people and go to job faires. and you'll need to get into a union

You'll still be behind, Uni leavers and born & bred canadians.

I gusstimeate from scratch an ordinary working class joe with no verifiable contacts/references/resume/proper qualifications (a lot of jobs here ask for degrees) your looking at 2-3 years to get to a just about what you left UK to better yourself here for

And if English is a second langauge, well theres always Tim Hortons !:eek:

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

But I thought Canada is similar to England, we speak the same language right ?

:eek: :eek: :eek: ;) ;)

LOL

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Whilst I have finally settled after a rough patch lasting close to 5 years, I do find your list rather pathetic.

I miss 'home', I miss my friends and my family, I miss culture. Going down the pub on a friday not to get rat-assed but to have a good chin wag with those you work with or just merely catching up with an old friend.

I miss the cold and rainy seasons, the days where you just want to get home and sit in front of the fire and watch the tele. England will always be in my heart and I have now started to embrace Canada, I think that's part of the reason I didn't like it here, I wanted what I lost and couldn't have it and it sent a burning rage toward Canada unjustifiably.

Honestly grab a friend from work go sign up for a bowling league or a pool league and once a week go out enjoy yourself (responsably), and learn to enjoy it.

Once you have a day of the week to look forward to and a nice family, good co-workers and some optimism it is surprising how much you forget about missing 'home'.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

My husband constantly misses the Porsche....and we never had one:o

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Nearly 20 years on and miss nothing.

Biggest gripe, the total ignorance of Canadian English and diabollockal spelling, we're not Americans! Even in Britain they struggle with the proper English.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Almost 2 years and going strong, you are a guest in another country, embrace it, learn to love it and have no regrets. It is nothing more than just "different". Having worked in China, Dubai and then Canada you learn to appreciate it can never be your home country, if it was why would you have left!

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

On the plus side

1) Ice hockey
2) poutine
3) snow
4) no damn speed cameras
5) more snow

Do miss the old BBC and having a quality internet connection that doesn't cost an arm and a leg but I guess you can't win them all :D

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

I think we see the problem here.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

I have tried Canada, well Toronto and now I am in Montreal and it's not great. Everything seems so complicated so back to England I go in July

Life is too short to stay somewhere and to be in something when you're not happy :)

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Just out of interest what do you find so complicated? I think a lot of things might seem more complicated because it's a foreign country. Years ago I moved from Germany to England and then 3 years ago from England to Canada and I found setting things up equally complicated.

Good luck with the move back! :D

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Canada is behind The UK in most things which actually makes it a much simplier country to live in, in my opinion. I think you actually mean 'different' which reasonable people accept as normal when they emigrate:

'Complications' of Life in The UK (a short list):

1) Have you translated a HMRC Tax Credit assessment, or Pension calculation recently?
2) Do you enjoy paying Council Tax as a renter?
3) Do you like keeping your Road Tax up to date?
4) How much time do you spend and loose on opportunity cost of comparing your Gas/Electric providers in The UK? Just go with BC Hydro, and all fine.
5) Parking is a joy in The UK is it not, or do you like arguing with your neighbours over inches and walking your shopping down the road in the rain?
6) Ever work in London and cram yourself onto the Tube or train every day?
7) Love that TV Licence fee, do you not?

Just accept the 1990s music on the radio in Canada and get Netflix.

FROTSUK

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

See for every argument their is a counter argument..it is what it is really

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Back when I rented in Canada my rent was the same for 4 years. As the building assesment and the tax rate inceased each of those years but my rent did not its safe to say that I was sheltered from the real property tax cost to some extent as it rose....

No MOT here and license and taxation fees are a lot less expensive, not to mention the CO2 tax tiering in the UK which seems more complex.

Certainly commuter trains in most large cities here, Toronto, MOntreal etc

I dont pay anything for TV, there is no legal requirement for a license here.

If I could be arsed I could get "free over air" service with an antenna, but like you say its mostly dross so we dont bother. I will concede that the broadcast programing that the UK license gives you access to is much better value than cable or satellite here, but Ive been free of the affliction/addiction now for more than 2 years and life is better without it.

Id say that things are not more complicated here, but its different in some respects so there is a period of adjustment getting used to how things are done, thats all. Id certainly feel the same way about the complications if moving back to the UK now and it doesnt make the feeling of frustration any less real for those caught up in it. Given time though it becomes "normal".

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

speaking as someone renting in the UK and who has been for 7 years... my rent never included the council tax, that was always something I paid myself on top of the rent I paid to my landlords. If the tax went up I had to pay it, and when my rent goes up (which it does, way too often) I have to pay that too. :frown:

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

+1 Hear this time and time again, it's just different. Some adjust better than others, those that don't move back or onto some other paradise :blink:

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

I forgot one important one, the Water Rates:

In small town BC at least, renters do not pay it, the landlord does.
If one owns, water/sewage/rubbish ('garbage') pick up is included in the Property Tax ('Council Tax') at about $550 per year = no more than £35 per month.

UK, South:

Water = £50 per month
Council Tax = £150 per month.

No comparison.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

If it makes you feel better our rent has gone up a year to the day we moved in. I said we would stay longer if he kept it the same. He told me to do one. We moved onto a periodic tenancy so we can give a months notice once we get PR as we are going to buy.

Landlords are landlords and not many will keep the rent the same year after year.:sneaky:

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Jaye944 - sorry to hear that you are having such a rough time.

Can anyone explain why, when someone comes on the board to express their unhappiness, we argue how wonderful our bit of Canada is whilst trying to convince them to persevere?!

If you are unhappy then ....

If you can move on .... go back to UK :scarper:

If you can't move just yet .... make the best of a bad job. Nowhere (not even Mississauga) is all bad. Take up a new hobby; take a training course; spend time planning how/when you can move back to UK; remember the planning that we all did before coming to Canada - just do it in reverse.

I have spent about 30% of my adult life outside England. Nowhere is the same; each country has its positives and negatives.

I'm sorry Jaye944 your list is superficial at best - although I concede that the niggles are probably important to you. If you like making lists why don't you make a positive and negative list of both countries to fairly compare - if England still wins then pack your bags and good luck to you and your family.

J :)

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

There are a number of reasons, heres a few from me.

Firstly Canada is a huge country and perhaps that by moving one province over you will find the happiness you are looking for? We all know that MB is different from NS which is different again from AB.

Secondly we all know how hard it was to get over to Canada in the first place and if you can hold out until citizenship then you will never have to go through those hurdles again.

Thirdly there are those that "ping-pong", they bounce back and forth because they are now inbetweeners not feeling at home in either location.

I have the same logic as you if you are genuinely not happy then you should move back but before you do, you need to put as much thought into it as you should when you initially emigrate!

There is truely no 'one size fits all' approach with this.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Bear in mind, s/he can terminate the tenancy too.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Oh I know... He has to give us 2 months I think? He'll keep us in here as long as he can. We are good tenants - keeping the place immaculate which is more than I can say for the last lot!

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

3 months. See section 8(1)(b) of this: Residential Tenancies Act

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Our landlady increased the rent as soon as she could and as much as she legally could.

Are you sure you only have to give a months notice? We went on a periodic tenancy after our lease expired, same reasons, to buy soon after getting PR and we still had to give 60 days notice. Stated in the tenancy agreement!

Just did that :D and moving in our own Canadian house in the end of May!!!

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

That's Ontario law, they're in Alberta.

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

I'll never get used to "one country but 13 different everything" ;)

Re: 2 years and hate it 2
 

Thanks AC! :)