Memeage

[selenay]

It appears that my ability to blog and engage on LJ (despite today's deluge) has totally vanished. To kick start it, I'm nicking an idea from loneraven:

The problem with LJ: we all think we are so close, but really, we know nothing about each other. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

Comments

[netgirl-y2k.livejournal.com]

What made you decide to move Canada? Was it something you've always wanted to do?

[selenay]

Moving to Canada was something that I talked about as a kid, more because of my interest in my mum's heritage than a huge conviction that it would definitely happen. I suppose it was something that I dreamed about but, with my career plans, didn't think would be practical. I was going to be a doctor and I knew that my training would keep me in the UK for a long time and, as we all do, I assumed that by the time my training was over I'd be married and settled.

Thankfully I'd realised that I didn't want to be a doctor before I actually applied to med school and then I spent a few years not quite sure what I wanted to do. The idea of Canada stayed with me and grew more appealing, particularly after I started visiting regularly. It was a beautiful country, the people were friendly and the life style appealed.

I'd decided to definitely do it by the time I finished university and decided on an approximate date some time in 2006. The more I looked into it, the more it seemed like the right decision to make. There are things that I like and miss about England (the BBC, cream teas, the lack of dangerous wildlife that might eat my cats if I let them outside) but by the time I left, I didn't like actually living there anymore. If that makes any sense.

I'm not sure that there was a definite moment when I decided to move, more a growing realisation that it was what I wanted and there was nothing really keeping me in England. I enjoyed visiting in February, I'm sure that I'll always love visiting England and indulging in the parts of it that I love, but life in Canada suits me much better.

Here I'm on a slightly lower salary than I was in England (due to living in the poorest part of Canada rather than a drop in my status), but I can afford rent, utilities (including high-speed Net access!), and good food with money left over to save and have regular treats and nights out. When my parents want their house back, I'll be able to afford a mortgage on a nice place of my own without having worries about whether I'll be able to afford food or heat. Heat is very important in the winter :-) A good work-life balance is held in much higher regard here than it is in England, there is more community involvement and people feel friendlier. There are a few down sides (lack of double and clotted cream, everything is so far away from everything else, excessive volumes of snow in the winter) but overall it's better than what I'd hoped for. Er, my expectations from my move were fairly low to avoid extreme disappointment if things didn't measure up.

The hardest part of the entire thing, in some ways, has been working out how to balance being a part of Canadian life with the realisation that my core identity is as a British girl living in Canada rather than as a fully-fledged Canadian. I love my life here, I've got no desire be a part of an ex-pat community and it's important to me to be fully integrated in my new society, but at the same time I don't want to lose what 30 years of being English gave me.

And wow, that turned into a long, rambling answer!

[netgirl-y2k.livejournal.com]

It was an interesting, long, rambling answer!

From your posts since the move it sounds like life in Canada suits you.