Mrs Miggins

Yep, it's been three months since little miss miggins confused the crap out of the immigration officer by singing a song about monkeys at the top of her voice at the immigration department in Calgary airport, after about 10 minutes the poor guy sent us on our way (after not checking half the stuff he should have eg:finances etc) with our new and very important permits and we went out in to a glorious sunny Albertan afternoon. But is the still shining for us????

Well I would like to make this interesting and say that the last three months have been full of ups and downs, but to be honest it's all been pretty nice and relaxed with very few problems....And I have can only speak about my experiences in southern Alberta and know that will vary massively from city to city and province to province, but here is the story so far.

As some of you may know, Mr Miggins bought the house on his own, before I got here. It will be going on the market and we won't be growing old there - that's for sure! This then made me think about moving to a cheaper province also,,,, but do you know what I realised this last few days that over the last few months me and the kids have made ourselves a home and a life here already, and one which we are happy with.

Life here just doesn't have the same pressure. The people are lovely 95% of the time. Even here, as mature student in the college I am feeling reasonably comfortable and part of the community. I know I am a bit wrinklier and saggier than the average student, but the Lethbridgians just seem to value people a little more (OK wayyyy more) than those in the community we came from. Just general day to day stuff is less stressful, like Mr Miggs said, you get up in the morning knowing it's unlikely you will have to go in to battle here, in the UK you open your eyes knowing it's unlikely that you won't feel the need to battle, whether it be with poor service, rudeness, the crap call centres we have to call every 5 mins or just the general crap of life... Now we have been in the swing of things two weeks after we landed, working etc, even though I have been on my own for two months out of the three that we have been here and yes, I still agree. All of the stuff like SIN cards, health, driving permit and stuff have been so easily sorted. People try and help and go out of their way to do so when they know you are new here, and some days you can't help but feel you are one of the luckiest people going to have found somewhere that just makes day to day life so much more enjoyable.

Something that often strikes me is the absolute naivety of the average in Canadian (well Lethbrigian) that I have met and chatted with in just how lucky they are and this is both frustrating and endearing to me. They seem to think that you can just get on a plane and arrive here, not realising the processes we go through. They are also often totally oblivious of the what's going on globally too, which is weird and makes me realise just what a privilege it has been to live in the UK and be part of Europe in a odd kinda of way. Most English people who live in towns and cities are used to seeing a wide range of cultures but here in the prairies it's just not so. I feel sad for the kids when I think about this and try and make the odd mental note to myself to make sure that they choose a city where there is diversity and experience meeting all sorts of people when they choose to go to college (hopefully).

Everywhere is so much cleaner, bigger and nicer here. The people are friendly and seem sincere and I have been lucky enough to make friends already and I am sure that they will turn in to support systems too. It feel weird to allow the little fella to play in the alley with other kids and to let him go to their house and them to ours without any big deal. It feels weirder to see him walk and check the post box on his own. Something I would never have dreamed about before! Just little bits of independence that I feel more comfortable with him having here. I feel safe at night on my own too. I will walk out and put my garbage in the bin and not think about it. In the town that I came from there was a serial rapist who had caught women going to and from their homes and followed them in. It's been going on about 6 years and there has never been anyone caught and it's never been a big deal. But as a woman who lives on her own, it stays with you when you have to pop out and lock the car or something of a dark evening.

My son is in a class with 18 other kids, he chats with his teacher each day and although this may seem politically incorrect, there are no kids in the class with the kind of behavioral issues etc which were in his UK class of 31 - and that was a small village school! His teacher gets a chance to chat to him each day, he is valued and he is looked upon as an individual in the system here. So much so, that an issue which we were aware of in the UK concerning his health has already been addressed through the school and wheels are now in motion to further resolve it. The teacher in his class promotes the idea of cuddling a peer if they are upset, in the UK it was positively discouraged and the boy was told not to cuddle a peer after he got upset one day.... how different is that!

Little miss goes to day care and as I sit here in the cafe with my laptop window, I can see in to her day care and watch her playing happily Again her setting promotes the ideas of childcentred play and development, the kids go to the gym a couple of times a week, have a guy that works with them and a good staff to child ratio. The manager even sat with me when I burst in to tears on the lads first day of school and helped me sort out the Alice Cooper look I had going on! Did I feel like a tit for crying? No I felt normal. Because here people take the time to talk and support one and other, they value family and understand the stresses that can come with it. I feel supported and understood by people I hardly know! And do you know what? I am quite comfortable with that.

It has been a real eye opener just to see the emphasis put on family in the city. There is so much stuff going on that there should be little or no reason for a newcomer to integrate other than their own personal inhibitions. Also something that I have learnt and was talking to Gaynor about yesterday is that by going through the immigration process you harden up so much that your levels of stress are much easier to cope with, you become less flappable too. So maybe that's also a factor in my enjoyment here. But it's as though the stress and waiting actually prepares you to deal with the settling in process when you get here, which in the grand scheme of things is actually quite enjoyable.

I would definitely recommend Lethbridge as a city for a family to move to. Even though I do hanker after that elusive mortgage free home lol! And if most other places bring the enhancement of life which this has brought to us then Canada is definitely worth waiting for.

Like anything, life is what you make it. I am a complete survivor and have learnt that as long as my kids are happy and healthy everything else can be dealt with easily. The experience will be different for all of us, depending on so many factors and resulting in various outcomes. I am also aware that in 6 months I may be feeling different.....but don't hold your breath.

Missing home, NO. Miss a couple of people and that's it. I can't miss home because I am already here, finally I feel at home. Is it a process that I have gone through mentally or is it geography that makes me feel at peace with myself and makes me feel this has all been worth while. I dunno, a bit of both I think. But whatever it is, I won't think about it too much and I won't knock it either. I just take each day as it comes and am happy to say that I enjoy taking the days here more than I ever expected.

Nothing in life worth having is easily got, but this was definitely worth the work.

Mrs Miggins x

MCrocker

Fab post (my daughter started Uni in Lethbridge this weekend). My wife felt right at home here (Okotoks) straight away like you - indeed this was really the first place we actually decided to live, all others were for work moves, promotions etc.

I'm very pleased for you.

PS how scary is that railroad bridge in Lethbridge....?

ann m

Lovely post Mrs M. I feel all mellow and calm now after that Very best wishes to you all for your continued happiness and less stressful lives in sunny (or windy) Lethbridge.

WelshDragonsWales

Well, well, well ... what a fab post - thank you Mrs Miggins.

It it lovely to hear that you are happy, as happy as you hoped you would be. From all the WDW in sunny wales , well done and keep up the posts so we can all dream of the day when we can hopefully post our own " Home at last" story.

Enjoy yr day

fuschiagirl

What a great post I really enjoyed reading it. You all sound really happy and settled.

It's not until you are actually living here that you realise how stressful the UK is Just not to encounter road rage every day (several times a day in fact) is worth the hassle of moving

Rob4BC

Mrs M, a wonderful post much appreciated.
Best of luck for the future.

Rob.

boxerdog03

Nice to hear a happy positive post. So pleased that you have settled in well, despite the house saga, and that the whole family feel at home.

Thanks for posting this

Sharon

Steve_P

Pretty neat apparently.

My son got to ride across in the cab of a train.

He works for CP Rail.

Member123

Mrs M, that was a wonderful post, full of such happiness and positivity that you have done the right thing for your family.

Well done you on coping those months on your own.

When we get the six month update - it will no doubt be more of the same.

Just the winter to cope with now

MCrocker

Lucky chap - some of the railroad scenery in Alberta and BC must be up there with the best in the World.

Mrs Miggins

Thanks guys, I hope you are all well, it's finally raining in Lethbridge and it's good to see it!

As for the rail stevep - it runs by the bottom of our road and jees do those brakes squeak sometimes!


Anyway, I will give you a six month update and just hope that we are enjoying life in the same way!

All the best ]
The Miggins x

Alberta_Rose

I see there is a proper covering of snow on the mountains this morning! They look beautiful in the sunshine!

Fantastic post. I felt the same when we arrived; that having coped with immigration one could handle just about anything! You go girrrrrl !

ladymoose

It is great to read such an uplifting post - I'm glad you've all settled so well - is Mr Miggins just as happy?

acer rose

Great post Mrs Miggins. I am so pleased you have settled well and can clearly see the benefits of your move already.

I would certainly agree about people genuinely trying to help. We have found every official we have dealt with to be polite and helpful, even rather sorry/offended when the system prevented them from doing anything useful. (For people waiting to hear from CHC, that might be worth remembering.) It has been a very different experience from most other officials elsewhere I've had to deal with.

Robski

Great post, congrats and well done to you and all the miggs. Hope all continues to go well for you, and that you all feel more and more at home with each day that passes.