NZ to Canada
#16
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Joined: Nov 2007
Location: homeless
Posts: 1,756
Re: NZ to Canada
We originally planned to move to Canada/Vancouver from 80's. Not NZ.
the main reason we chose NZ was - because of money. it's cheaper to move to NZ than Canada. Kiwi $ was a joke at that time.
then mum regreted a bit ... (the first a few years) .. should have gone to Canada... . she actually thought about moving to Canada from NZ again...well it's too late... and it wasn't possible. Because I was already 17/18 years old.
anyway mum/me/my brother have never liked NZ much. She visited here before making a decision but she didn't like much..... or impressed about what NZ has to offer - better than the UK or Japan though..
Canada -- Better future/more opportunities for kids in the long run. -- remember.
to be frank, if I lived in north america, I probably would have studied music, Not boring Economics .. or public policy.. or law .. Hell NO.
and tried to get into The Juilliard School or The Curtis Institute of Music. and think I probably become a lecturer at uni somewhere or teaching kids violin. Still, it depresses me occasionally. I don't see myself studying music here.... its not worth.
Living in Wellington, my whole life has changed. kids are strongly influenced by what you see....what you hear ..in your everyday life... aren't they? while you were growing up..
...I never thought about becoming a public sector in NZ - (It WASN'T MY DREAM.) but that's what I am doing...now. What else options I've got here then?
Personally, NZ isn't my cup of tea. It's too unsophisticated.
the main reason we chose NZ was - because of money. it's cheaper to move to NZ than Canada. Kiwi $ was a joke at that time.
then mum regreted a bit ... (the first a few years) .. should have gone to Canada... . she actually thought about moving to Canada from NZ again...well it's too late... and it wasn't possible. Because I was already 17/18 years old.
anyway mum/me/my brother have never liked NZ much. She visited here before making a decision but she didn't like much..... or impressed about what NZ has to offer - better than the UK or Japan though..
Canada -- Better future/more opportunities for kids in the long run. -- remember.
to be frank, if I lived in north america, I probably would have studied music, Not boring Economics .. or public policy.. or law .. Hell NO.
and tried to get into The Juilliard School or The Curtis Institute of Music. and think I probably become a lecturer at uni somewhere or teaching kids violin. Still, it depresses me occasionally. I don't see myself studying music here.... its not worth.
Living in Wellington, my whole life has changed. kids are strongly influenced by what you see....what you hear ..in your everyday life... aren't they? while you were growing up..
...I never thought about becoming a public sector in NZ - (It WASN'T MY DREAM.) but that's what I am doing...now. What else options I've got here then?
Personally, NZ isn't my cup of tea. It's too unsophisticated.
Last edited by crap coffee; Feb 24th 2010 at 12:12 am.
#17
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 14
Re: NZ to Canada
Decisions like that are very personal, different people look for different lifestyles. And financial comfort makes a big difference in making these decisions. If a person has problems with the career/job, than a chance that person would want to leave is higher. Not too many people would choose to quit a well-paid job one likes and immigrate to another country, I'd think.
I am actually looking for that unsophistication in a warm place, I like small quiet towns... But then again, our situation is different, we almost achieved what we wanted, we're not looking for career opportunities, we just want a breathtaking view in a good climate and a safe life. NZ seems to offer that.
But for young families with kids I'd probably say Canada is a better place if you have a choice. And winters haven't bothered us until this year. Strange, why now?
Reading all the posts I begin to like Canada even more Maybe all we need is to spend 1-3 months south each year and we'll be perfectly content?
#18
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 14
Re: NZ to Canada
Oh, and we really liked coffee in NZ. I don't drink coffee in North America, I call it American coffee. It doesn't even smell good... But we tried several places in NZ and coffee they made was delicious, more european style. So if you like your coffee, be prepared to sacrifice
#19
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: homeless
Posts: 1,756
Re: NZ to Canada
Oh, and we really liked coffee in NZ. I don't drink coffee in North America, I call it American coffee. It doesn't even smell good... But we tried several places in NZ and coffee they made was delicious, more european style. So if you like your coffee, be prepared to sacrifice
I realize these days.... coffee ISN'T Everything in my life..
#20
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: NZ to Canada
to be frank, if I lived in north america, I probably would have studied music, Not boring Economics .. or public policy.. or law .. Hell NO.
and tried to get into The Juilliard School or The Curtis Institute of Music. and think I probably become a lecturer at uni somewhere or teaching kids violin. Still, it depresses me occasionally. I don't see myself studying music here.... its not worth.
Living in Wellington, my whole life has changed. kids are strongly influenced by what you see....what you hear ..in your everyday life... aren't they? while you were growing up..
...I never thought about becoming a public sector in NZ - (It WASN'T MY DREAM.) but that's what I am doing...now. What else options I've got here then?
Personally, NZ isn't my cup of tea. It's too unsophisticated.
and tried to get into The Juilliard School or The Curtis Institute of Music. and think I probably become a lecturer at uni somewhere or teaching kids violin. Still, it depresses me occasionally. I don't see myself studying music here.... its not worth.
Living in Wellington, my whole life has changed. kids are strongly influenced by what you see....what you hear ..in your everyday life... aren't they? while you were growing up..
...I never thought about becoming a public sector in NZ - (It WASN'T MY DREAM.) but that's what I am doing...now. What else options I've got here then?
Personally, NZ isn't my cup of tea. It's too unsophisticated.
#21
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: NZ to Canada
IT's nice to know I have my NZ passport in my back pocket if I wanna use it. I can always come back when I'm old
#22
Banned
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 50
Re: NZ to Canada
I went into a government dept yesterday, and I swear it was like being in a bladerunner/zombie slasher movie. The 30+ people were at their desks. Nobody was talking to each other. There was no music, no communication. It was an eerie place to wander through.
I totally understand why you wouldn't want to work in such an environment - it's not natural!
Go back to Uni and do something you're passionate about, take out a student loan. Life's too short to be doing stuff you hate.
Last edited by dytopia; Feb 25th 2010 at 7:38 pm.
#23
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: homeless
Posts: 1,756
Re: NZ to Canada
If I was 23, not 33, I would go back to Uni and study Toxicology/foodscience.. and would become a scientist and live in the UK.
I am not sure I actually _hate_ what I've been doing but I can tell you for sure I have got no true passion for it - that sometimes drives me nut. Life is sad.
Last edited by crap coffee; Apr 15th 2010 at 9:51 am.
#24
Re: NZ to Canada
I agree with much of what CAN2NZ said except this caveat: CAN is talking about Ontario, I'm talking about Vancouver, BC, and there are a LOT of differences. Vancouver is not necessarily an easy city to get around by car; it's not really a typical north american city in that sense, it's more like a european city, which was a deliberate policy by city planners. Also Vancouver is hemmed in by the mountains, the ocean and the US border so there's less urban sprawl. There are no highways into DT vancouver, for example. I personally prefer that and I think it makes the city more liveable, but people who live on the outskirts and commute DT can struggle with that and bad traffic, and there is traffic into residential areas (unfortunately). If you're serious about moving here and working in/near the core, I'd strongly recommend either buying really close to transit (Skytrain, West Coast Express, express bus) or buying close to the core.
Also, RE here is very expensive.
I also disagree about winter. Unlike Ontario, this part of BC is really temperate. For instance, we've had no snow this year. That's not unusual...more often it rains. Spring, Summer and Autumn here are generally pretty good...we don't get muggy or smoggy due to the sea winds. I really think Van has the best climate in Canada..not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter.
edited to add: But I hear great things about Ontario's Muskoka/cottage country ;-)
Also, RE here is very expensive.
I also disagree about winter. Unlike Ontario, this part of BC is really temperate. For instance, we've had no snow this year. That's not unusual...more often it rains. Spring, Summer and Autumn here are generally pretty good...we don't get muggy or smoggy due to the sea winds. I really think Van has the best climate in Canada..not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter.
edited to add: But I hear great things about Ontario's Muskoka/cottage country ;-)
#25
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: NZ to Canada
I lived in Canada for about 10 years (Montreal) and I've visited Vancouver. To my surprise, I was actually quite disappointed with Vancouver. Despite being there in summer when the weather was nice, I was surprised at the number of homeless, druggies and obvious social problems. The much touted Gastown area seemed rather dead, save for gaggles of overweight American cruise ship passengers. To be frank, the city didn't have a very friendly vibe. It also seemed expensive. Can't imagine what it would be like in grey, rainy winter. Montreal, in my opinion, has a whole lot more "soul" and is probably more liveable.
You must have been there a while ago, because I recognise that description from about 3-4 years ago. Gastown has improved a lot since then.
Having said that, Van does have soul, but it's a very tribal city so if you hit somewhere fake like DT van you can come away thinking that's it. But that's not it, there's a completely different scene going on in other parts of the city.
The homeless problem - we seem to inherit a lot from other, more intemperate parts of canada. It's concentrated because that's where all the services are. I dunno. I think homelessness is everywhere in the west since they closed all the institutions down.
#26
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: NZ to Canada
I lived in Canada for about 10 years (Montreal) and I've visited Vancouver. To my surprise, I was actually quite disappointed with Vancouver. Despite being there in summer when the weather was nice, I was surprised at the number of homeless, druggies and obvious social problems. The much touted Gastown area seemed rather dead, save for gaggles of overweight American cruise ship passengers. To be frank, the city didn't have a very friendly vibe. It also seemed expensive. Can't imagine what it would be like in grey, rainy winter. Montreal, in my opinion, has a whole lot more "soul" and is probably more liveable.
#27
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: homeless
Posts: 1,756
Re: NZ to Canada
My good old Pommey mate (I've been known him since I was 21) who lived in Montreal for 6 years, as he was a lecturer at Uni of MacGill, and has been a lecturer (Professor) at VUW for rest of his life.... well he often described to me people at his work in Montreal..... how unhappy they were, terrible atmospehere, unfriendly/rude, everybody calls as professor.... and too cold/too much snow..you can go nowhere in winter time..no much money to travel to Western part of Canada ...and so on. When he finally moved to Nz as a professor, _peace_ at last....much happier here.... nice happy positive people at the department .....with warmer weather...so hes gonna retire here....
as for druggies in Van, my mum ..she often says its a bit concerning. some areas completely shut... you are not even allowed to walk into... cos full of homeless, druggies, and people who used to own properties there, they just had to leave...without selling them ... But hey, which country in the world with no homeless? We do have homeless here in Wellington too.... wonder,,, why they sit on streets and ask money???
Last edited by crap coffee; Apr 19th 2010 at 4:26 am.