Category: Canada

To earn an entire flight to Vancouver on Air Miles, I need to earn 70,000 nectar points. I’m starting at 6,000 points. I think I may have been out by a factor of 10 somewhere(!). Doh!

Anyway, I think I’ll be on about 10,000 points (or more, if I do shopping at Sainsburys) at the end of the placement – if I only spent money on my ‘American Express Nectar card’ I’d’ve had to spend a minimum of 17,500 pounds to get a flight to Vancouver (mind, I’ve not played with dates). So…

If I then carry on commuting, then I’ll continue to rack up points at a shocking rate.

Anyway, it still looks do-able, if not as cheap as I’d hoped. And the cheapest flights, insanely, go via Amsterdam. Obviously I need to fly to Amsterdam *first*…

So, Just got an e-mail back from the nice and shiny people at ICBC – apparently my driving record in the UK does entitle me to some degree of discount from them. It requires a full letter on headed paper from my insurance company – but, this is definately good news.

I’m waiting on one from the nice licency people. Make them be nice to me.

So, it’s nearly time for another episode of Life on Mars. Which rocks.

And tonight we had an experimental dinner which, presuming I don’t go down with hideous food poisoning, was incredibly yummy and included freshly made and baked semi-flatbread. ’twas most pleasing, especially since it looked a bit disasterous.

I also had a very enjoyable day work wise. For the first time in MSSU I felt actually useful – I had 4 patients to myself, I organised their care delivery, and y’know what? I was okay. Everything got done, and I felt darn spiffy. I have however, done no work. But stuff that. Another Early Tomorrow…

I had a bit of a bout of lonliness last night, probably contributed to my lousy sleep – and the dream which has remained *just* out of reach. It’s rare for me to dream, but I know I’ve had this one before, and recently. And I thought ‘I want to remember this’ as I woke up and forgot it. Which sucked.

So, um, yeah. I have *nothing* exciting to say.

I’ll shut up.

So, Kate (no, not myself, ‘meriKate) said something to me yesterday and it’s one that’s quite a good point – it was about not underestimating the trauma and challenge of moving to a different culture – and I guess, like a lot of things, if you look at my ‘Canada’ thoughts from the outside it probably does look like I’m not considering it ‘seriously’ (incidentally, I don’t think that’s what she thought, but I think that’s the way it could come across, with my chaotic and slightly lighthearted approach to life).

But the truth is, for all my lightheartedness it occupies my mind the whole time. In both not-very-serious ways (for example, pondering what it’ll be like to have the gearlever on the wrong side of me (bear in mind I drive a manual / stick-shift car, not an automatic, so I’ll actually have to get used to shifting through the gate right-instead-of-left-handed). And looking at the road and thinking, hell, I’ll be on the other side.

More seriously though, I find myself wondering how I’ll cope, cutting myself off from my friends, from my family, placing myself in a culture which – while it has similarities to European culture is quite definately distinct from Europe – and more so from Britain. Leaving behind everything I know and landing in a country where I understand how nothing works; where I understand none of the goverment / civil functions.

I have a small flavour for it now; trying to find out how to register a car over there – and what requirements it has to meet. Here I know – because I’ve lived here my entire life – I just contact the DVLA. If I want to insure that car – and I have to before I can drive it – I ring an insurance company (of my choice); or I can go to an insurance broker. Before that car goes anywhere else, I know it’ll have to pass either an SVA or an MOT. I *know* how it all works.

I know which government offices to ask which questions, when I don’t I know who to ask who I should be asking. It’s part of being brought up somewhere – the stuff is kind of diffused into you, you absorb the information, because it’s all gradual.

But changing country? I won’t know this stuff.

And I won’t know anyone, bar the people I’ve met online. And as has previously been mentioned, Canada’s really big. My friends, my family, none of them will be remotely reachable. It’s scary. But like riding the nemesis, I need scary.

I am not happy with my life, I am not happy with the UK, and I am not happy with the NHS.

I fell in love with Alaska. Let’s be clear on this, if Alaska had a public healthcare system, that’s where I’d’ve been aiming to go. Well, that and Bush wasn’t in charge of the US. Seriously, I loved the place. It’s gorgeous, incredible, beautiful. But I can’t. I have sacrificed many of my morals and opinions to stay on the nursing course, I’ve not been out in my placements – and I’m not someone who stays closeted well – I’ve stopped buying ethically produced goods and foods, because I just can’t afford my beliefs. I gave up my chance of buying a house to do this course. And I regret not one thing about doing so. But I’m unable to give up one thing – my real and total belief that healthcare should be available based on need, not on ability to pay.

Any culture which fails to recognise that… well, I find it disturbing.

I tried to consider working for a non-profit / charitable health care place, of which I’m lead to believe there are some, but I’d just be frustrated – more so than buy the state of the NHS – by it all.

So, Canada – scenery wise there are areas which give me the chance of living somewhere that looks very similar to Alaska – so hopefully I can fall in love with it in the same way. Vancouver looks to be a very beautiful city too; which should help…

Canada, culturally, seems to have similarities to European culture – which is a positive as far as I’m concerned. And it has proper public health care.

But just finding a country beautiful? Why do I want to leave mine? Why not just visit?

Well – that’s where the state of things in the UK comes into play. I’m British. I’m very British, just ask my friends. But I’m British in a way which doesn’t seem to fit with modern Britain; I guess I’m British the way that people seemed to suggest that Britain was when I was brought up. Culturally accepting, proud of Britain but also circumspect about it’s historical acts, slightly startled by it’s emmense influence on the world given it’s small size, strong believer in a social / societal support system, public health care, public ownership of utilities… That sort of British.

And Britain isn’t the place I want to be anymore, civil liberties seem to be becoming optional. The separation of church and state seems to have disappeared, the education of the next generation… well, intelligent design, need I say more? I know the NHS is struggling – not least because every 30 seconds a new government policy changes the priorities of the NHS – and the staff are left desparately trying to treat people in run down old buildings with insufficent equipment, insufficent staff, and with managers who don’t understand that cutting care in one area will inevitably lead to more care somewhere else.

And to round it off nicely, the studies suggest that the state pension will disappear before I’m old enough to get it – yet I will have to continue to pay for it until then; the NHS pension is going to disappear too – they want to remove the final salary pension… the one thing, which for me, meant that staying in the NHS was reasonable.

Offering a 2% pay rise – the UK’s inflation rate is higher – so essentially a pay cut is the icing on the cake. The pay’s so lousy I can’t afford a decent private pension; and this year it looks like my probable pay will go down. So, really, what have I got to look forward with this? A life of scraping by followed by a retirement of being too poor.

To give the one other thing, the UK is filled with reminders of my past. My past is something I’m alternately proud of and distressed by. But at any rate, although I’ll take the problems it’s given me with me, some of the reminders that the UK provides won’t be there.

And finally. I need a kick up the arse. I work best under stressful circumstances, and I’ve been taking the easy route far to often in my life. This time it’s time for me to do what I think I should.

Well, that’s it really. That’s why I want to leave, and why I want to go to Canada.

Frustrating in the extreme…

Canada will recognise and issue a Canadian licence to holders of American, Austrian, German, Swiss, Japanese or South Korean licences. You’ll note the distinct and frustrating lack of the UK from that list. Now, what’s even more frustrating is that as part of the European Union, Austria will directly convert a UK licence to an Austrian licence.

Anyone else see the annoying-slight-insanity?

I’ve got a UK driving licence. A full one. I can drive anything from a 50cc moped to a 7.5 tonne lorry, I am deemed ‘competent’ to do this (although the biggest thing I’ve driven is a 3.5 tonne lorry)… and I’ve been driving for a while… and… gah. Bloody sod grr.

*sigh*

Why is it that all of the western countries seem to be following each other in a desparate race to flush their civil liberties and culture down the toilet faster than anyone else? Or, as I’m feeling: “how dare Canada elect a Conservative government after I’ve decided I want to move there”. Apologies to all the Canadians out there who didn’t elect a conservative government.

*sigh*

I guess I’m a hopeful sort of left-of-the-centre type, and kind of hoped that despite what I knew about the political situation in Canada at the moment (which isn’t *that* much, but is just about enough to make a vaguely reasoned decision) the Liberal types would trundle out to the polls and stick them back in for another term. But it appears not. I guess I’ll be watching the political situation in Canada more closely now than I have been before anyway, since I still want to move there, but now, with the election of a (minority, granted) conservative government I’ll be watching even more closely… and it’s disappointing.

And yes, before I get beaten over the head, what right have I to comment on another countries political situation when we’ve got Blair in charge here? Well, I didn’t vote for him so…

I am, it must be said, distressed by the western political climate at the moment. I’ve kind of been dragged, kicking and screaming into being a political being. I’m not, by my nature, polticial. I’m kind of a left-wing; but not screamingly so; pro civil liberties type. And slowly it’s dawned on me that the nature of the majority of politics in the UK is rather more right-of-centre than I find myself comfortable with. I’m hardly activism central, but the odd letter to my MP has been fired off, and certainly I vote, and I also seem to be getting involved in local politics too. It’s all a bit far off what I expected of myself, really.

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In more positive news, I’ve just had confirmation that at the moment both my car and my motorcycle are exempt from import regulations – and can be registered just as they are; so my mildly modified mog will get into Canada just fine.

And now I am in need of a shower.

Today I’ve been fairly productive, I’ve done Laundry (mmm, clean uniforms for tomorrow), mailed the British Colombia car insurance / registration people (heh, see, I’ve just gleaned something important about insurance in BC, I’m getting there…

It’s hard though, because I forget how utterly different different countries are. And I’ve started to realise that just because the UK does something some way doesn’t mean that any one else is going to have tackled it in even remotely the same way – or more, I’ve started to realise the practicality of it – i.e. I have no idea who to ask what. I just end up directing possibly stupid questions at people and seeing who they direct me to.

Anyway. Yes. I’ve finished the IP essay, I just need to stick it together (I’ll do that after I’ve written this) – it’s distressingly bad but I really don’t know how to make it meet their objectives any better. Having started the day on a musical high, I’ve been 80’s-ing it for most of the day, which has been entertaining.

I’ve also been to the supermarket – spent too much – it’s this bloody healthy eating malarkey, it costs so bloody much because there’s all this fresh food… I spent 10 minutes trying to persuade my indicators to work properly, but I’ve now come to the conclusion I need to try a new bulb. I don’t think the old one’s blown – but I think the connections might be marginal – that’s the only idea I’ve got now – either that or I’ll have to take the fracking thing off – clean the screw holes out and check they earth properly but I couldn’t get anything out of it. And I recall having fun and games with indicators last time I had a duff bulb. They don’t seem to die on the mog, they just ‘stop working’ – looking completely fine, but not lighting up.

Anyway, so yes. Done that. Burned a bunch of images onto DVDs – so I can delete them… when I’ve checked the DVDs’ve burned okay. Of course, one of the vitally important things I’ve burned is Abducted by the Daloids which from my brief and skip-tastic viewing looks like it should be the basis for an entertaining evening…. Dreadful is the word that first springs to mind. If only I could find a copy of the cover to print…