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I feel a lot of these things just moving from the North of England to the South. I moved 35 years ago and still regularly get asked where I come from because of my Yorkshire accent. And, then when I go back to visit family in Yorkshire, they say Ive lost my accent and speak 'posh'. It's like I don't belong anywhere anymore. (I prefer it here by the way - my life and friends are here now😊)
Why would she wish to stay in a Country dominated by dumb racist Englishmen, who thinks England still heads a long gone Empire, which never benefited the population anyway!! …..Britain would be a marvellous place if it were only populated by its native peoples. Welsh, Cornish, Scots and Irish.
Hey Alanna, I hope you realise that after 9 years here, we will not accept you leaving us! Your natural warmth & conversational style is most endearing. Last week walking locally I passed a new hairdressers. Looking in I saw the lady was probably Thai or Filipino, and had no customers. Having spent time in both those countries, and needing a haircut I went in. When I said good morning she bowed slightly, so I knew she was Thai. She did my hair and for nearly an hour we talked about our families & travels. The point is, we British love talking, asking questions, sharing experiences, learning from each other - its in our DNA to question. It's also what you do: "which are the best tasting crsips!" You're one of us now, whether you like it or not! x (you know the rules about ending a message with an 'x', don't you?). If not, ask!
I’m a 64 year old Irishman and having lived here in the UK for 36 years I’ve lived in Britain longer than Ireland. I can relate to almost all of what you say as regards being a foreigner in another country, and our cultures (UK and Ireland)are very similar and I’m ONLY a couple of hours away from Dublin (good old Ryanair). But as you say you miss weddings,big birthdays, big events as well as deaths, illnesses etc. But after all that I’m glad and proud to call both places home, and regardless of where I am in the world I can say “I’m going home”. Thank you for another excellent video, keep making them I’ll keep watching them.
Brother there are something like 6 million people of Irish decent living in the UK . You ain't no farang ! I grew up in a small street where there was my family - the Dillons, two doors up the Cotters , three doors up the Collins , 4 doors up the Quinns , 5 doors up the Mc George's , 6 doors up more Dillons ( my grandmother ) , 7 doors up the Kennedy's, 8 doors up the O'Byrnes , ......and so on . There is an Irish County in London - County Kilburn . I think the saddest thing is that Alana struggles to get residency when I know absolute scoundrels who got a Passport no problem . Peace and love y'all 🇬🇧✌️🇨🇦✌️🇮🇪
I agree with you and it is the reason every other person I meet is either Irish or of Irish decent. We Irish and British are very intertwined. I also have wonderful friends over here, which is why I probably won’t return to live in Ireland any time soon,if at all. But all that doesn’t get away from the fact that you miss out on things like barbecues, birthday parties and other off the cuff social family events because you’re in a different country, particularly in the early years. Personally I’ve loved life in the UK and have no regrets, and hopefully Alana will look back in the future and feel the same. I get the feeling she already does!
@@michaeldillon3113 Sure, English people don't consider Irish people to be foreigners, mainly because they never got the memo about Ireland becoming independent; but it is still going to feel like you are in a different country, because you are in a different country.
I love this channel's focus on objectivity regarding what it is really like being a foreigner living in the UK. This channel talks about the ups and the downs as they really are, and that's one of many reasons to keep watching these videos!
“You can’t unlearn or unsee your experiences” After living in Canada since early 2015 the cost of living pushed me to moving back here (The UK) in December last year. And after the fun novelty of 3 months, I’m really struggling being back in my home town. After living in a big city with lots going on. I’m back with my mum for a bit while I figure out if I go back across the pond or not…. I’ve enjoyed following your journey as always!
As a Yorkshire man living in England, but outside of Yorkshire, I can relate to most of this too. Keeping it real Alanna, that's whats makes you relatable and affable.
I would count you as a Canadian/British person now, because you have absorbed the culture now. Never lose your identity. It is what makes you, you. A delightful young lady.
@@AdventuresAndNaps Yes, please stay. But you're also wrong about having to give up Adventures and Naps if you went back to Canada. You've successfully put together videos on all kinds of subjects in the last 7 years, and that wouldn't stop if you went back. You've already done a few videos on visits to Canada, but you can't possibly have exhausted all you could say, especially if you went on adventures outside southern Ontario. And I'm sure there are many of us who would follow you wherever you went.
Joined your channel at around 10,000 subs and I have watched you grow as a person in those years but your personality has never changed you have always been true to yourself! I never thought you would be as funny and honest as you have been and that's what keeps me coming back you've never been boring and for that I salute you o7 lol!
Bought (and ate) my first (and so far only) pack of 6 mince pies from Iceland on the 31st August. I don't see why they're only available 'around' Christmas - I'd eat them all year round.
Homesickness is a two way street, as parents to our son married, living and working in Austin TX we feel the loss as much. I became a granddad about 10 days ago and we’re getting loads of pictures and videos but it’s not the same. I’m 68 and not fit enough for flying to the USA.
I watch quite a lot of these 'UK vs [other countries] differences' channels, as they (usually) offer some interesting comparisons. Maybe even insight into what it actually is like to live in the UK. There are probably a whole bunch of videos to be made exploring just why this is so fascinating to people. But what I've just watched here was so insightful, informative, and humbling. Your openness, frankness, heartfeltness, and lack of bias is what we in the UK might call "wholesome" on a large scale. Truely enjoyed this video, and your ability to pick up on and communicate your emotions. PS don't even think about going back to Canada long-term. You'd miss us even more than you now miss Canada. ❤❤❤
Great video as usual Alanna, I hope you no longer feel guilty about moving now and have no regrets doing so as you seem very happy here. Fingers crossed you find that new house you are looking for so you can finally get a dog. Then you will know you are truly home. 🐶🏠👧☺
Hi Alanna,i have been following your channel for some years now and I love your honesty when talking about any subject such as “if you don’t like it,don’t watch”.and sometimes I don’t watch a full video…but the first thing that I do when I click on is to press the thumbs up because I appreciate the time and effort that you have put into the programme I noticed early on that you said the word “FAF” so you are certainly becoming more of an Anglophile using words like that,although I have noticed that you occasionally say “anyhoo”.love your channel and I will continue viewing and look forward to seeing your new posts,cheers.Roly🇬🇧.
Alanna, you have such a mature and wise head on your young shoulders and I for one am glad you have found a comfortable home here in Kent (like me). Regarding the short hours of daylight, it is said that November has no afternoons; it stays morning until 2 pm, then it's night . . .
When I went to live in New Zealand, the town I worked in had shops with almost continuous street parking bays directly outside. Some of the shops had signs in the window saying 'USE OUR LAY-BY' and I assumed this meant the parking outside that particular shop was private and for their customers only use only. One of the girls at work finally let me into the secret... In NZ, if you see something in the shop that you can't quite afford... you can put a deposit on the item to reserve it... and come back later to pay off the balance - In NZ this policy is called LAY-BY. Dohh!
They didn't tell me that a Canadian would make the UK home and make us Brits enjoy her channel so much, it must be really tough leaving home and leaving your family and friends behind, ages ago I spent a week in hospital and I missed everyone back home and they were only six miles away, god knows what it must be like when your loved ones are thousands of miles away, so pleased you stuck it out and made the UK your second home🏴🇨🇦🏴
I'd say that first line was a bit more brutal than humorous, so I'm glad you added a qualifier at the end. Especially as it didn't fit with the tone of the rest of your post. Alanna isn't going anywhere, we'll make sure of that. "One of us, one of us, one of us, one of us...." 🙂
@@RockyBobbieBuster Cool. I wasn't expecting you to change it but it's good that you did. It clearly wasn't your intention to come off that way but I figured it was worth mentioning how it initially read to me. 🙂
1:57 I can answer this question immediately. I applied for a job in a motorcycle accessories shop where I was a regular customer, what with me being a keen biker. I didn't even get an acknowledgement .. rude. A few weeks later I went back to buy a jacket and guess who had got the job I applied for? Someone who knew absolutely nothing about the product on sale and had probably never sat on a motorbike. What was that all about, then? Best applicant: 40 year old bloke. Successful candidate: 19 year old Polish girl with limited English. Lucky you, age/gender prejudice works in your case.
And I don't mean that in a derogatory way to you or to her. You can pay a 19 year old immigrant money that a 40yo bloke is less likely to accept. You see the same in healthcare. Care homes are full of young Indian women because they are cheap. This works out well in some ways because Indians do tend to be more respectful to elderly people but it can be unfair. Such is life, sadly
@@catherineball5071would he have hired a 19 yr old boy cuz he's cheaper? Doubt it. More like, she was very pretty and exotic, manager's eyes out on stalks, you're soo HIRED.
I cannot relate to this as I am totally blessed to have immigrated to British Columbia, Canada 30 years ago, not a day passes that I don't give thanks to God for living in this magnificent country. The reason I can't relate is that my entire family immigrated at the same time, no family left in South Africa. What I can relate to is the 'where you from?" 30 years later and still with the 'accent' I felt really bad one day when a lovely lady asked me where I was from and I unconsciously must have pulled a face, she felt so bad and I was mortified at being mean. I explained I couldn't believe after all these years I still have an accent and that was the reason :) I absolutely LOVE Canada, the people are!!!!! that nice :)
I'm English living in Sweden. I work in IT for international companies, so the business language is usually English, plus the Swedes are generally excellent at speaking English. That makes it so much harder to learn the local language .. and yet I still want/need to since virtually everything online/written is in Swedish, and I still encounter a lot of people whose English is poor. At least you've not had that to worry about - language makes life so much more difficult/stressful!
Cool video! Regarding the feeling dumb thing. As a teenager visiting the U.K. for the first time, long before GPS I was lost in London. I asked an old man how to get to Brompton road. He stared hard at me like I was an utter fool and said "Brompton road?!? You're standing on it!" I still feel the cringe...
Not the same thing but when playing in goal for my primary school in the 1980/81 season ( a few short years ago) the PE teacher of the opposing team who was refereeing the game put his hand out to shake mine. I took my glove off and handed it to him before realising that he was trying to shake my hand. He probably forgot it the same day but I have remembered it for a mere forty four years such was the level of embarrassment I felt. Thanks for prompting recall. I should have entered therapy.
Great video. I don't think anyone who's not had that experience can ever *really* know what it feels like, but it's important, and your descriptions are so vivid and immediate it goes a long way towards conveying the experience. Kind of you to share your inner thoughts on this
Well done for getting through all of that! Ontario is a wonderful place, which means that we in the UK should feel especially happy that you've chosen to make a home here too.
A very heartfelt, informative journey you have told there...Wisdom is not based on age, gender, or money, it comes from experiences, good & bad, thank you for sharing it.🙂
As a Brit born in London and having moved to the USA at age 47, i can totally relate to the feelings you mentioned. I miss my life in England, but the USA is now my home. Thanks for sharing
It's always fascinating when you go deep on your experiences - I imagine you have helped many people over the length of your stay without even realising it as they absorb your lived experience & the wisdom you have gathered. For what it's worth you have bigger balls than myself - much as I like to visit foreign climes I'm very much a 'turn up, absorb some local culture, scuttle off back home' type of person. Love your stuff, keep up the good work. Love & Kisses from God's own backyard (Shropshire)
It is probably a bit late now, but being in a foreign country one of the things I found useful was, if in doubt ask. Guess what if you feel embarrassed within about 5 minutes the person you asked has forgotten all about you.
so i am the opposite. i was born in London, left to move to the US in 2010. may last rental in Londan was 750sq ft. with 250sq ft back garden. my property in the Us, is 3500 sq ft and 15000sq ft garden.cost wise its about twice as much, but its about 8 times as large overall.
Hi Alana Glad you have adapted the your new country. I'm from the UK now live in Australia. It takes a while to get used to the differences and not to get dragged into saying how we do it in the UK. Almost moved to Vancouver as I met a girl there but it didn't work out. Recently did a bike ride from Seattle to Vancouver and noticed how much more I like Canada I found Canadians easier to talk to. Not sure why.
Your the lucky one. Walking around town in the UK you blend in with the locals and even when you speak your accent tells us nothing. That gives you a head start over other immigrants.
Ha! Buses! I remember when I came here from Canada in the mid 80's I was very "shy" as they used to call it (now I could admit I had sometimes serious anxiety). One stupid symptom was down to request stops in London where you had to wave to the driver of an approaching bus if you wanted it to stop to pick you up. I don't know exactly why but it took a little while before I could bring myself to do it and instead I would walk along, however far, to the next proper stop (where all the buses stopped no matter what). Idiotic, but eventually empowering when I got my confidence up.
Lost count of the number of times that 'See GM' was written beside my signing on space on the signing on sheet, my conductor and I were often pulled in for not stopping at a white fare stage stop. My conductor would often ring me through a fare stage (three bells) if no one was alighting or standing at the bus stop, totally against the rules no matter how late we were running. How were we to know the person sheltering under a shop awning and looking in the shop window was waiting for a bus? Emerging as drove past giving a V sign, another 2 or 3 buses usually just behind. My argument was if waiting for a bus then stand at the bus stop.
Alanna, first I must say that someone who has lived abroad I recognise so many of you comments about moving to another country. With me, after the initial 3 months excitement of new people, new job, new places, settling in to live I felt so isolated and home sick I struggled, and that was living in Holland, where it is easy to get back to the UK and most people at least understood English. Looking back it was also how naïve I was thinking that moving to Holland would be like an extended holiday. I did not find a partner in Holland ( which would have changed everything)and after a year I moved back. One other thing, as I was a similar age to you when I lived abroad, you do a lot of development/growing up in your twenties, and you would be different person now even if you had stayed in Canada. .
Living in larger towns, generally the back gardens are smaller, as the town sizes shrink and into villages the gardens become larger (this is a generalisation, but is mostly true). Suffolk has some very nice, old towns and villages. While you may feel being asked where are you from reminds you that you are not born here, that is not a solely british thing, its a human thing as residents of other countries ask the same question. However after being here for so long and bringing such joy to so many I really doesn't think it matters where you're from. You project confidence and friendliness so people want to connect, and its the easiest why to start a conversation
As someone who grew up in the 50s and 60s in a port and lived near the Youth Hostel, I found it really exciting to hear people speaking differently to how I did. My first school had pupils from what was Persia in those days and I loved seeing them write home, from right to left in this strange and beautiful way. I was excited in secondary school to have a best friend who was Dutch Indonesian at a time when it was unusual. These encounters gave ne a window on the world beyond our shores, and a desire to travel to experience new cultures. I DO still want to know what other peoples experience is but the fuss about the member of the Royal family asking someone where they were from has stifled that simple way of finding out. I have Canadian BIL and a soon to be DIL as well and am now an expert at telling the difference!
Familiarity with your surrounding culture helps with home sickness. The more different the world you are in, the less your mind compares and contrasts. You still miss 'home' but the difference between your life and your memories becomes less jarring.
I’m an American who lived in Tokyo for four years, in the pre-Internet days of the early 90s. Perhaps that was a bit more stressful transition than moving for Canada to the UK. I did experience some homesickness, but NEVER GUILT. I often felt dumb, because most everything was different, and nobody spoke English (I was learning to speak Japanese as quickly as I could), and almost all do the signs in train stations, etc., were written in Japanese. A they did so many things in ways that are “not the way we do them back home!” I did love eating good food, having access to excellent public transportation, living among people who could provide correct change at a store without reaching for a calculator, and being free of fear for my personal safety. No place is perfect, and there are many things to deplore about Japan, but returning to America involved a lot of reverse culture shock.
i love most of your video's including the solo days out, but this is among the best and to a degree I can associate with some of it. But your not a foreigner I hear people say. True but I am a southerner living in Yorkshire and you can feel very foreign when that happens. I cannot ever imagine living in London again but you can get bigger places and a backyard up here :)
When I was 3 we moved into a large part Victorian house. It had been extended in the 1930s and divided into 2, but our part was still over 3000 sq ft. My Dad paid £4,500 for it in 1962. I remember the plumber fitting central heating. We sold that house in 2013. My Gran's house had an outside toilet. In my second year at uni I rented rooms in a Victorian house with no central heating. My current house looks Victorian from the outside. It was actually built on the site of a Victorian school in the 1980s. The row of houses follows the outline of the old school reuses stone and slate from it. The stone came from a quarry in the village. It looks great from the outside. Unfortunately the builders skimped on materials inside, but I think I have fixed all the problems.
I dont know if the "being foreign" makes it much harder to get a job. I get that there's an extra layer but theres plenty of qualified English people here who also apply gor 99 jobs and might get offered 1 if they're lucky. I really like your channel and keep up the great content. Im a boring English person living in Essex and i love seeing our country through the eyes of someone with different experiences.
I had a little taste of home sickness when I worked in Australia for 3 months. It started on the plane out and within a week I thought I was going to have to bail out and go back home. I would spend evenings alone in my apartment crying. During the day I felt physically sick. As time went on, it decreased a bit but would hit me in waves like being smacked around the head. I had an end date so I knew I would be going home. I have no idea how you get through that if there is not necessarily an end point. Props to you.
For the price of a two bedroom flat in Kent you can get a three bedroom semi detached house in Greater Manchester….with a garden…front and back…and a garage. Just saying…
Thanks for being open about how things have been for you as an ex-pat. As I have said earlier in comments I too am an ex-pat but in the other direction = leaving the UK as a 23 year old heading to Canada. But what struck me with your vlog here is that it was all so different for me and many of the issues you felt, I did not feel at all. Homesickness was very minor for me as my personality is not one that needs many other folks around - such as family or friends. I treated my appearance in Canada with excitement and thinking about how much fun it was going to be by being somewhere else with all those new things to learn. Kind of like learning to ride a bike when you are young - walking done - now riding with all those new places to visit. So you are right that it is a selfish things as I don't doubt my parents felt quite different! I settled in very quickly as a graduate student so there was some instant stability which helped with being so new to Canada. I also had my research for my PhD to do which consumed a huge amount of time and concentration. So maybe that was something many ex-pats might not have to take their minds off other issues. Now I am an ex-pat for over 50 years and I am in the situation of not enjoying the odd visit back to the UK, which has changed so much since I left that it is now a foreign country and quite frankly not one I would want to return to. Those old beautiful houses such as I grew up in are often not very warm with not very reliable infrastructure. My sister's bathroom makes me shudder as the water creeps out of the pipes often with considerable noise and she cannot afford to heat her home on cold and dreary days! Then the garden tends to get hopelessly overgrown and it is hard for her at her age to get anyone to come as a gardener. But we do keep in touch through Skype regularly. So I do think that everyone experiences many different things that cause issues when you are an ex-pat but it is hard to generalise as it depends on your personality to a high degree and the specifics of your situation. What I would say to anyone who is thinking about moving to live in another country is to do some preparation ahead of time , and there are so many TH-cam videos these days that were not available to those oldsters like me when we emigrated. Then be prepared to change and not hold on to too many characteristics of your first homeland - instead revel in all the new experiences you will have in your new land. Every place you live has pros and cons but focus on the pros and just take the cons as they come and get used to them I suppose!
Don’t rule out the possibilty that distance could become a good thing. I’m left the UK decades ago and am on Vancouver Island. My eldest sister left the UK decades ago and lived in Mozambique. Then she got hit with cancer. She had to go back to the UK for treatment for a year - to be treated by the NHS, she had to divest herself of everything in Mozambique. She didn’t enjoy being in the UK again and being given a limited time, left and moved to Tanzania. Her real home was Mozambique, but having lost everything there chose to go to Tanzania, where she vaguely knew a few people.- unfortunately Covid hit just after she arrived, so most people she knew fled. She stayed. She did have a few friends around, but the thing with cancer, is that the days can be fine, while the nightimes can be lonely. Just you and your fears and concerns etc. But throughout those years I was always 8/9 hours behind her. So when it was nighttime where she was, it was daytime where I was. Across those years until she died, I have absolutely no doubt that she and I spent more time 'together' than we ever had in person, and i spent more time with her than anybody. If I had been in the same time zone it would have been impossible. I hope you never go through anything quite that bad, but there are definite benefits in distance and time
I love your vlogs. Find them very interesting. In 2018 my late wife and I, flew to Vancouver. Had a few days there also visited Vancouver Island. Then travelled to Halifax by various trains, with a number of stopovers. We found the people so friendly. Toronto was a bit hectic and Niagara Falls was a bit like Blackpool on Steroids. Too tacky for me. Other than that couldn't fault it. Alana perhaps you should try doing the journey. .
Mince pies? Is this an up coming taste test? If not, why not? Good video, Its good for people to understand how difficult that kind of move is, the simple things different foods, customs, then most difficult, learning a new language. Well done.
I have no clue how to get bus tickets for my city in Ontario 🤣 Never been on one here. I did take one or two when I was in university though, so about 20 years ago. I'm glad you've never sugar coated your life in the UK. On a much smaller scale, I remember even feeling a bit different when I'd come back to my parents house after the uni school year for the summer. I was used to being "on my own" (I did have roommates at uni) but it was like oh yeah, back to living with Mum and Dad and their house rules, etc. Hang on to that annual leave for as long as you can!!!! (I am lucky and have 5 weeks)
Alanna, you need to escape the very, very expensive South East. Check out the BBC show Escape to the Country. They show people who want to live in the countryside, amazing houses of all ages and sizes. Some houses are bigger than the average Canadian house, with modernised interiors including kitchens with utility rooms for washing machines etc, the bigger properties have room to fit an American style fridge if you want. They are mostly situated in stunning locations, all much cheaper than you would get in Kent. BBC most days around 3pm. I look forward to seeing you on the show.😊
Housing is Unique...is exactly right! Houses and homes everywhere in the world are bigger than we have here in the UK! And don't get me started on the Where are you from ..question! 😄
In a book I read a character said that the hardest journey is the one home. UK average homes are the smallest in Western Europe. Even places like Luxemburg and Belgium have larger average homes than the UK.
I'm a Brit who has lived abroad and experienced almost all of what you describe. It may shock you but it's the same for me in England. I live in Cornwall and it can take me as long to go see my friends in Leeds as it takes you to fly to Canada! Applying for jobs takes huge effort for us too (but it's still probably easier for us!) Don't ask me how buses work. I rely on my wife for that 😊
Of course, we each have different experiences when living as an expat anywhere. The cultural adjustment when I studied in the UK as a preteen, and in Canada as an undergrad wasn't too difficult. However, my times working in HK, Kenya, and Germany made cultural adjustment far more daunting. The worst, however, was my six yrs in the US - a place unlike any other on Earth, thank God! Homesickness, though, not so much now that I've been away almost all of the past 65 yrs. 😅
I've been in the UK 50 years. I'm British and have renounced my US citizenship. But I've lived in a small Midlands town for 15 years, and whenever I speak to someone who doesn't know me, I get the same question - "you're not from round here are you." 😂 But I totally get the thought of not being able to imagine having to go back.
When I ask "Where are you from?" I mean which town, village, street, whatever, are you from. I sometimes guess "Poland? Germany? Canada? (whatever). Then say something like: "My friend Jacques lives in Montreal and says it's very cool." Or "My son lives in Colorado and says it's cool there (in winter). Or "I went there on holiday recently and loved it". Although Canada in winter is definitely very cool. 🙂
When I was very little I went to school with a Canadian girl, and when I was older and at a different school there was a Canadian girl there too (I was infuriated once when my sister, much older than me, disparaged that second girl as "the one who's always smiling?" and I just couldn't believe she had an attitude about someone because they smiled and were happy too much, what?!), so I have an inbuilt familiarity and fondness for Canadians.
Alanna, sweetheart, the aches surrounding being away from home are not nearly so bad as the loss of a family member! It is a similar feeling but when you lose someone, oh my! As for being in a strange place….hell girl, that’s the excitement!! Woo hoo! You have a mouth, you speak a similar language, just ask! That’s how humanity learns. You’ll get it. No worries. Jeff
It's worth noting that her experience of getting here then applying for many jobs is only one way of moving abroad and typically one that is only available to young people (depending on the countries involved young may mean up to 35). Another common way is to get a job first that would qualify you for a Tier 2 - Skilled Worker visa and then get said visa with the support of your new employer before leaving home. Frankly, I would strongly encourage this route or at least having a job lined up before moving overseas.
I always say 'North American' as I wouldn't want to upset a Canadian 🙂. I think it helps with regards to property to be aware that the SE of England is particularly expensive, with London itself being the most extreme. Away from the SE, apart from a few 'honey pots', you will get much more property for your money. They will be bigger, but not on North American scale purely because land prices are so high here. My own sector of IT is one in which you stand a good chance of getting employment.
As a near 60 year old. I had to go abroad to the Netherlands to work as an engineer , after applying for over 300 jobs in the UK. I much later found I was turned down because I was more qualified than the person running the job ad. And with a wife and kids at home in Wales yes I got homesick too.
Your comments on guilt really surprised me. I was born in England although I grew up in Canada. I have lived on every coast here - all three of them! I have never felt guilty at all, in fact that comment really surprised me. If you're aware you, there's no need to feel guilty!
I've always felt that guilt is a very self-indulgent emotion. If you've done something you feel "guilty" about - either do something about it or stop feeling guilty - no-one benefits from that feeling.
Denizens of deepest Kent would ask you the same things if you came from another *county* much less another country! So it's not really related to being from a different nation.
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I feel a lot of these things just moving from the North of England to the South.
I moved 35 years ago and still regularly get asked where I come from because of my Yorkshire accent.
And, then when I go back to visit family in Yorkshire, they say Ive lost my accent and speak 'posh'.
It's like I don't belong anywhere anymore. (I prefer it here by the way - my life and friends are here now😊)
@@AdventuresAndNaps I love Readly
@Alana I know about homesickness my friend‼️. I went to Ibiza for 2 weeks and wanted to just come home by day😔 10‼️🥰🇬🇧
We want you Alanna. Canada can't have you back, you're one of us now! 😄❤️
I'll second that.
Why would she wish to stay in a Country dominated by dumb racist Englishmen, who thinks England still heads a long gone Empire, which never benefited the population anyway!! …..Britain would be a marvellous place if it were only populated by its native peoples. Welsh, Cornish, Scots and Irish.
Hey Alanna, I hope you realise that after 9 years here, we will not accept you leaving us! Your natural warmth & conversational style is most endearing. Last week walking locally I passed a new hairdressers. Looking in I saw the lady was probably Thai or Filipino, and had no customers. Having spent time in both those countries, and needing a haircut I went in. When I said good morning she bowed slightly, so I knew she was Thai. She did my hair and for nearly an hour we talked about our families & travels. The point is, we British love talking, asking questions, sharing experiences, learning from each other - its in our DNA to question. It's also what you do: "which are the best tasting crsips!" You're one of us now, whether you like it or not! x (you know the rules about ending a message with an 'x', don't you?). If not, ask!
I’m a 64 year old Irishman and having lived here in the UK for 36 years I’ve lived in Britain longer than Ireland. I can relate to almost all of what you say as regards being a foreigner in another country, and our cultures (UK and Ireland)are very similar and I’m ONLY a couple of hours away from Dublin (good old Ryanair). But as you say you miss weddings,big birthdays, big events as well as deaths, illnesses etc. But after all that I’m glad and proud to call both places home, and regardless of where I am in the world I can say “I’m going home”. Thank you for another excellent video, keep making them I’ll keep watching them.
Thank you so much 🙏🏻
Well, for one, I love my Irish friends🇬🇧🇮🇪
Brother there are something like 6 million people of Irish decent living in the UK . You ain't no farang ! I grew up in a small street where there was my family - the Dillons, two doors up the Cotters , three doors up the Collins , 4 doors up the Quinns , 5 doors up the Mc George's , 6 doors up more Dillons ( my grandmother ) , 7 doors up the Kennedy's, 8 doors up the O'Byrnes , ......and so on . There is an Irish County in London - County Kilburn .
I think the saddest thing is that Alana struggles to get residency when I know absolute scoundrels who got a Passport no problem .
Peace and love y'all 🇬🇧✌️🇨🇦✌️🇮🇪
I agree with you and it is the reason every other person I meet is either Irish or of Irish decent. We Irish and British are very intertwined. I also have wonderful friends over here, which is why I probably won’t return to live in Ireland any time soon,if at all. But all that doesn’t get away from the fact that you miss out on things like barbecues, birthday parties and other off the cuff social family events because you’re in a different country, particularly in the early years. Personally I’ve loved life in the UK and have no regrets, and hopefully Alana will look back in the future and feel the same. I get the feeling she already does!
@@michaeldillon3113 Sure, English people don't consider Irish people to be foreigners, mainly because they never got the memo about Ireland becoming independent; but it is still going to feel like you are in a different country, because you are in a different country.
I have followed you since the early days. Wow, your confidence, and bubbly personality has shone through. Don’t leave us❤
I love this channel's focus on objectivity regarding what it is really like being a foreigner living in the UK. This channel talks about the ups and the downs as they really are, and that's one of many reasons to keep watching these videos!
Thanks so much! ☺️
You're welcome!
Plus Alanna is always entertaining to watch
“You can’t unlearn or unsee your experiences”
After living in Canada since early 2015 the cost of living pushed me to moving back here (The UK) in December last year. And after the fun novelty of 3 months, I’m really struggling being back in my home town. After living in a big city with lots going on. I’m back with my mum for a bit while I figure out if I go back across the pond or not….
I’ve enjoyed following your journey as always!
As a Yorkshire man living in England, but outside of Yorkshire, I can relate to most of this too. Keeping it real Alanna, that's whats makes you relatable and affable.
@@AdrianDowthwaite and I am the reverse, an English man living in Yorkshire and feels a different country at times
Lol,and it's only going to get worse.
@@garywoolton1875 Ye both, out of place but at home. Yorkshire is differant from Country and Counties all.
Londoner here, I lived in Bradford for a year, it was like being on Mars
why do so many leave Yorkshire?
I would count you as a Canadian/British person now, because you have absorbed the culture now. Never lose your identity. It is what makes you, you. A delightful young lady.
Is always a pleasure to listen to your experiences/opinions/emotions. Thank you 🙂.
Alanna, please stay we love you really.
☺️
@@AdventuresAndNaps Yes, please stay. But you're also wrong about having to give up Adventures and Naps if you went back to Canada. You've successfully put together videos on all kinds of subjects in the last 7 years, and that wouldn't stop if you went back. You've already done a few videos on visits to Canada, but you can't possibly have exhausted all you could say, especially if you went on adventures outside southern Ontario. And I'm sure there are many of us who would follow you wherever you went.
Joined your channel at around 10,000 subs and I have watched you grow as a person in those years but your personality has never changed you have always been true to yourself! I never thought you would be as funny and honest as you have been and that's what keeps me coming back you've never been boring and for that I salute you o7 lol!
Bought (and ate) my first (and so far only) pack of 6 mince pies from Iceland on the 31st August. I don't see why they're only available 'around' Christmas - I'd eat them all year round.
I've been getting mince pies from Morrisons on and off for about the last 5 months.
“Mate” 😂😂pulled it off!
Homesickness is a two way street, as parents to our son married, living and working in Austin TX we feel the loss as much. I became a granddad about 10 days ago and we’re getting loads of pictures and videos but it’s not the same. I’m 68 and not fit enough for flying to the USA.
I watch quite a lot of these 'UK vs [other countries] differences' channels, as they (usually) offer some interesting comparisons. Maybe even insight into what it actually is like to live in the UK. There are probably a whole bunch of videos to be made exploring just why this is so fascinating to people.
But what I've just watched here was so insightful, informative, and humbling.
Your openness, frankness, heartfeltness, and lack of bias is what we in the UK might call "wholesome" on a large scale.
Truely enjoyed this video, and your ability to pick up on and communicate your emotions.
PS don't even think about going back to Canada long-term. You'd miss us even more than you now miss Canada. ❤❤❤
02:56 "You will ge' a job." Your English is showin', luv :)
I love that you quite randomly sound like you're from North London for a few seconds every so often! One of us, one of us, one of us etc..
I think she lives in Kent though?
Great video as usual Alanna, I hope you no longer feel guilty about moving now and have no regrets doing so as you seem very happy here. Fingers crossed you find that new house you are looking for so you can finally get a dog. Then you will know you are truly home. 🐶🏠👧☺
Another really interesting video. Thank you. You are definitely one of us!
Hi Alanna,i have been following your channel for some years now and I love your honesty when talking about any subject such as “if you don’t like it,don’t watch”.and sometimes I don’t watch a full video…but the first thing that I do when I click on is to press the thumbs up because I appreciate the time and effort that you have put into the programme
I noticed early on that you said the word “FAF” so you are certainly becoming more of an Anglophile using words like that,although I have noticed that you occasionally say “anyhoo”.love your channel and I will continue viewing and look forward to seeing your new posts,cheers.Roly🇬🇧.
Fantastic video again Alana ! And fascinating to hear your evolution and perspectives !
Alanna, you have such a mature and wise head on your young shoulders and I for one am glad you have found a comfortable home here in Kent (like me). Regarding the short hours of daylight, it is said that November has no afternoons; it stays morning until 2 pm, then it's night . . .
Home is where your heart is!
I have 3! England, Ireland and Italy 🎉
Well, if it’s Canada, then she should do what her heart tells her!
Good one, Alanna! Many important, and often overlooked, points.
I already have mince pies, too....... they aren't even for Christmas 😅 they're for NOW 🥰
When I went to live in New Zealand, the town I worked in had shops with almost continuous street parking bays directly outside. Some of the shops had signs in the window saying 'USE OUR LAY-BY' and I assumed this meant the parking outside that particular shop was private and for their customers only use only. One of the girls at work finally let me into the secret... In NZ, if you see something in the shop that you can't quite afford... you can put a deposit on the item to reserve it... and come back later to pay off the balance - In NZ this policy is called LAY-BY. Dohh!
Hehe good one! In the US that's called layaway
They didn't tell me that a Canadian would make the UK home and make us Brits enjoy her channel so much, it must be really tough leaving home and leaving your family and friends behind, ages ago I spent a week in hospital and I missed everyone back home and they were only six miles away, god knows what it must be like when your loved ones are thousands of miles away, so pleased you stuck it out and made the UK your second home🏴🇨🇦🏴
I'd say that first line was a bit more brutal than humorous, so I'm glad you added a qualifier at the end. Especially as it didn't fit with the tone of the rest of your post.
Alanna isn't going anywhere, we'll make sure of that. "One of us, one of us, one of us, one of us...." 🙂
@@Elwaves2925I'm gonna edit it, I don't want to upset anyone ✌️
@@Elwaves2925I've edited my comment and I think it reads a lot better now, thanks for pointing out my stupidity ✌️
@@RockyBobbieBuster Cool. I wasn't expecting you to change it but it's good that you did. It clearly wasn't your intention to come off that way but I figured it was worth mentioning how it initially read to me. 🙂
@Elwaves2925 again, thanks for pointing out my stupidity ✌️
1:57 I can answer this question immediately. I applied for a job in a motorcycle accessories shop where I was a regular customer, what with me being a keen biker. I didn't even get an acknowledgement .. rude.
A few weeks later I went back to buy a jacket and guess who had got the job I applied for? Someone who knew absolutely nothing about the product on sale and had probably never sat on a motorbike.
What was that all about, then? Best applicant: 40 year old bloke. Successful candidate: 19 year old Polish girl with limited English.
Lucky you, age/gender prejudice works in your case.
She was cheaper. Simple as that.
And I don't mean that in a derogatory way to you or to her. You can pay a 19 year old immigrant money that a 40yo bloke is less likely to accept.
You see the same in healthcare. Care homes are full of young Indian women because they are cheap. This works out well in some ways because Indians do tend to be more respectful to elderly people but it can be unfair.
Such is life, sadly
@@catherineball5071would he have hired a 19 yr old boy cuz he's cheaper? Doubt it. More like, she was very pretty and exotic, manager's eyes out on stalks, you're soo HIRED.
@@TomBartram-b1c yes sadly that could well have been a factor also
I cannot relate to this as I am totally blessed to have immigrated to British Columbia, Canada 30 years ago, not a day passes that I don't give thanks to God for living in this magnificent country.
The reason I can't relate is that my entire family immigrated at the same time, no family left in South Africa.
What I can relate to is the 'where you from?" 30 years later and still with the 'accent'
I felt really bad one day when a lovely lady asked me where I was from and I unconsciously must have pulled a face, she felt so bad and I was mortified at being mean.
I explained I couldn't believe after all these years I still have an accent and that was the reason :)
I absolutely LOVE Canada, the people are!!!!! that nice :)
I'm English living in Sweden. I work in IT for international companies, so the business language is usually English, plus the Swedes are generally excellent at speaking English. That makes it so much harder to learn the local language .. and yet I still want/need to since virtually everything online/written is in Swedish, and I still encounter a lot of people whose English is poor. At least you've not had that to worry about - language makes life so much more difficult/stressful!
Cool video! Regarding the feeling dumb thing. As a teenager visiting the U.K. for the first time, long before GPS I was lost in London. I asked an old man how to get to Brompton road. He stared hard at me like I was an utter fool and said "Brompton road?!? You're standing on it!" I still feel the cringe...
😂 omg
Not the same thing but when playing in goal for my primary school in the 1980/81 season ( a few short years ago) the PE teacher of the opposing team who was refereeing the game put his hand out to shake mine. I took my glove off and handed it to him before realising that he was trying to shake my hand. He probably forgot it the same day but I have remembered it for a mere forty four years such was the level of embarrassment I felt. Thanks for prompting recall. I should have entered therapy.
Mince pies before December!😮 How very decadent of you Alanna.😄
she's gone native
When I was young Mince pies only appeared around Christmas, after mother had made the mince meat. The stock of jars could last for a month or two.
Fun fact, if you join your local UK library, you get free electronic access to ALL UK newspapers and quite a few others.
Great video. I don't think anyone who's not had that experience can ever *really* know what it feels like, but it's important, and your descriptions are so vivid and immediate it goes a long way towards conveying the experience. Kind of you to share your inner thoughts on this
Thank you, I appreciate that! ☺️
Well done for getting through all of that! Ontario is a wonderful place, which means that we in the UK should feel especially happy that you've chosen to make a home here too.
A very heartfelt, informative journey you have told there...Wisdom is not based on age, gender, or money, it comes from experiences, good & bad, thank you for sharing it.🙂
Wise words, thanks Steven! 🙏🏻
I feel each of your things too. UK to Italy. After nearly 10 years I came back. However, im rather older than you! Your experiences will grow!
You are one of us anyway. You are a friendly face I can tune into. Keep smiling.
I hope she never belittles herself by considering herself a yucky Englander!
As a Brit born in London and having moved to the USA at age 47, i can totally relate to the feelings you mentioned. I miss my life in England, but the USA is now my home. Thanks for sharing
It's always fascinating when you go deep on your experiences - I imagine you have helped many people over the length of your stay without even realising it as they absorb your lived experience & the wisdom you have gathered. For what it's worth you have bigger balls than myself - much as I like to visit foreign climes I'm very much a 'turn up, absorb some local culture, scuttle off back home' type of person.
Love your stuff, keep up the good work. Love & Kisses from God's own backyard (Shropshire)
It is probably a bit late now, but being in a foreign country one of the things I found useful was, if in doubt ask. Guess what if you feel embarrassed within about 5 minutes the person you asked has forgotten all about you.
so i am the opposite. i was born in London, left to move to the US in 2010. may last rental in Londan was 750sq ft. with 250sq ft back garden. my property in the Us, is 3500 sq ft and 15000sq ft garden.cost wise its about twice as much, but its about 8 times as large overall.
This is an excellent analysis. Also, welcome home.
Don't worry about mince pies, just make sure they are served with cream!
Hi Alana
Glad you have adapted the your new country.
I'm from the UK now live in Australia. It takes a while to get used to the differences and not to get dragged into saying how we do it in the UK.
Almost moved to Vancouver as I met a girl there but it didn't work out.
Recently did a bike ride from Seattle to Vancouver and noticed how much more I like Canada I found Canadians easier to talk to. Not sure why.
Now you understand the concept of the Tardis from Doctor who comes from, british houses x
Your the lucky one. Walking around town in the UK you blend in with the locals and even when you speak your accent tells us nothing. That gives you a head start over other immigrants.
Ha! Buses! I remember when I came here from Canada in the mid 80's I was very "shy" as they used to call it (now I could admit I had sometimes serious anxiety). One stupid symptom was down to request stops in London where you had to wave to the driver of an approaching bus if you wanted it to stop to pick you up. I don't know exactly why but it took a little while before I could bring myself to do it and instead I would walk along, however far, to the next proper stop (where all the buses stopped no matter what). Idiotic, but eventually empowering when I got my confidence up.
Lost count of the number of times that 'See GM' was written beside my signing on space on the signing on sheet, my conductor and I were often pulled in for not stopping at a white fare stage stop. My conductor would often ring me through a fare stage (three bells) if no one was alighting or standing at the bus stop, totally against the rules no matter how late we were running. How were we to know the person sheltering under a shop awning and looking in the shop window was waiting for a bus? Emerging as drove past giving a V sign, another 2 or 3 buses usually just behind. My argument was if waiting for a bus then stand at the bus stop.
Alanna, first I must say that someone who has lived abroad I recognise so many of you comments about moving to another country. With me, after the initial 3 months excitement of new people, new job, new places, settling in to live I felt so isolated and home sick I struggled, and that was living in Holland, where it is easy to get back to the UK and most people at least understood English. Looking back it was also how naïve I was thinking that moving to Holland would be like an extended holiday. I did not find a partner in Holland ( which would have changed everything)and after a year I moved back. One other thing, as I was a similar age to you when I lived abroad, you do a lot of development/growing up in your twenties, and you would be different person now even if you had stayed in Canada. .
Welcome home, hope that you can stay.
Thank you :)
Living in larger towns, generally the back gardens are smaller, as the town sizes shrink and into villages the gardens become larger (this is a generalisation, but is mostly true). Suffolk has some very nice, old towns and villages.
While you may feel being asked where are you from reminds you that you are not born here, that is not a solely british thing, its a human thing as residents of other countries ask the same question. However after being here for so long and bringing such joy to so many I really doesn't think it matters where you're from. You project confidence and friendliness so people want to connect, and its the easiest why to start a conversation
As someone who grew up in the 50s and 60s in a port and lived near the Youth Hostel, I found it really exciting to hear people speaking differently to how I did. My first school had pupils from what was Persia in those days and I loved seeing them write home, from right to left in this strange and beautiful way. I was excited in secondary school to have a best friend who was Dutch Indonesian at a time when it was unusual. These encounters gave ne a window on the world beyond our shores, and a desire to travel to experience new cultures. I DO still want to know what other peoples experience is but the fuss about the member of the Royal family asking someone where they were from has stifled that simple way of finding out. I have Canadian BIL and a soon to be DIL as well and am now an expert at telling the difference!
Familiarity with your surrounding culture helps with home sickness. The more different the world you are in, the less your mind compares and contrasts. You still miss 'home' but the difference between your life and your memories becomes less jarring.
Always interesting your videos when given from the perspective of an ExPat's side.
Thank you!
Alanna, yer our kid now. Lots of hugs!
Finding a house with a back garden will be ok. Finding a house with a back garden AND a dog will be a lot tougher!
@@micko5664 there's thousands of dogs that need a home, a lot of them reside at THE DOGS TRUST.
@CovBloke1310 I've had no trouble adopting from DT, could it be the potential adopters fault?
I’m an American who lived in Tokyo for four years, in the pre-Internet days of the early 90s. Perhaps that was a bit more stressful transition than moving for Canada to the UK. I did experience some homesickness, but NEVER GUILT. I often felt dumb, because most everything was different, and nobody spoke English (I was learning to speak Japanese as quickly as I could), and almost all do the signs in train stations, etc., were written in Japanese. A they did so many things in ways that are “not the way we do them back home!”
I did love eating good food, having access to excellent public transportation, living among people who could provide correct change at a store without reaching for a calculator, and being free of fear for my personal safety.
No place is perfect, and there are many things to deplore about Japan, but returning to America involved a lot of reverse culture shock.
i love most of your video's including the solo days out, but this is among the best and to a degree I can associate with some of it. But your not a foreigner I hear people say. True but I am a southerner living in Yorkshire and you can feel very foreign when that happens. I cannot ever imagine living in London again but you can get bigger places and a backyard up here :)
When I was 3 we moved into a large part Victorian house. It had been extended in the 1930s and divided into 2, but our part was still over 3000 sq ft. My Dad paid £4,500 for it in 1962. I remember the plumber fitting central heating. We sold that house in 2013.
My Gran's house had an outside toilet.
In my second year at uni I rented rooms in a Victorian house with no central heating.
My current house looks Victorian from the outside. It was actually built on the site of a Victorian school in the 1980s. The row of houses follows the outline of the old school reuses stone and slate from it. The stone came from a quarry in the village. It looks great from the outside. Unfortunately the builders skimped on materials inside, but I think I have fixed all the problems.
If you move back to Canada and want to move some walkable try Banff Alberta. Not cheap though!
Thank you for sharing.
Have a nice day. ❤❤
Thank you! You too!
UK not knowing if we want you? Of course we do. We want you.
Excellent video from Alanna. Question from Canadian viewer. The homes shown on the traditional opening to Coronation Street - still for sale?
I'm British and lived in Mexico for 3 yrs. Very isolated when I couldn't speak the language. 1st year was so lonely.
I dont know if the "being foreign" makes it much harder to get a job. I get that there's an extra layer but theres plenty of qualified English people here who also apply gor 99 jobs and might get offered 1 if they're lucky. I really like your channel and keep up the great content. Im a boring English person living in Essex and i love seeing our country through the eyes of someone with different experiences.
I had a little taste of home sickness when I worked in Australia for 3 months. It started on the plane out and within a week I thought I was going to have to bail out and go back home. I would spend evenings alone in my apartment crying. During the day I felt physically sick. As time went on, it decreased a bit but would hit me in waves like being smacked around the head. I had an end date so I knew I would be going home. I have no idea how you get through that if there is not necessarily an end point. Props to you.
For the price of a two bedroom flat in Kent you can get a three bedroom semi detached house in Greater Manchester….with a garden…front and back…and a garage. Just saying…
Thanks for being open about how things have been for you as an ex-pat. As I have said earlier in comments I too am an ex-pat but in the other direction = leaving the UK as a 23 year old heading to Canada. But what struck me with your vlog here is that it was all so different for me and many of the issues you felt, I did not feel at all. Homesickness was very minor for me as my personality is not one that needs many other folks around - such as family or friends. I treated my appearance in Canada with excitement and thinking about how much fun it was going to be by being somewhere else with all those new things to learn. Kind of like learning to ride a bike when you are young - walking done - now riding with all those new places to visit. So you are right that it is a selfish things as I don't doubt my parents felt quite different!
I settled in very quickly as a graduate student so there was some instant stability which helped with being so new to Canada. I also had my research for my PhD to do which consumed a huge amount of time and concentration. So maybe that was something many ex-pats might not have to take their minds off other issues.
Now I am an ex-pat for over 50 years and I am in the situation of not enjoying the odd visit back to the UK, which has changed so much since I left that it is now a foreign country and quite frankly not one I would want to return to. Those old beautiful houses such as I grew up in are often not very warm with not very reliable infrastructure. My sister's bathroom makes me shudder as the water creeps out of the pipes often with considerable noise and she cannot afford to heat her home on cold and dreary days! Then the garden tends to get hopelessly overgrown and it is hard for her at her age to get anyone to come as a gardener. But we do keep in touch through Skype regularly.
So I do think that everyone experiences many different things that cause issues when you are an ex-pat but it is hard to generalise as it depends on your personality to a high degree and the specifics of your situation. What I would say to anyone who is thinking about moving to live in another country is to do some preparation ahead of time , and there are so many TH-cam videos these days that were not available to those oldsters like me when we emigrated. Then be prepared to change and not hold on to too many characteristics of your first homeland - instead revel in all the new experiences you will have in your new land. Every place you live has pros and cons but focus on the pros and just take the cons as they come and get used to them I suppose!
Don’t rule out the possibilty that distance could become a good thing. I’m left the UK decades ago and am on Vancouver Island. My eldest sister left the UK decades ago and lived in Mozambique. Then she got hit with cancer. She had to go back to the UK for treatment for a year - to be treated by the NHS, she had to divest herself of everything in Mozambique. She didn’t enjoy being in the UK again and being given a limited time, left and moved to Tanzania. Her real home was Mozambique, but having lost everything there chose to go to Tanzania, where she vaguely knew a few people.- unfortunately Covid hit just after she arrived, so most people she knew fled. She stayed. She did have a few friends around, but the thing with cancer, is that the days can be fine, while the nightimes can be lonely. Just you and your fears and concerns etc. But throughout those years I was always 8/9 hours behind her. So when it was nighttime where she was, it was daytime where I was.
Across those years until she died, I have absolutely no doubt that she and I spent more time 'together' than we ever had in person, and i spent more time with her than anybody. If I had been in the same time zone it would have been impossible. I hope you never go through anything quite that bad, but there are definite benefits in distance and time
I love your vlogs. Find them very interesting. In 2018 my late wife and I, flew to Vancouver. Had a few days there also visited Vancouver Island. Then travelled to Halifax by various trains, with a number of stopovers. We found the people so friendly. Toronto was a bit hectic and Niagara Falls was a bit like Blackpool on Steroids. Too tacky for me. Other than that couldn't fault it. Alana perhaps you should try doing the journey.
.
I did the opposite trip, going to live in Ottawa. Loved it but found the cost of living hire than expected.
Mince pies? Is this an up coming taste test?
If not, why not?
Good video, Its good for people to understand how difficult that kind of move is, the simple things different foods, customs, then most difficult, learning a new language.
Well done.
I have no clue how to get bus tickets for my city in Ontario 🤣 Never been on one here. I did take one or two when I was in university though, so about 20 years ago. I'm glad you've never sugar coated your life in the UK. On a much smaller scale, I remember even feeling a bit different when I'd come back to my parents house after the uni school year for the summer. I was used to being "on my own" (I did have roommates at uni) but it was like oh yeah, back to living with Mum and Dad and their house rules, etc. Hang on to that annual leave for as long as you can!!!! (I am lucky and have 5 weeks)
Alanna, you need to escape the very, very expensive South East. Check out the BBC show Escape to the Country. They show people who want to live in the countryside, amazing houses of all ages and sizes. Some houses are bigger than the average Canadian house, with modernised interiors including kitchens with utility rooms for washing machines etc, the bigger properties have room to fit an American style fridge if you want. They are mostly situated in stunning locations, all much cheaper than you would get in Kent. BBC most days around 3pm. I look forward to seeing you on the show.😊
the homesickness is very real..even though I love living here..I found it very hard making friends here..loneliness ...
Housing is Unique...is exactly right! Houses and homes everywhere in the world are bigger than we have here in the UK! And don't get me started on the Where are you from ..question! 😄
Small homes are great - less to clean and keep tidy!
In a book I read a character said that the hardest journey is the one home.
UK average homes are the smallest in Western Europe. Even places like Luxemburg and Belgium have larger average homes than the UK.
I'm a Brit who has lived abroad and experienced almost all of what you describe. It may shock you but it's the same for me in England. I live in Cornwall and it can take me as long to go see my friends in Leeds as it takes you to fly to Canada! Applying for jobs takes huge effort for us too (but it's still probably easier for us!) Don't ask me how buses work. I rely on my wife for that 😊
Don't all roads roam to Leeds?
Hiya Alanna,when I was in London, I got asked if I was from Liverpool or Newcastle, neither I'm from West Cumbria,this is Choppy
It Bites an excellent band and one of the few to hail from Cumbria.
You established you are mainly descended from the British. Arguable you have come home.
Of course, we each have different experiences when living as an expat anywhere. The cultural adjustment when I studied in the UK as a preteen, and in Canada as an undergrad wasn't too difficult. However, my times working in HK, Kenya, and Germany made cultural adjustment far more daunting. The worst, however, was my six yrs in the US - a place unlike any other on Earth, thank God! Homesickness, though, not so much now that I've been away almost all of the past 65 yrs. 😅
I moved from England to Spain 20 years ago and still don’t know wtf is going on
I've been in the UK 50 years. I'm British and have renounced my US citizenship. But I've lived in a small Midlands town for 15 years, and whenever I speak to someone who doesn't know me, I get the same question - "you're not from round here are you." 😂
But I totally get the thought of not being able to imagine having to go back.
When I ask "Where are you from?" I mean which town, village, street, whatever, are you from. I sometimes guess "Poland? Germany? Canada? (whatever). Then say something like: "My friend Jacques lives in Montreal and says it's very cool." Or "My son lives in Colorado and says it's cool there (in winter). Or "I went there on holiday recently and loved it".
Although Canada in winter is definitely very cool. 🙂
Wait about 6 months and there will be a nice house for sale in Sittingbourne. I’m planning on moving back to Wales 🏴
When I was very little I went to school with a Canadian girl, and when I was older and at a different school there was a Canadian girl there too (I was infuriated once when my sister, much older than me, disparaged that second girl as "the one who's always smiling?" and I just couldn't believe she had an attitude about someone because they smiled and were happy too much, what?!), so I have an inbuilt familiarity and fondness for Canadians.
our house prices are high, because rich people buy them up and rent them out..
however , victorian era houses arent warm, theyre very waterproof,
Alanna, Did you know the Toronto Argonauts won the 2024 Grey Cup this past Sunday? 🏈🇨🇦
wooooo! 🎉🎉
Alanna, sweetheart, the aches surrounding being away from home are not nearly so bad as the loss of a family member! It is a similar feeling but when you lose someone, oh my! As for being in a strange place….hell girl, that’s the excitement!! Woo hoo! You have a mouth, you speak a similar language, just ask! That’s how humanity learns. You’ll get it. No worries. Jeff
Please do stay. Great video. Good stuff.
Understaffed is the word!
We also say touch cloth.😮
❤
It's worth noting that her experience of getting here then applying for many jobs is only one way of moving abroad and typically one that is only available to young people (depending on the countries involved young may mean up to 35). Another common way is to get a job first that would qualify you for a Tier 2 - Skilled Worker visa and then get said visa with the support of your new employer before leaving home. Frankly, I would strongly encourage this route or at least having a job lined up before moving overseas.
Please know that WE LOVE YOU
12:45 - I feel the same as a Brummie living in Somerset. 😂
I always say 'North American' as I wouldn't want to upset a Canadian 🙂.
I think it helps with regards to property to be aware that the SE of England is particularly expensive, with London itself being the most extreme. Away from the SE, apart from a few 'honey pots', you will get much more property for your money. They will be bigger, but not on North American scale purely because land prices are so high here.
My own sector of IT is one in which you stand a good chance of getting employment.
As a near 60 year old. I had to go abroad to the Netherlands to work as an engineer , after applying for over 300 jobs in the UK. I much later found I was turned down because I was more qualified than the person running the job ad. And with a wife and kids at home in Wales yes I got homesick too.
Your comments on guilt really surprised me. I was born in England although I grew up in Canada. I have lived on every coast here - all three of them! I have never felt guilty at all, in fact that comment really surprised me. If you're aware you, there's no need to feel guilty!
I've always felt that guilt is a very self-indulgent emotion. If you've done something you feel "guilty" about - either do something about it or stop feeling guilty - no-one benefits from that feeling.
Denizens of deepest Kent would ask you the same things if you came from another *county* much less another country! So it's not really related to being from a different nation.