Hi all not been on here for a while,after alot of talking we have decided to give canada another go

We moved to calgary last july on a twp with our 2 kids one 13 and the other 8,the 13 year old did not take to it at all and was really home sick so after 3 mths we come back to the uk,but i know now that we didnt give it a chance,my other half never wanted to come back to the uk but he did because he could see how unhappy our son was and that was making me unhappy.
But now after being back for 10mths we have decided to give it another go ,i find myself thinking what if all the time and i can't keep doing that.

We have given ourselves 3 years,seems along time but our oldest will be 18 by then and he can decide what he wants to do(at the mo he wants to go to uni in the uk)and we are going to go the skilled worker route(other half is a carpenter)
I just had to tell someone about it as i m so happy,can't tell family they didnt want us to go in the first place so don't think they will be to happy.

I found this site so helpful the last time ,hopefully it will be again fingers crossed all goes to plan

Jamie

Well that is interesting news. I really do agree with you. We came here years ago and then my sister moved to Vancouver. We both hated it at first but I was too proud to admit I thought I had made a mistake, and my sister said she had told herself that she had to give it two years.

Anyway, 40 odd years later we are both still here. I still love England. I always miss the countryside and the seaside, but every time I go back there I am really glad to come home to Canada again. I took my 15 year old granddaughter for a visit at Easter and although there were problems staying with family, but discounting that, she said that it was a lovely place to visit, but she wouldn't want to live there -- there are too many people and too much traffic!!

When we got back to Calgary on the return journey, the first thing she wanted was Taco Time!!! And as she was eating her food, she said "Look at that - isn't it wonderful? A toilet sign and its right outside the toilets!!

Actually that comment didn't refer to England, but to Paris where we wandered around Gare du Nord for about 15 minutes, following toilet signs that disappeared -- you would follow the arrow to toilets and before you found the toilet - the sign had vanished.

Good luck on your second try, maybe the 1st time wasn't quite the right time and this one will work better? At least your going to have some familiarity straight away from you 1swt experience Very best of luck to you, it must have been a hard thing to decide upon.

So Jamie are you staying in the UK for 3 years to let your eldest finish A levels and go to uni before you return to Canada?

Hi Jamie,

I'm new to the forum and felt the need to reply here. I've been where you are!

After moving here (Calgary) in the 70's we decided to go back to the UK 6 years later. We spent a few short months there realising what a mistake we had made! On our return we came back to Calgary, and have built stronger friendships here than we ever had in the UK.Both of us still miss it in someways, but it's nice to relive the good parts when we return on holiday!

At the time we moved back to Canada our children were very young so there was no problem there. Later we had the opportunity to move to California, our then 12 year old did not want to go and we spent a few months helping her to settle. When it was time to return home (Calgary) she didn't want to come back! I find that children are far more flexible than we think and what seems like the end of the world at first soon becomes an adventure.

Returning to Canada was by far the best choice for us, you will surely make the right decision for you. Just be brave enough to make a decision! The homesickness may never go away, but it becomes less important! Canada is home now!
Sorry, a long post!
P.

Yo yo stories make for compelling reading.

Good luck.

Hello, this may be worth checking out (I have seen it on the forum before)...if your child wants to go to university in the UK then (from what I remember) he must have been resident in the UK for 3 years previous to going to university, in order to be treated as a home student, otherwise he will be treated as an international student and this will mean his tuition fees are more expensive. This is all I remember from previous posts, I am sorry if it causes more hastle for you but it's something that I thought might be helpful

Thanks for all you advice and support,it was so hard to come back to the uk after we worked so hard to get out there,i just put it down to the wrong time for us,i feel so much better knowing we are going to try again,it just feels right.
Our son informed us last night that he wants to come back with us(bloody teenagers)he did not like school out there but thinks college will be diffrent and being older if he wants to come back to visit the uk he can on his own,i had the shock of my life i didnt want to leave him but he has lots of family here so he would be ok
He has money put away for college so thats not a problem,i do think you have to pay for uni if you have been in the uk less then 3 years so we will have to pay either way.

Your right about kids being flexible my daughter didnt want to go last time(she was 9)but she loved it there,she is the same this time but i know she will be fine she is really out going and normally happy where ever we are.

Its good to know that i was not alone in the homesickness,but like you say it does not go away but you learn to live with it

Just keeping my fingers crossed it all goes to plan,we are going to apply for our visa after xmas not sure how long thats going to take but hopefully it will all work out.