Museums and Galleries aren't free here though. Just this afternoon we went to the McMichael in Kleinburg, mainly to see an exhibition of Mary Pratt paintings.

$35 for 2 adults + parking. Admittedly not a huge amount, but not free.

We also have annual memberships at the AGO and the ROM in the city. They aren't free either.

That is one of the nicest aspects of living in DC. Apart from the Kennedy Center stuff everything connected with the Smithsonian is free. You often have to get tickets for certain exhibitions or events but they were free.

Excellent, however of little use to me since I have no intention of living in the USA ever again.

Any regrets about coming to Canada?
No We've been here for 10 months, and settled in very quickly. We've not suffered from any of the homesickness issues that I have heard people often speak about.. I would say we feel more at home here than we did back in Scotland.

Anything you missed strongly and couldn't live without?
No, because if I couldn't live without them I would be back in Scotland! Sure there are things I miss... I would like to be able to see my family more. I miss the depth of history that Scotland has. I miss close proximity to impressive museums and art galleries. I miss affordable cheese (yes, I went there!) and various cakes and biscuits (though my aim is to learn how to make them for myself, for example belgian buns, vanilla slices and coffee cake lol) but these are not things I can't live without.

Any difficulties finding a job? - Thousands of job interviews and no success?
Both my partner and I came out with plans of being self-employed. We got his business up and running quickly, which was a lifesaver. For myself, I don't think I've really worked out what I want to do yet, but thankfully we make enough to cover our bills at the moment so I can afford to think a little before making a decision!

Has your standard of living improved? Was it all worth it?
As others have said, it depends how you define standard of living. Back in Scotland we had a reasonable amount of savings. Here we have none, it's all been used up. So it doesn't put us in the best position re. buying a house, but hopefully that will change over the next 6 months or so. In Scotland, even with our savings, we couldn't afford anything that we actually wanted to live in. Here, we're paying less in rent and living in our own house (not a pokey wee poorly-built flat) with a garden where I can grow things (the neighbours kids don't pull up everything I plant) and we can enjoy the quiet (not neighbours having arguments or coming back drunk at 3am). We live in the countryside, and there are actual seasons, not just cold and rain followed by warm and rain. It means a lot to see blue sky, and green fields (or even white fields!), rather than grey and rain. And I don't have to work somewhere that made me stressed and upset - can't fail to see the upside of that one! We can go for walks on the beach, and we've taken up ice skating for the winter.

So financially, we are currently worse off. But morale-wise, we are much better. It's hard to put a value on happiness, but I know I am much happier here than I was living in Glasgow....

Fair enough. I'm just psyching myself up for when I have to go back.

Is it soon?

Soonish I guess unless I choose to go a live in somewhere worser and colder than Vancouver.

Buffalo ?

Oh dear.

Have you seen Wednesday's forecast?

DC?

Astana, Tashkent or Dushanbe. Not somewheres that has good sushi, beer or decent bands. It's not nice to realize how far down the totem pole you've slid. I blame Lyotard.

Lovely.

Oh dear. But I think some of those places have iced hockey teams.

You'll feel right at home.

You'll get drinkable beer and plenty of bands, if you like Hotel California and the Macarena. On a Casio keyboard.

I'd rather go there than the US.

There seems to be a rennahsonce in the quality of pizza over the last year or so, plus the fishing has picked up so I think I'll try and stay here for a while longer.