7 Months in Calgary - WOW
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Calgary
Posts: 286
7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Hi everyone
Wow what a ride and I find it hard to believe that 7 months has been and gone. Had ups and downs, but far more ups than anything. Homesickness hasn't really kicked in, but I have my sister here so that is helping. I do miss my friends and find it hard to get in amongst friendships here. But if I consider that my friendships back there formed over 20+ years, I can't really expect anything similar here in 7 months.
Canadians are so friendly, to the point I got annoyed about 3 months in, felt like I was in Disneyland or something sometimes! But I love the fact that almost everyone is friendly here. Our neighbors are awesome, they have kids the same age and we have started hanging out more and going places together which is great. Schooling is good, after 3 weeks of being excited to ride the bus for an hour each way, my 6 yr old started to find it difficult so we started to drive her and that made her day much shorter so she's enjoying it more now.
Shopping, well I haven't lived in England for a long time, but compared to Perth Australia there is so much more variety and it is almost all cheaper. Except outdoor patio furniture, what is with that price???? Eating out is MUCH cheaper and again much more choice. I have made an effort to stop comparing as it really doesn't matter anymore, sometimes I just can't help it though.
So since we got here we have :
We rented a furnished house in a 'nice' area for 3 months when we first landed. I would recommend that to anyone if you can, gave us a good chance to get out and about and find the right area for us. The 'nice' area we rented in, we never met the neighbors, people would wave as they drove by but that was about it. We moved to an area with a great community center, we had people from 3 houses knock on our door to welcome us to the neighborhood, and countless others stop and chat on the street. So a little less posh and a little more family oriented has worked really well for us.
My advice (even though I'm only 7 months in), it's not all rosy and happy so don't expect utopia by any means. Embrace the differences, stop comparing as soon as you can, enjoy the seasons (don't sit inside in winter, get out and skate, ski, toboggan). Make an effort to meet people, you're the new ones so don't expect people to come running to you (although it is Canada so it can happen )
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to send out an update. And also a BIG thanks to everyone that helped out with information pre-move. I am a bit of a planner as you may have realized and you guys helped immensely.
Good luck to anyone that dreams of coming and gives it a shot, all the best to those who came and are returning after giving it a shot (it's not going to be for everyone). Commit to a decent amount of time to give Canada a go, we have decided to commit to at least 3 years here.
Anyone ever wants any help like I got on here, feel free to PM me. I used to browse the Canniversary section to see how people were handling it after the move.
Thanks for reading! Merry Xmas All!!
Wayne
Wow what a ride and I find it hard to believe that 7 months has been and gone. Had ups and downs, but far more ups than anything. Homesickness hasn't really kicked in, but I have my sister here so that is helping. I do miss my friends and find it hard to get in amongst friendships here. But if I consider that my friendships back there formed over 20+ years, I can't really expect anything similar here in 7 months.
Canadians are so friendly, to the point I got annoyed about 3 months in, felt like I was in Disneyland or something sometimes! But I love the fact that almost everyone is friendly here. Our neighbors are awesome, they have kids the same age and we have started hanging out more and going places together which is great. Schooling is good, after 3 weeks of being excited to ride the bus for an hour each way, my 6 yr old started to find it difficult so we started to drive her and that made her day much shorter so she's enjoying it more now.
Shopping, well I haven't lived in England for a long time, but compared to Perth Australia there is so much more variety and it is almost all cheaper. Except outdoor patio furniture, what is with that price???? Eating out is MUCH cheaper and again much more choice. I have made an effort to stop comparing as it really doesn't matter anymore, sometimes I just can't help it though.
So since we got here we have :
- Purchased 2 cars
- Experienced a flood with a declared state of emergency (We ALMOST turned around and went back here, especially when I went to safeway and the cash register lines went all the way up each aisle with no water left anywhere)
- Experienced how Albertans deal with disasters, pretty impressed
- Went to Stampede, now that was an expensive experience. Won't do that every year, but it was fun to do (again pretty impressed it even went ahead just after the flood)
- Purchased a house, now we never planned to buy so fast, but the right house came up, we love it and it was a great deal in a great area
- Just had our first blizzard, that was pretty intense
- Had a few Chinooks come through already so seen the weather swing all over the place
- Started my own company here, the opportunities are great!
- Joined some charities to help out and meet people
- I've started ice skating lessons, so I can take my kids out on the lake. Skiing will be next season .. one painful thing at a time!
We rented a furnished house in a 'nice' area for 3 months when we first landed. I would recommend that to anyone if you can, gave us a good chance to get out and about and find the right area for us. The 'nice' area we rented in, we never met the neighbors, people would wave as they drove by but that was about it. We moved to an area with a great community center, we had people from 3 houses knock on our door to welcome us to the neighborhood, and countless others stop and chat on the street. So a little less posh and a little more family oriented has worked really well for us.
My advice (even though I'm only 7 months in), it's not all rosy and happy so don't expect utopia by any means. Embrace the differences, stop comparing as soon as you can, enjoy the seasons (don't sit inside in winter, get out and skate, ski, toboggan). Make an effort to meet people, you're the new ones so don't expect people to come running to you (although it is Canada so it can happen )
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to send out an update. And also a BIG thanks to everyone that helped out with information pre-move. I am a bit of a planner as you may have realized and you guys helped immensely.
Good luck to anyone that dreams of coming and gives it a shot, all the best to those who came and are returning after giving it a shot (it's not going to be for everyone). Commit to a decent amount of time to give Canada a go, we have decided to commit to at least 3 years here.
Anyone ever wants any help like I got on here, feel free to PM me. I used to browse the Canniversary section to see how people were handling it after the move.
Thanks for reading! Merry Xmas All!!
Wayne
#2
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Thanks for the update.
We're moving to Calgary next year sometime, so good to hear it's going well for you.
All the best.
H
We're moving to Calgary next year sometime, so good to hear it's going well for you.
All the best.
H
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2009
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 210
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Hi everyone
Wow what a ride and I find it hard to believe that 7 months has been and gone. Had ups and downs, but far more ups than anything. Homesickness hasn't really kicked in, but I have my sister here so that is helping. I do miss my friends and find it hard to get in amongst friendships here. But if I consider that my friendships back there formed over 20+ years, I can't really expect anything similar here in 7 months.
Canadians are so friendly, to the point I got annoyed about 3 months in, felt like I was in Disneyland or something sometimes! But I love the fact that almost everyone is friendly here. Our neighbors are awesome, they have kids the same age and we have started hanging out more and going places together which is great. Schooling is good, after 3 weeks of being excited to ride the bus for an hour each way, my 6 yr old started to find it difficult so we started to drive her and that made her day much shorter so she's enjoying it more now.
Shopping, well I haven't lived in England for a long time, but compared to Perth Australia there is so much more variety and it is almost all cheaper. Except outdoor patio furniture, what is with that price???? Eating out is MUCH cheaper and again much more choice. I have made an effort to stop comparing as it really doesn't matter anymore, sometimes I just can't help it though.
So since we got here we have :
We rented a furnished house in a 'nice' area for 3 months when we first landed. I would recommend that to anyone if you can, gave us a good chance to get out and about and find the right area for us. The 'nice' area we rented in, we never met the neighbors, people would wave as they drove by but that was about it. We moved to an area with a great community center, we had people from 3 houses knock on our door to welcome us to the neighborhood, and countless others stop and chat on the street. So a little less posh and a little more family oriented has worked really well for us.
My advice (even though I'm only 7 months in), it's not all rosy and happy so don't expect utopia by any means. Embrace the differences, stop comparing as soon as you can, enjoy the seasons (don't sit inside in winter, get out and skate, ski, toboggan). Make an effort to meet people, you're the new ones so don't expect people to come running to you (although it is Canada so it can happen )
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to send out an update. And also a BIG thanks to everyone that helped out with information pre-move. I am a bit of a planner as you may have realized and you guys helped immensely.
Good luck to anyone that dreams of coming and gives it a shot, all the best to those who came and are returning after giving it a shot (it's not going to be for everyone). Commit to a decent amount of time to give Canada a go, we have decided to commit to at least 3 years here.
Anyone ever wants any help like I got on here, feel free to PM me. I used to browse the Canniversary section to see how people were handling it after the move.
Thanks for reading! Merry Xmas All!!
Wayne
Wow what a ride and I find it hard to believe that 7 months has been and gone. Had ups and downs, but far more ups than anything. Homesickness hasn't really kicked in, but I have my sister here so that is helping. I do miss my friends and find it hard to get in amongst friendships here. But if I consider that my friendships back there formed over 20+ years, I can't really expect anything similar here in 7 months.
Canadians are so friendly, to the point I got annoyed about 3 months in, felt like I was in Disneyland or something sometimes! But I love the fact that almost everyone is friendly here. Our neighbors are awesome, they have kids the same age and we have started hanging out more and going places together which is great. Schooling is good, after 3 weeks of being excited to ride the bus for an hour each way, my 6 yr old started to find it difficult so we started to drive her and that made her day much shorter so she's enjoying it more now.
Shopping, well I haven't lived in England for a long time, but compared to Perth Australia there is so much more variety and it is almost all cheaper. Except outdoor patio furniture, what is with that price???? Eating out is MUCH cheaper and again much more choice. I have made an effort to stop comparing as it really doesn't matter anymore, sometimes I just can't help it though.
So since we got here we have :
- Purchased 2 cars
- Experienced a flood with a declared state of emergency (We ALMOST turned around and went back here, especially when I went to safeway and the cash register lines went all the way up each aisle with no water left anywhere)
- Experienced how Albertans deal with disasters, pretty impressed
- Went to Stampede, now that was an expensive experience. Won't do that every year, but it was fun to do (again pretty impressed it even went ahead just after the flood)
- Purchased a house, now we never planned to buy so fast, but the right house came up, we love it and it was a great deal in a great area
- Just had our first blizzard, that was pretty intense
- Had a few Chinooks come through already so seen the weather swing all over the place
- Started my own company here, the opportunities are great!
- Joined some charities to help out and meet people
- I've started ice skating lessons, so I can take my kids out on the lake. Skiing will be next season .. one painful thing at a time!
We rented a furnished house in a 'nice' area for 3 months when we first landed. I would recommend that to anyone if you can, gave us a good chance to get out and about and find the right area for us. The 'nice' area we rented in, we never met the neighbors, people would wave as they drove by but that was about it. We moved to an area with a great community center, we had people from 3 houses knock on our door to welcome us to the neighborhood, and countless others stop and chat on the street. So a little less posh and a little more family oriented has worked really well for us.
My advice (even though I'm only 7 months in), it's not all rosy and happy so don't expect utopia by any means. Embrace the differences, stop comparing as soon as you can, enjoy the seasons (don't sit inside in winter, get out and skate, ski, toboggan). Make an effort to meet people, you're the new ones so don't expect people to come running to you (although it is Canada so it can happen )
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to send out an update. And also a BIG thanks to everyone that helped out with information pre-move. I am a bit of a planner as you may have realized and you guys helped immensely.
Good luck to anyone that dreams of coming and gives it a shot, all the best to those who came and are returning after giving it a shot (it's not going to be for everyone). Commit to a decent amount of time to give Canada a go, we have decided to commit to at least 3 years here.
Anyone ever wants any help like I got on here, feel free to PM me. I used to browse the Canniversary section to see how people were handling it after the move.
Thanks for reading! Merry Xmas All!!
Wayne
#4
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
glad things are working out for you though!
#5
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Hi, that is such an uplifting and lovely post!
this forum really helped me out before i moved about 6months ago. started in calgary for about 2 months and now i live in fernie. as you say its hard sometimes not to compare things to 'home'. and yes... people are so friendly- i thought at first it wasnt real.. but now having lived in fernie for the last 3 months i know its real and i know this i where i want to be.... minus 35 an all!
ps- did you guys get a mortgage for the house and was it easy if you did?
this forum really helped me out before i moved about 6months ago. started in calgary for about 2 months and now i live in fernie. as you say its hard sometimes not to compare things to 'home'. and yes... people are so friendly- i thought at first it wasnt real.. but now having lived in fernie for the last 3 months i know its real and i know this i where i want to be.... minus 35 an all!
ps- did you guys get a mortgage for the house and was it easy if you did?
#7
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Hi everyone
Wow what a ride and I find it hard to believe that 7 months has been and gone. Had ups and downs, but far more ups than anything. Homesickness hasn't really kicked in, but I have my sister here so that is helping. I do miss my friends and find it hard to get in amongst friendships here. But if I consider that my friendships back there formed over 20+ years, I can't really expect anything similar here in 7 months.
Canadians are so friendly, to the point I got annoyed about 3 months in, felt like I was in Disneyland or something sometimes! But I love the fact that almost everyone is friendly here. Our neighbors are awesome, they have kids the same age and we have started hanging out more and going places together which is great. Schooling is good, after 3 weeks of being excited to ride the bus for an hour each way, my 6 yr old started to find it difficult so we started to drive her and that made her day much shorter so she's enjoying it more now.
Shopping, well I haven't lived in England for a long time, but compared to Perth Australia there is so much more variety and it is almost all cheaper. Except outdoor patio furniture, what is with that price???? Eating out is MUCH cheaper and again much more choice. I have made an effort to stop comparing as it really doesn't matter anymore, sometimes I just can't help it though.
So since we got here we have :
We rented a furnished house in a 'nice' area for 3 months when we first landed. I would recommend that to anyone if you can, gave us a good chance to get out and about and find the right area for us. The 'nice' area we rented in, we never met the neighbors, people would wave as they drove by but that was about it. We moved to an area with a great community center, we had people from 3 houses knock on our door to welcome us to the neighborhood, and countless others stop and chat on the street. So a little less posh and a little more family oriented has worked really well for us.
My advice (even though I'm only 7 months in), it's not all rosy and happy so don't expect utopia by any means. Embrace the differences, stop comparing as soon as you can, enjoy the seasons (don't sit inside in winter, get out and skate, ski, toboggan). Make an effort to meet people, you're the new ones so don't expect people to come running to you (although it is Canada so it can happen )
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to send out an update. And also a BIG thanks to everyone that helped out with information pre-move. I am a bit of a planner as you may have realized and you guys helped immensely.
Good luck to anyone that dreams of coming and gives it a shot, all the best to those who came and are returning after giving it a shot (it's not going to be for everyone). Commit to a decent amount of time to give Canada a go, we have decided to commit to at least 3 years here.
Anyone ever wants any help like I got on here, feel free to PM me. I used to browse the Canniversary section to see how people were handling it after the move.
Thanks for reading! Merry Xmas All!!
Wayne
Wow what a ride and I find it hard to believe that 7 months has been and gone. Had ups and downs, but far more ups than anything. Homesickness hasn't really kicked in, but I have my sister here so that is helping. I do miss my friends and find it hard to get in amongst friendships here. But if I consider that my friendships back there formed over 20+ years, I can't really expect anything similar here in 7 months.
Canadians are so friendly, to the point I got annoyed about 3 months in, felt like I was in Disneyland or something sometimes! But I love the fact that almost everyone is friendly here. Our neighbors are awesome, they have kids the same age and we have started hanging out more and going places together which is great. Schooling is good, after 3 weeks of being excited to ride the bus for an hour each way, my 6 yr old started to find it difficult so we started to drive her and that made her day much shorter so she's enjoying it more now.
Shopping, well I haven't lived in England for a long time, but compared to Perth Australia there is so much more variety and it is almost all cheaper. Except outdoor patio furniture, what is with that price???? Eating out is MUCH cheaper and again much more choice. I have made an effort to stop comparing as it really doesn't matter anymore, sometimes I just can't help it though.
So since we got here we have :
- Purchased 2 cars
- Experienced a flood with a declared state of emergency (We ALMOST turned around and went back here, especially when I went to safeway and the cash register lines went all the way up each aisle with no water left anywhere)
- Experienced how Albertans deal with disasters, pretty impressed
- Went to Stampede, now that was an expensive experience. Won't do that every year, but it was fun to do (again pretty impressed it even went ahead just after the flood)
- Purchased a house, now we never planned to buy so fast, but the right house came up, we love it and it was a great deal in a great area
- Just had our first blizzard, that was pretty intense
- Had a few Chinooks come through already so seen the weather swing all over the place
- Started my own company here, the opportunities are great!
- Joined some charities to help out and meet people
- I've started ice skating lessons, so I can take my kids out on the lake. Skiing will be next season .. one painful thing at a time!
We rented a furnished house in a 'nice' area for 3 months when we first landed. I would recommend that to anyone if you can, gave us a good chance to get out and about and find the right area for us. The 'nice' area we rented in, we never met the neighbors, people would wave as they drove by but that was about it. We moved to an area with a great community center, we had people from 3 houses knock on our door to welcome us to the neighborhood, and countless others stop and chat on the street. So a little less posh and a little more family oriented has worked really well for us.
My advice (even though I'm only 7 months in), it's not all rosy and happy so don't expect utopia by any means. Embrace the differences, stop comparing as soon as you can, enjoy the seasons (don't sit inside in winter, get out and skate, ski, toboggan). Make an effort to meet people, you're the new ones so don't expect people to come running to you (although it is Canada so it can happen )
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to send out an update. And also a BIG thanks to everyone that helped out with information pre-move. I am a bit of a planner as you may have realized and you guys helped immensely.
Good luck to anyone that dreams of coming and gives it a shot, all the best to those who came and are returning after giving it a shot (it's not going to be for everyone). Commit to a decent amount of time to give Canada a go, we have decided to commit to at least 3 years here.
Anyone ever wants any help like I got on here, feel free to PM me. I used to browse the Canniversary section to see how people were handling it after the move.
Thanks for reading! Merry Xmas All!!
Wayne
#8
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Calgary
Posts: 286
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Hi, that is such an uplifting and lovely post!
this forum really helped me out before i moved about 6months ago. started in calgary for about 2 months and now i live in fernie. as you say its hard sometimes not to compare things to 'home'. and yes... people are so friendly- i thought at first it wasnt real.. but now having lived in fernie for the last 3 months i know its real and i know this i where i want to be.... minus 35 an all!
ps- did you guys get a mortgage for the house and was it easy if you did?
this forum really helped me out before i moved about 6months ago. started in calgary for about 2 months and now i live in fernie. as you say its hard sometimes not to compare things to 'home'. and yes... people are so friendly- i thought at first it wasnt real.. but now having lived in fernie for the last 3 months i know its real and i know this i where i want to be.... minus 35 an all!
ps- did you guys get a mortgage for the house and was it easy if you did?
What made you move from Calgary to Fernie? So many lovely places here, I haven't seen fernie yet, but it's on my growing to-do-list.
With the mortgage we had a large deposit so it was fairly easy, plus I had opened a bank account here when I first landed 3 years ago (Went back home to sort the final things out). Moved a bit of money around and also moved my American Express to a Canadian card. Helped me with a bit of a credit rating!
Good luck in Fernie
#9
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Calgary
Posts: 286
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Awesome, well if you have any questions drop me a message. I'm much more knowledgeable than I was 6 months ago, but still not an expert by any means. Will help where I can, enjoy the adventure. That deep breath as you sit on the plane because there is now nothing more you can do is awesome. A big deep breath and then the buzzer to ask for the scotch lol
#10
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Hi,
What made you move from Calgary to Fernie? So many lovely places here, I haven't seen fernie yet, but it's on my growing to-do-list.
With the mortgage we had a large deposit so it was fairly easy, plus I had opened a bank account here when I first landed 3 years ago (Went back home to sort the final things out). Moved a bit of money around and also moved my American Express to a Canadian card. Helped me with a bit of a credit rating!
Good luck in Fernie
What made you move from Calgary to Fernie? So many lovely places here, I haven't seen fernie yet, but it's on my growing to-do-list.
With the mortgage we had a large deposit so it was fairly easy, plus I had opened a bank account here when I first landed 3 years ago (Went back home to sort the final things out). Moved a bit of money around and also moved my American Express to a Canadian card. Helped me with a bit of a credit rating!
Good luck in Fernie
Hi JBJ14,
How did you manage to transfer your American Express card to a canadian one as i have an amex card also and would'nt mind doing same.
Thanks
#11
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2012
Location: Living in Melaka, Malaysia
Posts: 472
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Hi everyone
Wow what a ride and I find it hard to believe that 7 months has been and gone. Had ups and downs, but far more ups than anything. Homesickness hasn't really kicked in, but I have my sister here so that is helping. I do miss my friends and find it hard to get in amongst friendships here. But if I consider that my friendships back there formed over 20+ years, I can't really expect anything similar here in 7 months.
Canadians are so friendly, to the point I got annoyed about 3 months in, felt like I was in Disneyland or something sometimes! But I love the fact that almost everyone is friendly here. Our neighbors are awesome, they have kids the same age and we have started hanging out more and going places together which is great. Schooling is good, after 3 weeks of being excited to ride the bus for an hour each way, my 6 yr old started to find it difficult so we started to drive her and that made her day much shorter so she's enjoying it more now.
Shopping, well I haven't lived in England for a long time, but compared to Perth Australia there is so much more variety and it is almost all cheaper. Except outdoor patio furniture, what is with that price???? Eating out is MUCH cheaper and again much more choice. I have made an effort to stop comparing as it really doesn't matter anymore, sometimes I just can't help it though.
So since we got here we have :
We rented a furnished house in a 'nice' area for 3 months when we first landed. I would recommend that to anyone if you can, gave us a good chance to get out and about and find the right area for us. The 'nice' area we rented in, we never met the neighbors, people would wave as they drove by but that was about it. We moved to an area with a great community center, we had people from 3 houses knock on our door to welcome us to the neighborhood, and countless others stop and chat on the street. So a little less posh and a little more family oriented has worked really well for us.
My advice (even though I'm only 7 months in), it's not all rosy and happy so don't expect utopia by any means. Embrace the differences, stop comparing as soon as you can, enjoy the seasons (don't sit inside in winter, get out and skate, ski, toboggan). Make an effort to meet people, you're the new ones so don't expect people to come running to you (although it is Canada so it can happen )
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to send out an update. And also a BIG thanks to everyone that helped out with information pre-move. I am a bit of a planner as you may have realized and you guys helped immensely.
Good luck to anyone that dreams of coming and gives it a shot, all the best to those who came and are returning after giving it a shot (it's not going to be for everyone). Commit to a decent amount of time to give Canada a go, we have decided to commit to at least 3 years here.
Anyone ever wants any help like I got on here, feel free to PM me. I used to browse the Canniversary section to see how people were handling it after the move.
Thanks for reading! Merry Xmas All!!
Wayne
Wow what a ride and I find it hard to believe that 7 months has been and gone. Had ups and downs, but far more ups than anything. Homesickness hasn't really kicked in, but I have my sister here so that is helping. I do miss my friends and find it hard to get in amongst friendships here. But if I consider that my friendships back there formed over 20+ years, I can't really expect anything similar here in 7 months.
Canadians are so friendly, to the point I got annoyed about 3 months in, felt like I was in Disneyland or something sometimes! But I love the fact that almost everyone is friendly here. Our neighbors are awesome, they have kids the same age and we have started hanging out more and going places together which is great. Schooling is good, after 3 weeks of being excited to ride the bus for an hour each way, my 6 yr old started to find it difficult so we started to drive her and that made her day much shorter so she's enjoying it more now.
Shopping, well I haven't lived in England for a long time, but compared to Perth Australia there is so much more variety and it is almost all cheaper. Except outdoor patio furniture, what is with that price???? Eating out is MUCH cheaper and again much more choice. I have made an effort to stop comparing as it really doesn't matter anymore, sometimes I just can't help it though.
So since we got here we have :
- Purchased 2 cars
- Experienced a flood with a declared state of emergency (We ALMOST turned around and went back here, especially when I went to safeway and the cash register lines went all the way up each aisle with no water left anywhere)
- Experienced how Albertans deal with disasters, pretty impressed
- Went to Stampede, now that was an expensive experience. Won't do that every year, but it was fun to do (again pretty impressed it even went ahead just after the flood)
- Purchased a house, now we never planned to buy so fast, but the right house came up, we love it and it was a great deal in a great area
- Just had our first blizzard, that was pretty intense
- Had a few Chinooks come through already so seen the weather swing all over the place
- Started my own company here, the opportunities are great!
- Joined some charities to help out and meet people
- I've started ice skating lessons, so I can take my kids out on the lake. Skiing will be next season .. one painful thing at a time!
We rented a furnished house in a 'nice' area for 3 months when we first landed. I would recommend that to anyone if you can, gave us a good chance to get out and about and find the right area for us. The 'nice' area we rented in, we never met the neighbors, people would wave as they drove by but that was about it. We moved to an area with a great community center, we had people from 3 houses knock on our door to welcome us to the neighborhood, and countless others stop and chat on the street. So a little less posh and a little more family oriented has worked really well for us.
My advice (even though I'm only 7 months in), it's not all rosy and happy so don't expect utopia by any means. Embrace the differences, stop comparing as soon as you can, enjoy the seasons (don't sit inside in winter, get out and skate, ski, toboggan). Make an effort to meet people, you're the new ones so don't expect people to come running to you (although it is Canada so it can happen )
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to send out an update. And also a BIG thanks to everyone that helped out with information pre-move. I am a bit of a planner as you may have realized and you guys helped immensely.
Good luck to anyone that dreams of coming and gives it a shot, all the best to those who came and are returning after giving it a shot (it's not going to be for everyone). Commit to a decent amount of time to give Canada a go, we have decided to commit to at least 3 years here.
Anyone ever wants any help like I got on here, feel free to PM me. I used to browse the Canniversary section to see how people were handling it after the move.
Thanks for reading! Merry Xmas All!!
Wayne
I hope I have not caused any offence with my observations; it is certainly not meant in that vein. Merry Christmas to you and your family too.
#12
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Calgary
Posts: 286
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Well done, Wayne. Good for you. If you do not mind me being probably a little pedantic, I am so sorry to see that you have fallen into the trap of using bastardised English! "neighbor" = neighbour, "neighborhood" = neighbourhood, "cash register lines" = queue, "realized" = realised. To be honest, it is bad enough coming from others, but I think it really is a sad day when expats are dragged down to that level.
I hope I have not caused any offence with my observations; it is certainly not meant in that vein. Merry Christmas to you and your family too.
I hope I have not caused any offence with my observations; it is certainly not meant in that vein. Merry Christmas to you and your family too.
Merry Christmas to you and yours too! Looks like a white one!
#13
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Calgary
Posts: 286
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Hope this link works for you, it did take quite a while, but was worth it in the end. They also base your limit on your payment history on your existing card (I got 50% of my existing limit due to not having work when I switched). No bank guarantee or anything though which was great.
http://www.americanexpress.com/globa..._info_transfer
Cheers Wayne
#14
Re: 7 Months in Calgary - WOW
Hi again
Hope this link works for you, it did take quite a while, but was worth it in the end. They also base your limit on your payment history on your existing card (I got 50% of my existing limit due to not having work when I switched). No bank guarantee or anything though which was great.
http://www.americanexpress.com/globa..._info_transfer
Cheers Wayne
Hope this link works for you, it did take quite a while, but was worth it in the end. They also base your limit on your payment history on your existing card (I got 50% of my existing limit due to not having work when I switched). No bank guarantee or anything though which was great.
http://www.americanexpress.com/globa..._info_transfer
Cheers Wayne
Thanks again.