I wanna move to Canada

[OlgaH]

Personally I got tired of snow and love living in sunny Florida where it's summer all year round, beautiful Gulf of Mexico, beach... Aloe, if you are thinking of moving to this side of the big pond, take a look at Florida. It's a great lifestyle and the real estate prices here right now are laughable.

Eduard, raising our glasses to our agreement and Florida too

[Eduard]

Eduard, raising our glasses to our agreement and Florida too

How can you beat +25C in december!?!?!    To Florida!

[Misha]

http://www.canadaimmigrants.com/forum.asp
 
Recent immigrants' experience of Canada.

Integration takes time, years even.

[Ade]

That first shot is just gorgeous.. but damn it looks COLD! 

No so much. Average temperatures in Winter in this part of Norway (Oslo latitude) are above -5C although we can have periods of -15C for several weeks at a time and even down to -30C for shorter periods. This year, it has been unbelievably warm and has only in the past few weeks dropped below 0C for any length of time. This morning it's -8C but it's forecast to be  6 on Monday but that is very unusual.

In summer I guess day time temperature average out to around 22C but peak around 30C.

If you are interested you can see some cool ( ) weather stats for Oslo here; http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Oslo/Oslo/Oslo/statistics.html
We are a little different as we are closer to the mountains but it's similar in averages if not extremes.

[Ade]

Oh, and Aloe, my point in posting was to show that you can get most, if not all, of what you can find in Canada, here in Europe and it's easier to get to or even emigrate to. Remember, you're in the EU now which means you can work just about anywhere in Western Europe if you have the skills. If you have the right skills, IT for instance, even language does not have to a barrier if your English is good (which it seems to be); I've worked/lived in 3 different non-English speaking countries without a problem. A Polish colleague of mine here also has done the same (he worked in Ireland for a while before joining the company I work for).

Seriously, if you want to live somewhere different with spectacular nature and culture, just find a job, do the paperwork and move (it's literally as simple as that even if in practice the details can be a pita). Some countries I reccommend; Switzerland (Geneva or Zurich), Norway (of course, but it doesn't suit everyone see http://dom.no for the Norwegian Russian group), Sweden (Stockholm is cool) and some parts of France and Germany (Munich was cool - I'm not a fan of the food there though and it was impossible to find good coffee ).

[Ranetka]

Integration takes time, years even.

I see you checked the link.
I don't disagree. Still I think it is important to consider all the possibilities.

[acctBill]

Aloe I was raised in Canada, born in the UK.  Canada is a great country lots of wide open spaces.  If you like city life you can live in Toronto or Vancouver, perhaps Montreal (how's your French).  Lots of smaller cities and towns with quick access to the countryside.  However I have to agree with Ade, you're already in Europe you can work in many world class cities in Europe with far less effort than it would take to move to Canada.

My family lived in Frankfurt, Germany for a while, great city run with German efficiency.  Major international hub for airlines, with many institutions of higher learning yet the countryside is reasonably close.  Large Russian community in Frankfurt and throughout Germany, you would never lack for Russian friends. 

My personal favourite is London.  Fantastic city with everything you need to live a good, rich life.  Again international hub for airlines, with many institutions of higher learning and some of the nicest countryside.  England is a rather small country so a 1-2 hour drive can take you well into the countryside, provided of course the motorway isn't jammed with others trying exactly the same thing.     Again as British media are so often to print London is really Londongrad, you hear Russian spoken everywhere. 

[Aloe]

Why not Switzerland or the French Alps? Load of nature and snow there.

Switzerland looks madly beautiful, but i've had enough of this trilingual country crap. Switzerland is quadrilingual, is it not?
I don't think my french pronunciation would ever get good. Still need to start studying it though. Sigh. I WANT ENGLISH!!

In Norway and such you may function without norwegian, but i want to understand people around me, not just function. These days i go to Brussels to study every day, and the french is driving me nuts!!!! So sick of it lol. Or rather so sick of not understanding it!! But too busy with my study to take up french too. Maybe later.. I WANT ENGLISH. (England is not an option. Many of the same things i hate in Belgium are there as well)

Why would your husband want to move to Canada?  He would lose his friends.  He would rarely see his family.  He would not have his language.  He would have to find a new job outside of all of his contacts and within a new system.  He would have to adapt to a new culture, i.e. his favorite food would probably not be available, his understanding of how things work would be different, etc. Everything that he has known and learned since an infant would change. The adjustment could be painful.
 
Wait....this is what you did...... and all RW do.....
 
Good luck.
 
I don't know if "anything" is "wrong" with you, but you seem to have mood swings.  Have you told hubby yet?  The way you describe your interactions, he does not seem receptive to change.
 
There is an American expression, "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence"   (translation:  other situations look better than your own, even when they are not really so).

Lol, Gator.

Yes i asked him, i already described his reaction in the first post. I am also aware of the expression (and the phenomenon behind it), that's why i wrote the questions that i wrote in the first post.

Canada is wonderful choice, Aloe. If that can be an option for the two of you someday, allow me to suggest the BC area/Vancouver. It's pricey but hopefully you can finish school and both you and hubby can find a promising career there...

I was indeed looking at Vancouver area.

However what i'm studying right now would be useless in Canada. That's why i wanna move ASAP!! So i can study something relevant in Canada. Or so i can continue with my useless but a little more relevant if done in Canada study, cuz its local, and cuz it's NOT in dutch. Who needs dutch outside of belgium and holland? Nobody, that's who.  (i'm studying linguistics, in case you're wondering)

My daughter would like to live in Bruges, Belgium.

That's just a romantic notion on her part. Who would like to live in a city where the tourist presence probably outnumbers the actual population? Even in the cold rain, there are so many tourists everywhere, it's like trying to get through a busy market square. Literally crowds of people. I'm sure that gets boring very fast.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

I think studying the language from absolute zero, then entering university to study in that language, within 2 years of arrival, is not just blooming, it's tropical speed blooming. But what can i do if my mood isn't blooming? If i don't see this as a good place to raise children? I already said why.. ecology, economy, too many nuclear plants around, sucky weather, so crammed, lack of free space, no nature.

Siberia or Alaska is also an option regarding flora, fаuna and a lot of snow 

Siberia too bad employment prospects for hubby. Alaska does look madly beautiful, i'd love to live there, or at least try to. Dunno if they need programmers there?

[Eduard]

   Again as British media are so often to print London is really Londongrad, you hear Russian spoken everywhere.

These days you here Russian spoken pretty much everywhere. Seems like half of the Russians are living overseas nowdays. I've been to London - nice city with a lot of history, but I didn't care for the weather and the food. We were getting VIP treatment though so it was 1st class all the way... live interview on Kiss FM in London City... man, those were the days 

[Dave13]

Aloe, yes we need programmers in Alaska, our economy is doing great since we have resources, I've been here for over 30 years it's a great and beautiful state, this time of the year can be a drag, but in June just like Saint Petersburg we have the White Nights. 
 
Dave

[Dave13]

Near our home!

[JR]

I know what you are talking about .  In 10 years I have lived in what seemed  like every sht hole in American south. I hated it but my "true grit"of a husband refused to move away . He grew up in the south. Its his home. And he likes his quiet small southern towns. I am a big city girl. I love civilization around me and instead I was forced to live  in places where Walmart was the only boutique in 100 miles radius. It took me 7 years to convince my husband to move. Now that we have moved to TX, I feel much better.  Its not exactly where I want to be, but give me a few more years and I will get there. You cant force  men to take such decisions fast. They need time to become comfortable with it. Keep at it. Gently, but steadily. And, btw, there is nothing wrong with you.

It is sooooo sad he put a gun to your head and made you move there against your will. I am sure you had absolutely NO knowledge of what you were getting into or leaving behind. Damn your husband is a cruel man to have decieved you that way....
It may sound like compromise to you but to me seven years of hounding doesn't sound like much fun.
And thanks for clarifying that it's ALL ABOUT YOU ))))
Yes, it seems you have acclimated quite nicely!

[SANDRO43]

i've had enough of this trilingual country Switzerland is quadrilingual, is it not?

Yes, if you consider its Romansch areas (yellow in the map):

Romansh (also spelled Romansch, Rumants(c)h, or Romanche; Romansh: rumantsch/rumauntsch/romontsch; German: Rätoromanisch; Italian: Romancio) is one of the four national languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian and French. It is one of the Rhaeto-Romance languages, believed to have descended from the Vulgar Latin variety spoken by Roman era occupiers of the region, and, as such, is closely related to French, Occitan and Lombard, as well as other Romance languages to a lesser extent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh_language

[Misha]

I was indeed looking at Vancouver area.

Nice, but expensive. Easiest place to get jobs right now is in Alberta. Even unskilled labourers can earn quite a bit of money if they are willing and able to work in the oil industry.

Siberia too bad employment prospects for hubby. Alaska does look madly beautiful, i'd love to live there, or at least try to. Dunno if they need programmers there?

I know many foreigner programmers in Canada. Quite often, getting a work visa is much easier than immigrating.

[GQBlues]

So you'd like to be around nature, you say? Hhhhmmm...let's count the reasons why....you shouldn't....
 
 
1. 
 
 
2.
 
 
3.
 
 
4. 
 
 
5.
 
 
6.
 
 
7.
 
 
8.
 
 
9.
 
 
10.
 
 
11.
 
 
....should I continue to the counts the ways.....?      Joking aside though Aloe, I know I need not tell you what you must first do in your situation.

[Eduard]

It is sooooo sad he put a gun to your head and made you move there against your will. I am sure you had absolutely NO knowledge of what you were getting into or leaving behind. Damn your husband is a cruel man to have decieved you that way....
It may sound like compromise to you but to me seven years of hounding doesn't sound like much fun.
And thanks for clarifying that it's ALL ABOUT YOU ))))
Yes, it seems you have acclimated quite nicely!

JR, I don't understand where is the problem here? She obviously loves her husband and stayed with him all these years. All she is saying is that she was unhappy about one thing - the geographical location where they were living. There's nothing wrong with that IMO. And she did what any loyal woman would do - slowly worked on getting him to accept the idea of moving to a place where she would feel better. Marriage is always a compromise and the people in a successful marriage usually have to compromise and negotiate. I'm sure that her husband didn't just "sacrifice" his own happiness for her and also got something nice out of the deal.

[Donna_Pedro]

And thanks for clarifying that it's ALL ABOUT YOU ))))
Yes, it seems you have acclimated quite nicely!

hmmm fiesty..   Keep it coming.
 

[Donna_Pedro]

aloe,
 
if you speak russian, here is a livejouranal you might want to check.
http://odin-moy-den.livejournal.com
 
Pick "Canada" in locations menu and you will see a lot of photo reports from Russian people living there. These are all real people you can talk to and ask questions and a lot of good photos.
 

[Steamer]

Switzerland looks madly beautiful, but i've had enough of this trilingual country crap. Switzerland is quadrilingual, is it not?
I don't think my french pronunciation would ever get good. Still need to start studying it though. Sigh. I WANT ENGLISH!!

Aloe, you're very cute but you're such a pain in the butt. Tell your husband Hello!

[Ade]

aloe,
 
if you speak russian, here is a livejouranal you might want to check.
http://odin-moy-den.livejournal.com

One of my wife's favourite sites.
 
Aloe, most people in Norway speak English. Even the national TV channels contain a lot of English content subtitled in Norwegian. I understand your need to feel like you can understand everything though.

FWIW, even though I'd never move back to the UK myself, it has a lot of nature there still. Not all of it is built up suburbia, although I'll agree that most of Southern England is. But I've attached a couple of pictures from various places n the UK that you might not know of (and a few you probably do). The Brecon Beacons National park is in South Wales, just a short drive from where I grew up. Snowdonia National park in North Wales, The Lake district in Northern England and then, of course, Scotland.

[JR]

JR, I don't understand where is the problem here? She obviously loves her husband and stayed with him all these years. All she is saying is that she was unhappy about one thing - the geographical location where they were living. There's nothing wrong with that IMO. And she did what any loyal woman would do - slowly worked on getting him to accept the idea of moving to a place where she would feel better. Marriage is always a compromise and the people in a successful marriage usually have to compromise and negotiate. I'm sure that her husband didn't just "sacrifice" his own happiness for her and also got something nice out of the deal.

I am sitting here eating a really delicious apple, I mean it's REALLY delicious, you know, the kind of delicious that is better than sex, if that's possible, which it probably isn't but that's not really the point, is it? So wtf is the point? Hell if I know but if I gotta splain it to ya you still wouldn't be able to 'see' it cuz ya can't taste it...ya dig?
 

[jeff9556]

Oh, and Aloe, my point in posting was to show that you can get most, if not all, of what you can find in Canada, here in Europe and it's easier to get to or even emigrate to. Remember, you're in the EU now which means you can work just about anywhere in Western Europe if you have the skills. If you have the right skills, IT for instance, even language does not have to a barrier if your English is good (which it seems to be); I've worked/lived in 3 different non-English speaking countries without a problem. A Polish colleague of mine here also has done the same (he worked in Ireland for a while before joining the company I work for).

Agree, move within the EU - Norway, Sweden, Denmark would be good choices for nature and snow - especially the northern parts of Sweden - and you simply cannot beat the social benefits in these countries.

Other than that I'd probably head to New Zealand or Australia, and stuff the snow (you can always head to the mountains in the Winter in New Zealand), kids also love to roll in the sand on the beach, build sand castles and enjoy being able to run around outside without having to pull on the winter clothes first (for 8 months of the year...). Can't beat that nature down under!

[Aloe]

lol jeff, you may have a point... But i read if you spend 1 hour in australian sun without sunscreen, you'll burn to bubbles. I kinda hate sunscreen, it's all sticky and it makes clothes yellow. eugh. So purely based on that, it's a no for australia for the moment Maybe i'm mistaken though?
Also about Canada, do houses have personal heating, like here in Belgium, you need to make your own heat? If so, how much does it cost per month? Here it costs 130 euro per month for electricity and heating (of a 2 bedroom apartment), and you will be very cold at that temperature. Considering that the average salary is about 1800 netto, that is a huge amount, that is like 7% of your entire salary already, not counting other bills. And i'm freezing here, i need temperature like 25 C in the house. So how much would that cost, and also what % of salary would that be? And is it possible to live on one salary in Canada? Or like here, it would be quite difficult with two, and completely impossible with children.

(i hear heating plus electricity costs only 41 euro in switzerland, those lucky people!) and their salaries are probably higher too.

By the way, hubby warmed up to Canada! yay

[Aloe]

aloe,
 
if you speak russian, here is a livejouranal you might want to check.
http://odin-moy-den.livejournal.com
 
Pick "Canada" in locations menu and you will see a lot of photo reports from Russian people living there. These are all real people you can talk to and ask questions and a lot of good photos.

super awesome!

[Misha]

Also about Canada, do houses have personal heating, like here in Belgium, you need to make your own heat? If so, how much does it cost per month? Here it costs 130 euro per month for electricity and heating (of a 2 bedroom apartment), and you will be very cold at that temperature. Considering that the average salary is about 1800 netto, that is a huge amount, that is like 7% of your entire salary already, not counting other bills. And i'm freezing here, i need temperature like 25 C in the house. So how much would that cost, and also what % of salary would that be? And is it possible to live on one salary in Canada? Or like here, it would be quite difficult with two, and completely impossible with children.

I live in a small northern city (i.e. we get -30 and occasionally -40 weather). In the winter, in our 3-bedroom townhouse, we will spend a maximum of $120 per month for natural gas and I have yet to pay this much this year. This will be for the furnace (heating) and for hot water (we have our own hot water tank). This sum, $120, would be for a very, very cold month when it is consistently -30 or colder. In the summer, when we don't heat the townhouse, it drops down to less than $40 as we are just heating water for the usual needs (dishwasher, showers, laundry, etc...). Electricity costs us around $30 or $35 per month (give or take).


If you were living in a house, it would likely cost more, if you were living in an apartment, it would cost less and sometimes heating would be included. It varies quite a bit.


How much would this be as a percentage of salary? Depends on the salary. In our case, much less than 5 per cent of our net salaries covers this.


Can you live on one salary in Canada? Yes, of course, but it all depends what kind of lifestyle you want and how much you want to spend in relation to the salary earned by the one person working