misskatpaw

Hi all, we are 8 wks in now and I wanted to share my personal experience with you. We are in Kamloops, BC.

I gave up a career and a decent salary in law enforcement, my husband was self-unemployed back in the UK. Now he works full time in construction (job secured before coming out here) & I'm still looking for working.

Prior to moving here, we had visited 4 times & had a large number of friends in 'loops, many of whom referred to us as "family". So we had a support network to come to and during our last trip before emigrating, we were introduced to a house to rent on 5 acres. Perfect we thought. And it very much IS great.

But I did not anticipate the strong feelings of uselessness that I would get with being out of a career. I am networking like mad. Cold calling people, arranging meetings & visits. Had them with Bylaws, Corrections, Ministry of Forest, M. of Environment, Probation, RCMP Police officers, security firms, investigations firms.... I paid a freelance recruitment specialist (who is the sister of a girl I met randomly in a Provincial Park), a very small fee for her to write up my Canadian style resume and to teach me how to adapt it and my cover letters depending on the job I apply for etc . People I speak to here have often said that they can't believe some of the meetings that I have carved out and that it won't be long before something comes up.

However, there's a recruitment freeze in place for Provincial Govt jobs, at least until Spring '13. So that gets rid of many of the more 'ideal' options in the short term. I secured an interview this week for a part-time Community Support worker job. It's not my dream job, but it pays better than store work & I hope to like it if I get it.

I'll be honest, I've had a couple of big emotional moments, one was def linked to the birth of my nephew in England who I obviously won't get the opportunity to meet for a while Both episodes were linked to the work frustration I think, and they did shock me! I got over them quite quickly though & have carried on plugging away with the work thing.

Living on acreage which is 'a bit further out of town' than most 'loops residents we've met would like to live, comes with its cons too, that we just didn't consider to be an issue beforehand. We can't get unlimited internet usage out here, meaning we now can't do Skype/FaceTime with family that we thought we could. I expressed an interest in a cool Outdoor Store job in town & spoke to the manager in person last week. But the reality is, it's 20-25kms away from home & driving a little pick up which isn't the best on gas, means it won't be cheap to get to work where the wage will be not much above minimum probably! So that's our quandary at the moment. We are living from one wage and our savings and are managing OK i guess.

BUT, despite this, our lives are full & rich in other ways. All of our space means the dog has a great life too, we have brilliant neighbours, an organic farm one side and horsey people the other with a big paddock etc. Our landlady is fast becoming like a mother figure too I share the burden of looking after the chickens and we share the spoils. I walk down the road to the N.Thompson river and fish for trout (catch them too). We have our own archery range with 3D targets in our garden. We have a proper nights sky with no light pollution. I get excited when on a morning when it's still dark and on the road are some BIG footprints from something that's walked on the dewy grass and criss-crossed down the road. Not the neighbours feet either! Weekends, we may take the pontoon boats to a lake and fly fish or if we're hung over, go exploring somewhere new. Midweek nights, we sometimes meet hunter friends who are camped out at lakes, for drinks/food around the campfire. We don't own a TV and are finding forgotten pleasures, going through the entire CD collection when we're home.

Midweek (when i'm not working at getting a job!) I'm also mountain biking, running & walking with new friends i've met through these activities. Got some new things to try in the winter season with them all, by the sounds of it too!

The driving has become second nature now, but food shopping is still hard work. I used to cook with lots of what i'd refer to as continental ingredients..buffalo mozarella, pesto, proscuitto, pancetta, gruyere etc. I remember huffing at having to pay £2 for a block of gruyere in Asda!! $7.50 now at least. But I find that changing my outlook to one of being excited about new discoveries & trying new things, it helps me forget and stop comparing.

It's hard to find decent furniture here and I regret not stuffing more in the container! People, on the whole are brilliant and incredibly welcoming and friendly. These encounters make your day just that bit better.

So, mostly things are great, but there are some real hurdles to overcome starting a new life in a new country, no matter how prepared you think you are. The work it takes to get here, should be good training!

Sorry to go on
Katie

angelic applicant

what a brilliant and honest post

i too am looking to move to BC but on my own

im waiting till feb as i have a niece due in January and itll help give me a little more time to save some money.
i too am hoping for a bc gov job but the freeze has put a dampner on my searching at the mo and i too am hoping things will pick up. if it doesnt im thinking ill come out there and take any job i can get...hopefully the next couple of months will be more telling.

you seem to have a pretty balanced and realistic view of everything and can see the goodand the bad...i hope my experience is as postive as yours sounds im sure itll be hard work but its an adventure im looking forward to

R I C H

Welcome to Kamloops. I drive 25 kms to work from the east side of the city every day. It costs me $35 in gas per week - if you're offered the job take it, it'll help you make friends and acquaintances

mandymoochops

and if you want decent furniture - talk to this mans wife ^^^^^ she knows of a lovely little place called Casa Decor in Kamloops

ann m

Welcome to Canda - I hope you conitnue to embrace your life - sounds like you are off to a good start.

When you've been working successfully for a while, it is definitely a bit weird not working, and very frustrating not to be able to get the kind of job you just know you'd be great at. Keep at it, dig into a huge pot of patience and something will come up. But be realistic too - it might take a year or more to find something really great, or it might come up next week!

I too was in law enforcement for 16 years but have completely switched direction and work in HR admin in a college - it's still a publicly funded instituation, with all the bureacracy that entails but it's not something I saw myself doing a few years ago.

Best wishes.

misskatpaw

Thank-you
You are def bold, doing this on your own. I think saving up as much money as you can is wise. I'd also expect to live off your savings & try not to cling onto them too much like I'm doing ! Drop us a line if there's anything I might be able to help with.
Katie

misskatpaw

Shameless plug !

Thanks Rich, yep I will definitely take the job if its offered. Is that about the Dallas area then? One can never have enough friends!

misskatpaw

Hello Ann, thanks for your message. I am trying to be patient, I really am! Been looking at other areas of work too, it's just gonna take a bit of doing, to adapt my resume enough to fit some of them. People do encourage you to do something else as they "couldn't do what you do"... But when it's what you know...?!!!

TheThornes

Great post! Despite the employment issue, glad you're embracing your new life. It sometimes takes a little time for everything to fall in place but it seems as though you're being realistic about it all.

All the best.

Oh, and I like your comment "when we're not hung over"!

misskatpaw

Cheers, very much trying to be realistic oh and it helps to keep the working husband happy by being a good wife and making his sandwiches every night I think he's getting sick of the crab paste though. That I got from the chemist.

The hungover bit is mostly due to socialising EVERY weekend, you know what the natives are like for boozing ....not a great combination when you have the breaking strain of a Kit-Kat in the first place, ha

R I C H

Moo's very kind - the furniture is all solid wood, Canadian made and can be configured to meet whatever style, stain colour or fabric you like. It is lovely, though not cheap.

South of Dallas - I'm just outside of city limits on a road between Barnhartvale and Knutsford.

angelic applicant

aww thanks thats good to know and i may just do that x

hutchy100

what type of visa are you here on

Tigger1

I moved to Vancouver on my own 6 years ago, just me and my cat! Best thing I ever did though, I came thinking "nothing ventured nothing gained" and I found that if I focused on being in Vancouver and the new things, rather than comparing to back home it was an easier transition. Not sure where you're moving to in BC, but if you want any tips let me know!