The struggles of expat life
Yes, because even if from the outside, expatriation and in particular Canada are perceived as an Eldorado, this temporary resident status is not easy every day.
- The famous holiday dilemma
Yes, as a reminder, with only 2 weeks of vacation per year, or even 3 for the luckiest, you inevitably find yourself having to choose between returning to France to see your family and friends who you miss, your culture, all these beautiful landscapes and the food of course.
Or give up going back for another year in favor of a real vacation, in a new destination, in search of a change of scenery and a real break from everyday life.
- It necessarily follows the question of solo end-of-year celebrations in your host country or the loneliness of being without family
Either that, or pay for a round trip to France for 1500 bucks, the choice is yours.
Personally, the choice has always been quickly made on my side, blow all my savings just to go home to spend the holidays with my family, since I'm already not fond of this time of year? No thanks.
So, there are a lot of Christmases between expats, between friends here, our family of heart in this expatriation.
Apart from this year, Covid obliges, I spent Christmas in a city in the USA (NY, Chicago etc). In itself it's great to be somewhere else and see all these illuminated decorations, this special atmosphere in big cities. But in the end, you still end up spending New Year's Eve alone so it's a decoy in a way, but at least with a break in your daily life in magnificent landscapes worthy of Christmas movies.
- Long Distance Friendships: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
Duality between building new relationships in a new country, at over 30 years old while preserving those in France despite the distance
Here everything has to be done, and in France everything has to be consolidated.
And maintaining your relationships despite the distance and also with a 6-hour time difference is not always easy. " appointment " taken for a call that is not honored because the friend in France has forgotten or has been taken by his own life, which of course, continues to turn without you in his daily life,
The unexpected missed calls, the news (good or bad), the doubts, which we cannot share at the moment with our friends as we did when we lived in the same country.
Everything needs to be rethought and adapted to.
(See my article on the same subject “Expatriation: Koh Lanta of friendship”)
- Immigration or the obstacle course
I cannot fail to address the most critical point for the majority of expats: the steps to take to settle permanently in Canada, with permanent residency.
If you, a newcomer, are reading this, I have only one thing to say: hang in there!
Looking back, I realize the freedom I had when I was only on a PVT, my first two years here. You can work whenever you want, with any employer(s), or you want without any real constraints. You can even devote your entire PVT if you wish to visit the country (if you have the savings to do so without working after all).
I have lived here for 4 years, I have waited so far a year and a half before they even started processing my file and by that I mean just entering my personal information into their system and getting an acknowledgement of receipt.
At this point, it has been two years since I submitted my application, and it is still on hold, stuck at the last stage of security questions...
So I repeat, hang on, we are happy to find immigration during the PVT but when it comes to settling down, the country does not make things easy for us, even if you live and pay your taxes like a citizen since your arrival.
- I cannot end this list without mentioning this season eagerly awaited by newcomers and dreaded by those who have already experienced a few: winter.
"It's the Noooord" (only the French will understand the reference)
You have to live it to understand it.
As I approach my 5th winter here, I can tell you that it is definitely not my favorite season…
(See the article The joys of Quebec winter to discover a slightly more complete portrait).
