I moved to Calgary 6 months ago with work and have recently starting getting very homesick.

Any top tips for things to do in Calgary that may help?

Loads of stuff, what are you into?

I got pretty homesick at the 6 month mark too, eventually got over it when I started getting into playing hockey, skiing and snowmobiling!

I love to stay active. I run and go to yoga. At the weekend I bought some skis and plan to head to the slopes at the week. Just craving to see my old friends and family.

Have met lots of great people here but they still all feel like acquaintances rather than friends.

If you've never skied before, i definitely recommend getting a lesson or two at COP, its super cheap and you don't need to venture too far!

You'll probably always crave that, I deleted my facebook account as it was making me miss stupid stuff that i would never normally care about missing

Making friends is difficult, especially if you've come from an active social circle back home - i've probably only got one or two people i'd call friends, and then a whole bunch of acquaintances, zero "close" friends...then my girlfriends family - back home I had a group of maybe 6 or 7 close friends, and then a circle of about 10-15 people who regularly went out to do things...I'll probably never have that again, especially in Canada

You over here yourself?

I got homesick terribly so about the eight month mark. It wasn't pleasant and I sympathize. But you sound like you are doing the right thing and honestly you just need time. Haggis is right though - Facebook can be your worst enemy at times like these- close it down for a little bit and try something new with some sort of socializing attached- class? Running club? Just until you get over this bump!

I've skiied a lot before so I'm excited to try here. Although it's my first winter so a little scared too.

It's the close girl friends that I miss the most. I have a great group of people at work so I have a good social life but just not many people I really click with. It's hard as a girl to meet other girl friends I find. Why do you say especially in Canada?

I moved over by myself - it was a good work opportunity. It's a secondment for 3 years, if I like it I can stay and if I don't I can move back to London.

I've met a guy here and that's great but that doesn't replace have good female friends.

It'll happen just keep active with the yoga and the extra curricular stuff. Go where the girls go. 6 months is not a lot of time. Give it another 6.......

It got to me after about six years of living in someone else's country/culture. It's has been gnawing away ever since. It doesn't get better.

But, correct me if I'm wrong, you seem to be making the best of a "bad situation"- you seem to be enjoying life doing things that you may not have had the opportunity to do in your "past life" . I know I am- of course we miss stuff, friends, family etc but hopefully visits soften that blow, Skype/Facebook etc I think actually keeps me in touch with contacts in the UK but doesn't necessarily mean that I want to be there. They are often jealous of you and ironically you are now possibly jealous of them- we never seem happy wherever we are!

It needn't gnaw at your soul , a lot of us cope as has been pointed out and settle down but it often takes years. It is a very different culture to Europe and it sure as hell takes time to get used to. Some unfortunately never do but at least they gave it a try.
I have wondered how people managed before the age of easy communications before the internet/social network/Skype age- phoning isn't quite the phone and probably costed a fortune. Maybe they just got on with it... they didnt have expats which must have been a massive void in their new lives too!

I'm the other way, it is male friends I miss. I have loads in the UK and very few here. I also don't have a partner (even after a year of being here but that is probably because I am in Vancouver - a dater's nightmare). I'm sure Calgary is easier for that sort of thing.

Yoga is great but like the gym, it probably won't get you meeting people. I used to do dancing in the UK and met loads of girl friends through that but when I tried it here it was very clicky and again didn't meet anyone.

My work colleagues are the people I am closest to.

When I first moved abroad to live in Hong Kong back in the late 70's it was an eye opening experience. I still recall landing at Kai Tak airport, smelling the 'fragrant harbour' (which wasn't too fragrant in a good way) and walking through to arrivals and being totally overwhelmed by the crowds, the heat and the noise.

I digress..

Communication with our families was by airmail, a letter would take 2-3 weeks to get to the UK and then 2-3 weeks for a reply (if they wrote back straight away) so there was no communication for 4-6+ weeks at a time. I phoned my Dad twice a year - once on his birthday and once at Christmas, it cost a £1 a minute and at that time our annual income was around £4200 gross so calls were short and sweet!

We were on 2 year contracts and there was no option, financially, to return to the UK to see family until the end of each one.

Did we miss our families? Of course! Did we just get on with it? Pretty much.

I am starting year 11 in March and I am still homesick more times then not.... This time is especially bad because of the US holiday today, and then Christmas, starts to pick up in spring then not so bad through summer, and rinse and repeat.



Calgary Zoo isn't bad if you like zoo's. I never lived in Calgary, but did go down to Calgary from Edmonton once a month usually to walk around the zoo. Edmonton zoo was eh, and it was always nice to get away from Edmonton for a day...lol...

Calgary seems like a decent city, it also seems to me to be a bit of a transient city with people there who are not from there, so maybe there are groups with people in similar boat.

I always had to go outside of Vancouver to meet people, Vancouver itself was difficult, never broke into any of the cliques.

Squamish is good if your young, married, and have kids, loads to do for that category of people. Single, bad place to be, as is being married and no kids. Very family oriented town with most activities geared towards families.

When I worked in Whistler people seemed friendlier though, provided they had an Australian accent, Aussies seem to want to talk to anyone they can...lol

How about joiñing the Scottish society and taking up the bagpipes or something?

I never really had much a past life. I made my Faustian bargain when I was still a teenager.

I agree Vancouver is very strange for breaking into social circles. A few British friends have said the same thing as well as Canadian friends from other provinces. It has been difficult to make male friends though as most are either married, uninterested in friendship or want something else

I also sometimes think that because I'm not a size 0, petite, yoga obsessed, frenchbull dog owner living in a condo that goes against me lol - who could say.

Whistker is not my idea of fun. Great for snowboarding and looking round the village but it is all a very young crowd up there who want to party and pass out the next morning - those days are over for me.

I have already thought about moving away from Vancouver but I love my job and the people and it is difficult, especially to up sticks and start all over again somewhere else.

Then again, I am not getting any younger