Missing home

cheekybeaver
New Member



Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 3
Location: Long Island, NY

Posted: Wed May 12, 2004 11:09 am

 

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Hi
I'm new. I've been living in the US (specifically Long Island) for about 4.5 years now after I married my husband who is American. (For those of you who are debating how to stay in the US and which visa to apply for...I share your pain because even after all this time my green card still isn't finalized)
Anyway, I'm just feeling a little blue today as I'm missing my Canadian home. Life on Long Island is certainly different from my hometown of Calgary and after 4+ years I'm still not used to it. Doubt that I will ever be as the pace of life here is a bit nuts.
Glad I found this site...I don't feel so much like the lone Canadian in the crowd.

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Melina
New Member



Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4
Location: NH/MA

Posted: Tue May 18, 2004 2:58 pm

 

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Oh no!! I've been in the USA for 3 years and I was hoping it would get better! I want to go home. I feel your pain. I just can't put my finger on why I just don't mesh well. I've made friends, I've intergrated as much as anyone can but it still feels "off". What is it?

Take care of yourself!

Melina

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cheekybeaver
New Member



Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 3
Location: Long Island, NY

Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 4:50 am

 

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*shrug* I dunno why it feels different. I have a feeling it's a combo of things. For starters, the pace of life here (specifically Long Island) moves at a much faster speed. I always feel like I'm running...just to keep up.
And I don't care what anyone says, the people in NY ARE, in general, rude. But again, everyone is in a rush...goes with that fast pace thing.
It's more polluted, more expensive.
It's exhausting.
Oh...and ironically, I miss the cold winters. We get snow here. We get chilly here...but I'm talking the Canadian cold winters where skin freezes under 60 seconds. Never thought I'd miss that...but I do.

Anyway...I have to get back to work here...

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Melina
New Member



Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4
Location: NH/MA

Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 9:51 am

 

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That's funny. I find the people here a bit rude too. However, in New Hampshire life seems to be moving at a snails pace. I go to boston a lot and that feels a bit more like home to me. i've never been to long island, what is it like?

My husband lived there for two years and said that it would be "okay' for us to live there. He is actually Dutch, so we are both non-americans living here. It gets hectic around visa renewal time!

Take care of yourself!

Melina

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cheekybeaver
New Member



Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 3
Location: Long Island, NY

Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 10:06 am

 

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I really don't care for Long Island much. The traffic is unreal. It used to be mostly farmland once upon a time but now it's over-populated. Lots of people move to Long Island from NYC and the building keeps pushing further and further east. I'm on the eastern end of the island myself and the amount of building and traffic and people is unbelievable. The only place on the island that still has it's farm roots is the north and south fork. They have wine country there and of course the Hamptons but I don't think it will be too far into the future before those areas are built up like it is on the rest of the island.
I think if I had lots and lots of money I would enjoy Long Island more because then I could live along the coast in the scenic areas that are so far off the beaten path that most people don't go there. But, I live in the middle of the island where all the poor to upper-middle class live. It's riddled with block after block of strip malls. The taxes are unbelievably high and yet the roads look like they've been bombed from the air. And there is no planning for residential vs commercial areas. It's like they just plow down trees and throw something on it...never thinking how it might effect the traffic flow or what's on the land next to it. It's bizarre.
Anyway...I'm biased to the negative on Long Island. Oh...and the summers are too hot and humid for me. But that could be almost the entire eastern coast...not really Long Island's fault.
How do you enjoy living near Boston? I've heard it's a nice city but I've never been.

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SuzyQPA2
New Member



Joined: 25 May 2004
Posts: 5
Location: Philadelphia

Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 3:58 pm

 

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I was fortunate enough to go home to Canada last year (brothers wedding). It's funny the things i miss most are Tim Horton's Coffee, friendly competent service and attitudes, the chocolate (even the cheap chocolate), the bread, the seafood (of course), and greco donairs, this is besides the cleanliness, not having to worry about getting shot or my child being abducted by some perv, and the scenic hiking and beaches.

What holds me here is somewhat gainful employment. Unfortunately i'm not certain where i'd fit in back home now....the bulk of my experience is here in the US and my education was shaky (i have an equivalent to a bachelors - something my country would laugh at i'm sure).

What is so disconcerting about the USA is that their culture is similar enough that you could almost convince yourself there's no difference....however there really is a big culture difference....at least the culture i grew up in (which i'm not sure exists anymore).

I find that people here are more thin skinned, other than a few close friends i have to be careful what i say because they don't have our infamous sense of humours that help us laugh and deal with the serious issues. I find that people here don't do a job well (on the whole) just to do it well, they only do it well if some stated reward is offered and even then maybe not. I find that a good quality education is not accesible to all....it's only accessible to those able to put their children in private school (no i can't afford to do that for my daughter) or those lucky few who qualify for special aid, or form their own schools. (Somewhat similar for the healthcare).

I really miss the accents....the upper canadians and the westerners and the east coasters....i love to hear people from my country talk.

I find people here to be extremely wasteful on the whole, there's a big throw it away and get a new one mentality that maybe due to us not having the money and not due to the ethics of creating massive landfills.

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confused_canuck
New Member



Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 3
Location: Stranded in California

Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 8:41 am

 

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hi everyone,

the whole "intergrated as much as anyone can but it still feels "off" - What is it?" issue made me laugh. It's so true. I too never thought I'd miss the snow but I do (I'm out in California) - and I'm a Torontonian who cursed the snow!

I wonder if I'll ever get adjusted out here. My bf is American who's found a good job out here; I'm debating whether or not to marry him to be with him. I want to start a life with him but miss home so much.

SuzyQPA2, your post brought back a lot of memories of home for me - and also why it feels so different here. You're right about the 'thin-skinnedness' - another thing I miss is the Canadian sense of humour! - and the wastefulness. It's not like Canada is a utopia where everything is perfect - lord knows that we have our own landfill issues! - but it's just...
[i]different[/i]. I'm heading back home at the end of the month and always joked that I can probably only stomach a certain number of months here in the States before coming "home".

I like what Martin Short said (I think it was him - or another one of the 5,000 Canadian actors in the States): it was something like "American is where I live, but Canada will always be my home".

- confused Canuck (Kahluagal)
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cdngirl80
New Member



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 5
Location: Seattle, WA

Posted: Mon May 31, 2004 3:07 am

 

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I'm right there with ya with the green card situation. The INS (or BCIS or whatever they're called now) extended my conditional 2 year one last year and I'm still waiting on them to start the process on the 10 year one. It probably doesn't help that I moved and had to change processing centres but still...ugh!

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