- No matter how prepared you are, the move will still be stressful. Neither my wife nor I are what you would call highly emotional people but my wife cried almost constantly for a week before we left and I turned into the most intolerant arse who ever lived for the first year of our new life. My point is that stress can surface in different ways and it's important that you realise that your worrying, temper, distraction, guilt, sadness, etc may well be due to the fact that you've just moved you, and possibly your family, half way round the world. If you didn't go through at least some strong personality ripples you should be seeking out the services of a good psychiatrist (or you just handle stress well).
- Give yourself a chance. No matter how miserable you are, don't even consider going back for at least a year. You put a lot of effort into getting here.
- Expect money to be short. In most cases, the first year in Canada is financially difficult so try to plan for it. Be cheap. Get a credit card as soon as you possibly can to get your credit rating established. The Royal Bank of Canada were good for us as they gave us a Visa card when we opened an account with them.
- Your new life is different; try to focus on the good differences and don't let the bad differences obsess you.
- Make the most of your new home. Get out there and see all there is to see. Make a to-do list of all the places your want to go and all the experiences you want to have and add to it as your new friends tell you about things.
- Try to meet as many people as you can. Join clubs, volunteer, attend your kids' organised activities, be approachable. The more people you meet, the more friends you stand to make and, when you make friends in Canada, it truly will feel like home.
- Expect people in your old home country to change - they won't have the same attitude towards you. Some will be offended that you moved, some will want to show you that you made a mistake, some will just lose touch. Remember that you moved for personal reasons, because it was the right thing for you to do. It wasn't a critisicm of your old home, it's not a statement of superiority, it's just a thing that you're doing for you. Your real friends will be the ones your still have, years after you've moved.
And that's it, the story of my emmigration to Canada. Four years on and we're very happy with no plans to move.
If you like what you've read here, please visit my writing website at http://www.ourwrites.net/ (where you can read some of my short fiction pieces or even buy my novel). You can also read my other blog rantings at calgaryblueflame.blogspot.com.
So, on a final note, this year, we have finally seen our first bears, in Waterton National Park in May and in the Jasper area in July; they're still dangerous but we survived our encounters so perhaps we do belong here after all.
