Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

That's cool man hope you enjoy yourself and manage to find some nice smoke!

All the best buddy, have a grand adventure.

All the best and have a wicked trip!

Stay safe

Enjoy this new chapter in your life m8.

Have fun .

Take care bon voyagee, safe journeys, Say high to Benny Lava for me.

MF

CSS, have a safe fun trip! Good luck!

currently in contact with the Canadian Embassy myself man, looking to live in Vanamsterdam. It is a very difficult place to get in to man, the headaches its causing me are un-belivable. Australia has a very good life style and is eventually somewhere i want to end up, the smoke scenes pretty good as well. Im sure you'll like it.

Sir Niall, Canada's immigration is easy (as in a joke). (although we do seem to make Europeans jump through hoops, more so than folks from other locales. I have no idea why we do so?). Australian immigration is far tougher! (Indeed, if you are over 45 years old, then you can forget about emigrating to Australia! Canada, has no such age restrictions.)

Also Australia has a professions lists and you must achieve a certain score, based on need for that profession, in order to qualify. The Aussies might have some reciprocal agreements with the UK which might make it easier for UK citizens to immigrate? For all others though OZ immigration can be tough nut to crack.

Things may have changed since I looked into emmigrating to Aus, but I do recall them having extremely difficult immigration requirements.

Vancouver is the most expensive city in Canada (by far), so you might want to opt for other cities, such as Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Halifax, and so on.

Vancouver's climate would be similar to that of Amsterdam/ (much of the UK). If you want endless sunshine, then Australia might be the place to go.

I always enjoyed reading your posts as well as viewing your pics. Be safe and have a great trip!

have fun mate and travel safely

Ingwey Gooblebogger wrote: Sir Niall, Canada's immigration is easy (as in a joke). (although we do seem to make Europeans jump through hoops, more so than folks from other locales. I have no idea why we do so?). Australian immigration is far tougher! (Indeed, if you are over 45 years old, then you can forget about emigrating to Australia! Canada, has no such age restrictions.)

Also Australia has a professions lists and you must achieve a certain score, based on need for that profession, in order to qualify. The Aussies might have some reciprocal agreements with the UK which might make it easier for UK citizens to immigrate? For all others though OZ immigration can be tough nut to crack.

Things may have changed since I looked into emmigrating to Aus, but I do recall them having extremely difficult immigration requirements.

Vancouver is the most expensive city in Canada (by far), so you might want to opt for other cities, such as Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Halifax, and so on.

Vancouver's climate would be similar to that of Amsterdam/ (much of the UK). If you want endless sunshine, then Australia might be the place to go.

Hey IG.

The main issue for me is transfering as a teacher which is extremely difficult. In regards to Oz, its not an issue for me so much becasue i have family sponsers there. The 45 year old thing is also subject to sponsers, if you have direct family there, then it can be seen as re-uniting family therefore waving the 45 yr + rule

I have been looking into a few places in Canada, mainly in BC. In fact i am pretty set on B.C. I visted Vancover and loved it, also surprisingly it has quite a large ex-pat community, which is a bit of a plus. I like cities as well, i spend a fair amount of time in the countryside, lake district and Essex, so i would be interested in a City/large town in B.C if theres any suggestions?

I spend a year in Australlia, and the endless sun ripped me a bit. I like seeing the change in the seasons, ive also become a bit used to having snow capped mountins around me, it would be nice to have that on my doorstep again.

Also Canada seems to be into their Rugby a bit, extremely important in my books. I would like to live in Canada for at least 3 years, but eventually i want to end in Oz, as this is where most my family are/will be in the next few years. But i like the vibe in Canada, land of common sense and all that. I also like the fact its safer than most other places. The g/f is involed with education of prisioners and other youth work/communtiy work. The systems out there in place are very good, which is another reason why Canada would be a good place to head to.

The main issue for me is transfering as a teacher which is extremely difficult. In regards to Oz, its not an issue for me so much becasue i have family sponsers there. The 45 year old thing is also subject to sponsers, if you have direct family there, then it can be seen as re-uniting family therefore waving the 45 yr + rule

I have been looking into a few places in Canada, mainly in BC. In fact i am pretty set on B.C. I visted Vancover and loved it, also surprisingly it has quite a large ex-pat community, which is a bit of a plus. I like cities as well, i spend a fair amount of time in the countryside, lake district and Essex, so i would be interested in a City/large town in B.C if theres any suggestions?

I spend a year in Australlia, and the endless sun ripped me a bit. I like seeing the change in the seasons, ive also become a bit used to having snow capped mountins around me, it would be nice to have that on my doorstep again.

Also Canada seems to be into their Rugby a bit, extremely important in my books. I would like to live in Canada for at least 3 years, but eventually i want to end in Oz, as this is where most my family are/will be in the next few years. But i like the vibe in Canada, land of common sense and all that. I also like the fact its safer than most other places. The g/f is involed with education of prisioners and other youth work/communtiy work. The systems out there in place are very good, which is another reason why Canada would be a good place to head to.

Okay then. It appears that the Aussies have changed the "45 year old" rule.

A few years ago, teachers were in demand here, but unfortunately, I think that demand has dropped a bit. I have several relatives who are teachers, so I know the kind of bullshit with which they have to deal. I think there might be demand for highschool teachers, in analytical subjects, such as physics, mathematics, and so on.

My mum was a teacher, had several degrees (including in specialist subjects), and had over 25 years teaching experience, in another Canadian province, and she still had to jump through hoops, just to get in the door, when she first moved to BC. So, you might encounter similar difficulties.

If you have a religous denomination, then you might try parochial schools, as they sometime like to hire from their own flock. (Although, technically, this is illegal, they sometimes put something like "must be able to teach the catechism" or some such thing, when advertising for say a mathematics or chemistry teacher, thus eliminating the atheists or others not from their religion.)

BC is a large province, but most people live in either "the Lower Mainland" (The southwest corner of the province, surrounding Metro Vancouver) or on "the Island" (Vancouver Island). So, when most people speak of the BC climate they mean the climate in these two regions, which is cool and wet in winter and mild in summer. (Simlar to say Amsterdam). Other areas of BC have substantially different climates.

AND it rains a lot in Vancouver. Seriously, if you think in rains in the UK, then you have another thing coming......REALLY.
In the fall, after 40 days of non-stop rain, you might get lucky and have a day of no rain. However, if you can get over your first lower mainland fall and winter then you should be able to hack it.

If you enjoy outdoor activities, then you will love Vancouver. On the other hand, if you enjoy cultural or intellectual pursuits then you might be disappointed.

BC, in general, and Vancouver, in particular, is very expensive. If you plan to own your home, I think the figure is that 40+% of your pre-tax income will go towards your home/mortgage costs alone.

I prefer the city of Victoria, on Vancouver Island. It is smaller and more laid back than Vancouver, and the people there tend to be more friendly than in Vancouver. However, the mountains while in view, are not on your doorstep as they are in Vancouver.

On that note, BC is not a particularly friendly place, so if you are single, then you have to work at meeting people and breaking into cliques. I have noticed this myself and have been told this umpteen times by newcomers.

Some job links are the following:

BC provincial government job site:

http://www.postings.gov.bc.ca/

Federal govt job website:

http://jobs-emplois.gc.ca/index-eng.htm

You might want to try teaching at some of the community colleges. They have something called "Adult Basic Education" (or ABE) courses. These courses range from the very basic, up to and including (I think) hishschool level. Essentially, these courses are for those who "fell through the cracks" in their youth or for those who never really had a chance at education in their youth and now want to complete their education.

Finally, Rugby!
Yes, it is quite popular in BC (although not in the numbers as in the UK). If you play rugby then one of the local clubs is called the Capilano Rugby Club.

If you are interested, then I can post more links or info re: Vancouver.

IG i am honsetly extremely grateful for your reply you seem to have answered all of my questions, thanks man. Yes teaching in BC is a bit of a pain, i had a 3 yr teaching degree so inbetween working im also studing for a masters to get the 4 years needed to teach in Canada, despite the fact i have been teaching for a while now.

I myself am not religious, i am however a qualified religious studies teacher so i could blag that, i would however want to avoid teaching in a faith school as it goes against my ideals of no-one should be discriminated against for any reason. I think those Adult Education classes may be my first choice then, or if you have any idea if there are specialised schools for those behavioural difficulties because thats what i deal with here atm.

I was just planning on renting, i will have a look into Victoria, it seems like a very cool alternative. Im with a girlfriend atm and she shall be coming with me so im not too fussed on meeting a whole bunch of new people. However as you said there are rugby clubs around they usually have a unique social life so ill probably join up and find friends through that.

Thanks very much for the job site posts, i will check those out most definatly. You've been a huge help man, thanks.

Take it easy man.

bon voyage

Sir Niall, I don't want to further hijack this thread, but I decided to post a few more links re: the ABE stuff. (I wasn't sure if I should start a new thread or just poet here.)

Note: I am not sure if this info pertains only to this college or if it is true for the entire province.

Teaching at community colleges is less restrictive than in the school system. (That is, your education degree shoulkd suffice.)

These links give some info re: ABE
http://www.capilanou.ca/programs/preparatory.html

http://www.capilanou.ca/programs/adult-basic-ed.html

http://www.capilanou.ca/future/calendar ... y/abe.html

Recently many of the community colleges wanted to have university status and some now have it. This one now has unviersity status. So, that means, in addition to the vocational programs, they can also grant Bachelor's degees.