yeah cause ex pats is full of joyous, balanced, optimistic and polite people....such a change!!

Most studies would suggest otherwise.

Happiness and Migration

I couldn't be bothered to read all the article once it said "economic migrant" as was never an economic migrant. We moved here to get away from Britain, just so happens our gamble paid off.

Sorry, I thought you were generalizing to the population in your assertions.

No, there's only about 6 or 7 grumpy old gits.

May I suggest doing a case study instead.

You may suggest this however, wasting tax payers money, peoples time to just prove my theory right seems at the very least pointless

Oi Mr. Oink amuse me, I'm bored and the tennis is on, don't talk to them about Barrie, been there once, won't do it again!!

Canada is AWESOME!!

Schadenfr whatevr . . .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XmZI...eature=related

Funny you should ask ("are you happy?") - hubby and I were just discussing the present and the future this morning, and trying to decide whether Canada was for us afterall.

Anyway, so to answer your question, well frankly I don't know anymore (and hubby seems to share this indecision).

Absolutely loved the place when we first moved here (2 years ago) - we were reasonably happy in the UK but decided to come here for a new challenge/adventure, to see where this would or could take us, having no kids and feeling it was a now or never type of thing (both now in our 40s).

The first year and a bit was absolutely great, we met lots of like minded people - people with no kids (or dependant ones anyway) and who liked to party as well as do (and introduce us to) exciting and fun stuff, lots of camping and experiencing what Canada - Alberta and a BC trip at least - had to offer. We grew to love where we lived, the social scene seemed just perfect (fire pits, BBQs with friends, beer flowing, lots of fun being had) as well as the environment (river to tube down on, friends owning land not far complete with Teepee we could use, fitting in a small community, lots of "visiting" etc etc) - Absolutely perfect for us.

The 2 year canniversary is soon approaching and suddenly, we are full of questions, doubts etc about the future here.

Ok, so I guess the biggest problem is Winter. Nothing prepares you for Winter or at least its length in Alberta (and I gather lots of other provinces apart from BC). We don't ski either so we don't have that special connection with winter that some may have. I enjoy the season, don't get me wrong, but I am not sure I can cope with its length in the long run - and it seems hubby knows he can't or won't.

So that was problem number 1 - there are other (smaller maybe) probs such as the difference in our sense of humour - I seem to regularly get into trouble upsetting people with my sense of humour and being french as well (the no nonsense straight talking side of being french), upsetting Canadians seems to come too easily for me and frankly, I don't enjoy upsetting people by just being me. Not a big thing I guess, but I don't like the idea of having to change who I am to fit in, well not to that extent anyway...

We have just applied for PR and wondering whether that was the right thing to do. I guess it doesn't matter if it wasn't though as all we stand to lose is money really (the 2k application fee). But what about the future? what should we do pension-wise, and where should we live if we leave Alberta? Don't know I could stomach the rain in BC ;-(...and I am shit scared about moving back to Britain in case I realise I made a mistake....because really, we love it here....if it wasn't for winter :-(

Hey you, sorry you're feeling shitty - please don't make any rash decisions til it's well into the warmer months - then see if there is anything you can do to make winter more bearable (go on a foreign holibob???). I'd miss ya thats for sure - as would lots of people down there

Anyway to answer Oinks queston - absolutely - winter stinks but meh - it'll be gone soon (please please please please please )

Am I happy?? In a word....YES!

But, it's not necessarily because of Canada, or indeed the Canadian people that makes me happy....it's because of my OH. Unlike many expats, I didn't plan to come here, blimey even as recent as September 2009 the thought of living in Canada wasn't even the remotest thought in my head.........until an old girlfriend(PR here since 2006) from 20 years ago got back in touch with me through the fabulous medium of FB and kicked off our relationship again.
As she was established in a good job as a psychiatric nurse and her daughters were both doing well at school here, it seemed the easiest/best option for us to continue any kind of relationship was for me to move out here. Roll the clock forward to the present and she's just about ready to submit her spousal application for my PR.

Now, having said all that, after being here for almost a year now I do love it here, have made some great friends and have met some wonderful people, some of which are our neighbours and they are some of the best neighbours I've ever had.

I have no real complaints about the weather. Indeed, if you were to have asked me 18 months ago to say the first wto words that come into my head associated with Canada, it would've been maple syrup and SNOW!!
So whilst some parts of Canada do experience long and very cold Winters, here in in Kamloops it wasn't too bad. Sure, we had a few cold spells(-20) but generally nothing lower than -10 and a reasonable amount of snow. Having spent 3 Winter deployments in Northern Norway with the Royal Marines, Im used to these kind of conditions and in a strange kinda way actually really enjoy them!
But, as much as I enjoy the snow.....I also love the nice hot summer we get here too, and certainly more reliable than in the UK.

Onto the cost of living. Well as I've only been here for just under 12 months and am still only temporary resident, I can only really comment on the cost of groceries as my OH takes care of all the other stuff at the moment.
Okay, so certain things are generally more expensive here, but coming from my last position in the UK in the transport industry, I can only suppose that the high costs are probably due to the huge distances that these goods have to be conveyed, whether by road or rail. At the end of the day, fuel costs have to be paid and so maybe this is reflected in the prices on the shelves. Just a thought.

In all honesty, you could look anywhere in the world and there will be people who have immigrated, some will be happy, some not so happy, and Canada is probably no different.
I have many friends dotted around the globe, some have moved through work, some for a 'better life' elsewhere.........and believe me not all of them are happy!

I realise that all of my judgements are based on a relatively short period of time in Canada (compared to many others on here) but of any pre-conceptions I may have had about Canada before in came for the first time in Jan last year....most are what I would've expected with only a few surprises thrown in.

Ask me again in 6 months or so once I have my PR and am able to work(legally ) whether or not I'm happy and maybe my answer will be different, but certainly for now, I love it here and yes....

I AM HAPPY!

Aww, thanks MMC. Don't worry, no rash decisions will be made, just starting to think about the longer term really and whether we can cope with winter long term. You are right though, will put my thinking cap on about how to make it more bearable...Yet to meet an Albertan who doesn't hate winter but still, they happily live here so there's hope for us yet

Wow I could have written most of that, especially the bit about winter, this one has been our sixth and it has been the worst temperature wise and the snowiest so far and yep it's still bleeping snowing.

OH have been discussing things a lot, he was doing much better this year and then I'm pretty sure I dragged him down, it started as a off remark around Christmas time and has led to some fairly serious discussions.

I spent sometime yesterday with a friend who is pretty sure they are going back after 12 months, I have to say I felt envious, it led to more discussions with OH and some tears of frustration and unsurity (if that's even a word) yesterday.

We are eligible to apply for citizenship, which we will apply for this year. DD is 16, she would be finishing school this summer if we were in the UK, it would be unfair to her to go back now. She has two years left at school here and seeing as it takes almost two years for Citizenship, those time frames coincide.

I still don't think we have a place in the UK, but I think we will start to look a little at BC (I do fancy the east coast though) or returning to the UK, with that in mind we are going to start selling off some of our unnecessary assets, we really don't need the amount of cars we have

This emigrating lark isn't easy is it?