Canada

[davesol]

you over here yet pentarou? i got to canada in january, spent 3 months in toronto, 3 in vancouver and just came back to toronto yesterday. are you / kryss / anyone else in that area and want to meet up for a drink?

[kryss]

I'm in Calgary so you'll have to forgive me for not meeting up.

[pentarou]

you over here yet pentarou? i got to canada in january, spent 3 months in toronto, 3 in vancouver and just came back to toronto yesterday. are you / kryss / anyone else in that area and want to meet up for a drink?

I'll be in Toronto in just under 2 weeks! Drop me a pm on here if you're about and we can sort out a drink somewhere

[Lyris]

Nice to read about Canada on this forum, that's one place I've always considered as an emigration option.

[112]

Nice to read about Canada on this forum, that's one place I've always considered as an emigration option.

Ive recently had about 20 family members over from Toronto and Montreal, and they all asked me the same question lol........ 'When you moving over to T-Dot?' And I said soon......... as in the next few years or so....... Fact is i go every year to see friends and family, I may as well get a place there or something.

Canada is such a beautiful country! Has everything you can ever need! So Lyris, we could be neighbours in the not too distant future

112

[Lyris]

So how are all the new Canucks getting on? I've been doing my "skip the country" research ever since I was about 15 and from what I've heard, new immigrants tend to go through phases of euphoria, depression, then contentedness. Has that been true of the people here?

What do you all think the ups and downs of your new homes are?

[Userfailed]

A post I can contribute to!

Just got back after 4 months in Toronto and have to say it is an awesome place would have been there longer but for a family thing.
Being away from family and friends is strange at first but Skype video chat sorts that out, getting around is easy and the people are really cool in general.

Downside is that as I took money out as I went along rather than one big transfer the exchange rate went from 1.72 in Jan to 1.45 in May although it is coming back a bit now.

As a result I can recommend the following:
There is also a really good Thai place (not much to look at very studenty) near Bathurst station behind Future Bakery.
Two Toonie Tuesday at Rainbow cinemas is also good as all films, all day for $4(there is one downtown, a 5 minute walk from King station opposite a good wine shop that offers a decent range of Dan Ackroyd wines!).

Hooters is rubbish and the Brass Rail is expensive, but specialises in 'European' lapdances.

If anyone wants anymore advice let me know.

[J0e Musashi]

I want to know more please.

Can you elaborate on the 'European' lapdances?

[davesol]

A post I can contribute to!

Just got back after 4 months in Toronto and have to say it is an awesome place would have been there longer but for a family thing.
Being away from family and friends is strange at first but Skype video chat sorts that out, getting around is easy and the people are really cool in general.

Downside is that as I took money out as I went along rather than one big transfer the exchange rate went from 1.72 in Jan to 1.45 in May although it is coming back a bit now.

yeah, had the exact same problem with the exchange rate - i came here on holiday about 4 years ago and was getting over 2 dollars to the pound, good times!

I've only been here 6 months so maybe i'm still in the euphoria stage - although i miss friends / family i can chat to people through skype and i don't really miss actually living in england at all.

the main disadvantages of being here for me are:
- i miss english ale
- there are some random things that cost a lot more than at home (such as car insurance)
- I played a lot of footie in england which is more difficult to do here, especially 11-a-side
- the winter weather

the good things are:
- the people here are generally very friendly and willing to help out strangers
- there are lots of foreigners from all over the world here, however they all seem to buy into candian values and "being canadian" when they get here which means that you can experience a lot of foreign cultures whilst at the same time everyone is really proud of being canadian. it's king of hard to explain
- whilst there are some issues with gangs, the problems seem to be confined to small pockets outside of the centre of cities - no chavs all over the place
- low levels of crime
- the summer weather

Can you elaborate on the 'European' lapdances?

the dancers have underarm hair?

[Neil]

Intrigued re lapdances.

Bonerfide interest, what's the difference between Euro and any other.

[kryss]

Bonerfide interest

Gigiddy gigiddy.

I was disappointed to find out that the waitresses in Hooters aren't topless. Where I got that idea from I have no idea. My in-laws all laugh about it.

[Userfailed]

Euaropean lapdances are:

1: You don't sit on your hands, infact some of the ladies encourage the use of them
2: you cannot use hands to go near the 'lady garden' area

As for football soccer, if you are with SWAP or know anyone who is they were planning on hiring out BMO Field (home of the mighty Toronto F.C) between a load of them, I think it was going to cost around $150 an hour between everyone who plays. Do that and you too can play at a club that has Danny Dichio as assistant manager.

Final fun fact: Medievil Times is awesome, if you want to go the number for reservations is 1 888 WE JOUST.

[J0e Musashi]

Hooters sucks, I went into a rip-off version in Amsterdam. I can't even remember the name as I was so off my head (the Heineken is well strong there), but I do know it sucked because they wasn't topless.

Euaropean lapdances are:

1: You don't sit on your hands, infact some of the ladies encourage the use of them
2: you cannot use hands to go near the 'lady garden' area

But knockers are in? Damnit, I knew I should have gone over there and joined my Grandpappy's construction company.

Medievil Times

ZOMFG. I.Am.Going.To.C&A.Baby!

[Ghost]

Sorry guys about not updating this thread sooner, been really busy recently. Anyway I flew back to the UK at the beginning of June and sadly things didnt end up going very well. Canada I loved and I wish I was still out there, other than everyone thinking I was Australian the people are all fantastic, theres a few douches but on the whole I think people are friendlier in Canada than they are in the UK. I ended up staying in London, Ontario for the whole year and pretty much worked my ass off and had no holidays, which meant I couldnt see anything of the country really (although I visited Trenton and Toronto a couple of times on the weekend).

Thats probably my biggest regret as I was working to be able to stay out there and although I ended up meeting all of the requirements listed to apply for the work permit I was refused a positive labour market opinion which means I cant apply. Me and my boss went through all of the paperwork and sent it all off, a month later he gets a call from an Indian/Pakistani woman telling him she was refusing my application as I wasnt doing a job a Canadian couldnt do (which is silly as there a no jobs I can think of that Canadians couldnt do) and told him I shouldnt even be in the country in the first place and said she had no idea why I was working. Obviously me and my boss was pretty pissed off as I had been fully management trained and I met all of the requirements needed for the work permit. I spoke to some of my friends and other people and they pretty much told me the same thing, if you are white and you want a visa to stay dont live in Ontario.

I was told that if I lived in British Columbia or Alberta then I would be much more likely to get approved. One of my friends told me that he knew a British woman who was married to a Canadian and had lived, worked and had children in Canada for over 5 years but was still refused citizenship for absolutely no reason, whereas some of his other friends who live up north managed to get citizenship without any problems and in less time. Apparently half of the people in the government offices in Toronto arent even Canadian. The thing that everyone told me is that in Ontario the only people they give visas to are Africans and middle easterns. Whether or not that is true I dont know but that seems to be what most people who I spoke to think. What I think is the reason is that in Ontario there is no labour shortage (I think Ontario has the highest unemployment rate in Canada) so there is less allocation for work permits and people from third world countries have a higher priority so they end up getting most of them.

So that was the reason I had to come back, things was even worse when I flew back as I had to leave pretty much all of my belongings behind (my PS3 and games, TE Fightstick plus around 60 blu rays) as the luggage allowance was much lower than when I went out there, when I came out I was allowed 2x cases 20kg each (or 1x case 37kg) and my hand luggage wasnt even weighed, when I flew back I was allowed only one case at 20kg max and 5kg of hand luggage, everyone at the airport was downright rude (even worse than london) and the flight was awful with no inflight entertainment and about 4 babies on the plane screaming for 8 hours straight. Do not fly with Air Transat/Thomson if you can help it.

So sadly my experience in the end was not a good one. The country I loved and I would move back there tomorrow if I could, the people and the food are great and its a beautiful country. Just a shame things didnt work out. Im going to try and fly out again in October/November to see my friends and pick up my stuff if its still there. And next year Im going to try and move back to Japan.

[Brats]

I ended up staying in London, Ontario for the whole year and pretty much worked my ass off and had no holidays, which meant I couldnt see anything of the country really (although I visited Trenton and Toronto a couple of times on the weekend).

Sorry it didn't work out, but was the lack of holiday a choice thing on your part or your situation, or is a lack of holiday a part of their culture (like a lot of websites and books say)?

Canada looks like a lovely place, but the lack of holiday puts me off.