Think twice about your move!
You know, from outside it seems like moving to Canada, a country next to the U.S. and so much advertized, could be really a start of a new life. Just this "new life" could be not worth moving and might be worse than your life at where you come from.
I decided to go to Canada, because it was easy to immigrate, and it seemed like in 3 years you'll be able to apply for the citizenship, so it was very different from the U.S. I spent sometime in the U.S. before, and everything was easy - communicate with people, make friends. I thought that Canada would be the same. Ha-ha. We drove from the States, and initially we rented a hotel in Toronto for couple of days, and then we searched for housing and found a room in a house pretty close to downtown and not very expensive. The landlady never asked to join her for a meal, and when her family was visiting and had a party, she never asked me to join. I never had tjis kind of experinece in the States, people were very, very friendly. The landlady was white Canadian and was very proud of herself. They had a huge basement, but when I asked to put some of my luggage there, they totally refused, even though they had a room. But when her son was drunk and making noise, staying at home all day and having sex with his girlfriend, it was Ok. When my friend came for a weekend, the lady told him that he could stay at the hotel. It was my first Canadian experience with Canadians! Knowing that I was looking for a job, she never ever offered any help to direct me where I could apply.
Next. I sort of did not like Toronto, big city with no architechture, so I decided to move to Ottawa. And after couple of months in Toronto I moved to Ottawa. Rented a room for the first month at the Bed&Breakfast. Gosh, the owner was a former diplomat (as she said), but he had no manners, he had a messy house and only girls living there, and he chased girls all over the house (maybe he thought that they should be honored, I don't know). He was like 80 years old, by the way. All his conversations were about sex or jews, whom he totally hated. I was asking myself, where did I move, because it sounded horrible. Finally I moved out, and he never helped even with the move.
At the same time I got a local boyfriend. Inspite of me being a newcomer, he always hang around my place, and always was complaining if he needed to give me a ride somewhere for shopping (and mostly for his dinner). And when my computer broke, and he had like several of them at home, he was too greedy to even lend me one. Of course we broke up. The next one was not much better. I was studying French, and he said that he could train me for the exam. And after we went to some restaurant (in the morning, just to sit somewhere while studying), he decided that if he trains me I have to pay for his coffee and snacks!
What I'm saying is that do not think that you'll get any help after moving here, unless you know for sure that you have relatives, who will totally have your back. Canadians are very, very arrongant and they will never do anything, which is not for their own benefits. They are not as generous as Americans.
But it's only one side. People in Canada are forced to live in their own cultural groups, and there is no interaction, and there is a big job discrimination due to your origins. You might have all possible skills and qualifications, but they'll require you to have only Canadian education or experience. It's only to give the best jobs to Canadian-born population. You will always be working at the Pizza Hut, if you were not born in Canada.
There was this immigration center (center for new immigrants), so if you just came to Canada, they provided you with the advice on job search, housing, and so on. I called them, and after sometime they called me and offered to have a "Canadian friend" to introduce me into Canadian culture. And asked me if I had a bike or camera, because that "Canadian friend" wanted to ride bikes with a newcomer for her own pleasure. In the States they probably would just give you some old bike or a car... Not in Canada. Here everybody is for yourself.
I don't know why people stay here, if they stay here long enough, but I think that they are just getting depressed and can't control their lives anymore.
