Been in Canada 3 months now info inside

Sam Swarek

goingitalone wrote: »

thought about looking elsewhere in canada ?just curious cant say winter sports interests me anywho thats why im thinking bigger citys more of an option for me .

Well my job is here in Regina there may be a possibility to transfer within the company but I couldn't ask yet as I'm not with the company long enough plus the size of Regina sorta suits me is big enough, about 220k people and there's no traffic, 20mins drive to anywhere in the city, I've done the big city thing before and don't want to face the daily commute etc again

Sam Swarek

robbieVan wrote: »

That is a different world up there though compared to toronto, vancouver , calgary etc.. way better wages but they have to pay that to keep people there.. save up and move down to somewhere else for a few months?

Ah sask isn't the backwater people think it is, it's a nice city, bigger and nicer than what I thought it would be before I came and there's a lot of construction here at the moment, but the weather really is the pits, the winter everything revolves around the weather, I have to start my car for 20mins in the morning and leave it running before I can drive it then plug it in while I'm at work etc if you step outside in the weather for longer than 15mins it's actually v dangerous, seems there's no life here in the winter which lasts til the end of March (5months)...my other issues have been how costly the place is and taxes that you have to pay which I think is Canada wide, I remember asking my recruiter what taxes and charges etc were and he hadn't a clue, never thought I'd be losing as much money as what I am! Property prices are through the roof here too!
I dunno, I'm just a bit disappointed with the place so far, I was expecting a lot more to be honest but I'll definately give it more time and see, wait til winter passes and my mood might lift a bit, at least I've a secure job and enough money to get by which is a positive!

jiminho

Sam Swarek wrote: »

Ah sask isn't the backwater people think it is, it's a nice city, bigger and nicer than what I thought it would be before I came and there's a lot of construction here at the moment, but the weather really is the pits, the winter everything revolves around the weather, I have to start my car for 20mins in the morning and leave it running before I can drive it then plug it in while I'm at work etc if you step outside in the weather for longer than 15mins it's actually v dangerous, seems there's no life here in the winter which lasts til the end of March (5months)...my other issues have been how costly the place is and taxes that you have to pay which I think is Canada wide, I remember asking my recruiter what taxes and charges etc were and he hadn't a clue, never thought I'd be losing as much money as what I am! Property prices are through the roof here too!
I dunno, I'm just a bit disappointed with the place so far, I was expecting a lot more to be honest but I'll definately give it more time and see, wait til winter passes and my mood might lift a bit, at least I've a secure job and enough money to get by which is a positive!

I can imagine it gets farely boring out there during the winter. That why I would say the Albertan cities are good because they're near the Rockies. Some people aren't big into skiing but it's good for weekend trips and getaways. I'll admit the summer were much more lively. The Canadians are very outdoorsy and summer time over hear is pretty fantastic, the weather his pretty consistently good during that time of year. Curiously, you say you get deducted approx. 35% does that include contributions to health care, RRSP etc?

Stick it out for a little while longer, sure it's all an experience.

astonaidan

From ye guys over there, whats it like getting work in like Bars and Shops.
I have no plans myself of emigrating just have to pass a year then return to Uni. I plan on going to Toronto as well I lived in Sydney and loved the big city scene.

Frank Bullitt

Kev_2012 wrote: »

As a Limerick man, I would certainly take the nightlife in Dublin over Vancouver any day of the week! I like Granville Island brewary and Okanagan and that but, I'd also much rather higher quality pints of Heineken or Guinness that the muck pints you get in 99% of bars here. I like it here, but the nightlife hasn't a patch on back home! I'm also here 6 months BTW.

I find the quality of beers here far superior to that of Ireland, mainly because of the choice you can get here. The mini breweries here have high standards to meet by law, so the quality you get it amazing, it is far from "muck" to be fair, although the Guinness here is dire!

You can get a Dublin-esque style of nightlife here but it is a bit weird, and hugely expensive, part of the moving for me was to completely get away from the monotony of what Irelands nightlife was.

ciaran67

Gintonious wrote: »

I find the quality of beers here far superior to that of Ireland, mainly because of the choice you can get here. The mini breweries here have high standards to meet by law, so the quality you get it amazing, it is far from "muck" to be fair, although the Guinness here is dire!

You can get a Dublin-esque style of nightlife here but it is a bit weird, and hugely expensive, part of the moving for me was to completely get away from the monotony of what Irelands nightlife was.

Doesn't matter what it says on the tap, it gives me the worst hangovers.

dealhunter1985

ciaran67 wrote: »

Doesn't matter what it says on the tap, it gives me the worst hangovers.

I have to agree. I drink alot less since I came to Canada.
The cost weighs on that somewhat but its more a fact of I simply hate the beer here.
Whenever I go to the LCBO or biermarket, I always opt for German/Polish/Czech beers.

Kev_2012

Gintonious wrote: »

I find the quality of beers here far superior to that of Ireland, mainly because of the choice you can get here. The mini breweries here have high standards to meet by law, so the quality you get it amazing, it is far from "muck" to be fair, although the Guinness here is dire!

You can get a Dublin-esque style of nightlife here but it is a bit weird, and hugely expensive, part of the moving for me was to completely get away from the monotony of what Irelands nightlife was.

I strongly disagree with you if you are talking about pint quality. Even when I was down in Seattle the pints were far nicer.

I agree with you on the choice. I wish we could get Granville Island and that back home, but the actual quality of the pint itself isn't nowhere near as good. I haven't had a pint with a head short of a pint of guinness from Johnny foxes, which although still only ok and the best I've had outside of Ireland, is still cat compared to back home . Granville Island winter ale is savage stuff. But, then again, you get the likes of all the Bowen Island beers, which are rotten!

I don't really find myself out as much in the same way as I'd head to town in any city in Ireland, it's just nowhere near as fun. This making you wait outside and then charging cover when there is hardly anyone inside drives me nuts, although I've seen it done back home, it's far more common here.

I was in Ceilis on a Wednesday night and the place was packed with bar staff on their night off, thought it would be great craic. Had to queue up to get ID checked to go in, queue up to pay ($10) and then queue up to put my jacket in ($2). I still laugh at the audacity of the people charging you $10 having a tip jar!!! Then I seemed to be the only person that was given a pint glass, rather than a plastic cup. After I got my pint, everyone just spent the night standing around doing nothing watching people playing beer pong. Not really chatting or having any banter. Was certainly the lamest night out I've ever had! 2 pints and I had enough and bailed the scene. Most expensive 2 pints I've ever had

jiminho

Have to agree, the quality of their pints isn't great or should i say pint pouring skills. You need a decent head to get a good tasting pint. Funny thing tho, I've said it to a few bartenders/waitresses over here. I ask them why is there a gap at the top of my pint, it looks like someone has taken a mouthful out of it. They say the gap is for the head.......but there's never any head?? Maybe they just don't know how to pour a proper pint And on a side note, I always seem to get terrible hangovers from the micro-brewery beer over here even tho most of them have a lower alcohol percentage then say an erdinger which I would drink a lot of. Can anyone explain why that is?

robbieVan

The Irish Heather in Gastown has good enough Guinness if your pining for it

Frank Bullitt

The trick is to buy a pitcher and pour yourself!

And to be honest, I haven't had a bad drink here at all, and the choice...THE CHOICE!!!!

Lawlesz

Only on an Irish forum would the main topic of discussion be choice and heads of beer!

Frank Bullitt

I should also say that the food is a big player for me here, it is unbelievable!

kitchenchair

jiminho wrote: »

Have to agree, the quality of their pints isn't great or should i say pint pouring skills. You need a decent head to get a good tasting pint. Funny thing tho, I've said it to a few bartenders/waitresses over here. I ask them why is there a gap at the top of my pint, it looks like someone has taken a mouthful out of it. They say the gap is for the head.......but there's never any head?? Maybe they just don't know how to pour a proper pint And on a side note, I always seem to get terrible hangovers from the micro-brewery beer over here even tho most of them have a lower alcohol percentage then say an erdinger which I would drink a lot of. Can anyone explain why that is?

I was told over here by a barman that it is regarded to be rude to fill the glass to the very top, which is why they don't do it.

ciaran67

jiminho wrote: »

Have to agree, the quality of their pints isn't great or should i say pint pouring skills. You need a decent head to get a good tasting pint. Funny thing tho, I've said it to a few bartenders/waitresses over here. I ask them why is there a gap at the top of my pint, it looks like someone has taken a mouthful out of it. They say the gap is for the head.......but there's never any head?? Maybe they just don't know how to pour a proper pint And on a side note, I always seem to get terrible hangovers from the micro-brewery beer over here even tho most of them have a lower alcohol percentage then say an erdinger which I would drink a lot of. Can anyone explain why that is?

Granville Island is the worst followed by the Okanagan beers. Funny enough, Seattle's doesnt seem to hurt me at all. BTW... anyone looking for a cracking weekend down there, check out Ballard. Loads of bars and great food on one very old neighbourhood street.

The fact that happy hour is banned in BC and now that utter (insert appropriate swear word) Christy Clark looks like shes not going to allow booze in supermarkets sums up the attitude toward drinking and socialising in Vancouver.

Shyte

ciaran67

ciaran67 wrote: »

The fact that happy hour is banned in BC and now that utter (insert appropriate swear word) Christy Clark looks like shes not going to allow booze in supermarkets sums up the attitude toward drinking and socialising in Vancouver.

Shyte

Some of us would consider that a good thing. I'm sure there's people going to Canada to avoid being associated with the drunken skangers destroying Australia.

Perhaps the drink laws of Oz would suit you better ciaran?

NewsMeQuick

Deleted User wrote: »

Some of us would consider that a good thing. I'm sure there's people going to Canada to avoid being associated with the drunken skangers destroying Australia.

Perhaps the drink laws of Oz would suit you better ciaran?

I hate seeing that stuff, those people disgrace the country. In Rome, the hotel staff said we "were the quietest Irish people they had ever seen" because we didn't drink all the time and shout. I try hard not to mention Irish when abroad, I say European.

edit: I'm not referring to anyone on here, Irish people abroad generally.

jiminho

NewsMeQuick wrote: »

I hate seeing that stuff, those people disgrace the country. In Rome, the hotel staff said we "were the quietest Irish people they had ever seen" because we didn't drink all the time and shout. I try hard not to mention Irish when abroad, I say European.

That's a bit sad.

NewsMeQuick

jiminho wrote: »

That's a bit sad.

That's a bit immature.

robbieVan

Luckily for the big 'drinkers' Ireland will always be there to go back to but basing any decision on staying somewhere mainly on the drinking culture leaves a lot to be said about people, not saying anyone is like that on this thread but I'm sure it has probably swayed some peoples decision into going home.

Speaking of which I know a good few people who arrived here in around april who are going home next week for good, also a lot of people used their visa as a J1 basically and went home at the end of august and back to college, that's kinda **** for the people who didn't get the visa and would give the 2 years a go

ciaran67

Deleted User wrote: »

Some of us would consider that a good thing. I'm sure there's people going to Canada to avoid being associated with the drunken skangers destroying Australia.

Perhaps the drink laws of Oz would suit you better ciaran?

Don't know what Australia has to do with this. I'm talking about a greater choice where the government doesn't buy the booze and sell it back to the population at ridiculously inflated price. Not to mention being charged even more to buy off sales cos they chill it. Why that makes you think that I want to go out smashing the place up, I'm not quite sure.

PS Spent a year in Aussie many moons ago.

retalivity

I didnt realise BC wasn't like puritanical Ontario, where you can only buy alcohol in 2 places and only at certain times i.e. not Sunday.

Ridiculous govt cartel.

Sunshine87

ciaran67 wrote: »

Don't know what Australia has to do with this. I'm talking about a greater choice where the government doesn't buy the booze and sell it back to the population at ridiculously inflated price. Not to mention being charged even more to buy off sales cos they chill it. Why that makes you think that I want to go out smashing the place up, I'm not quite sure.

PS Spent a year in Aussie many moons ago.

Have to disagree - prices of booze in the lcbo/beer store are the same as Ireland to be honest, dunno why people complain...maybe cos its dollars and not euro?? I can only speak for Ontario. And my local does $4 tuesdays and Thursday.

Tbh Ive started to cut down on my drinking, which is what i wanted to do for a long time. Theres so much to do here that im no longer interested in being severely hungover at weekends.

Sam Swarek

jiminho wrote: »

I can imagine it gets farely boring out there during the winter. That why I would say the Albertan cities are good because they're near the Rockies. Some people aren't big into skiing but it's good for weekend trips and getaways. I'll admit the summer were much more lively. The Canadians are very outdoorsy and summer time over hear is pretty fantastic, the weather his pretty consistently good during that time of year. Curiously, you say you get deducted approx. 35% does that include contributions to health care, RRSP etc?

Stick it out for a little while longer, sure it's all an experience.

Yup 35% is for all taxes and pension but I get free health and dental etc
Ya I'll stick it out another bit but being holed up in my apartment every wknd because it's too cold to go outside isn't much fun and this lasts til April
Definately not too impressed with my Canadian experience thus far!

ciaran67

Sunshine87 wrote: »

Have to disagree - prices of booze in the lcbo/beer store are the same as Ireland to be honest, dunno why people complain...maybe cos its dollars and not euro?? I can only speak for Ontario. And my local does $4 tuesdays and Thursday.

Tbh Ive started to cut down on my drinking, which is what i wanted to do for a long time. Theres so much to do here that im no longer interested in being severely hungover at weekends.

I bought a box of Kokanee at a petrol station in Washington State the other day for 15 bucks. Same box, in BC, where its made ffs is 24. That is being ripped off in a nutshell. Don't get me on the wine prices!

Scruffy19

ciaran67 wrote: »

I bought a box of Kokanee at a petrol station in Washington State the other day for 15 bucks. Same box, in BC, where its made ffs is 24. That is being ripped off in a nutshell. Don't get me on the wine prices!

Ciaran i would havta agree. Box of beer is a rip off. If i dnt make it to the bc liquor store before it closes im payn $25 for cools light! Beer is a joke here. Im going home on moday for a holiday and il make the most out of thr £1.50 a drink on a sat nyt!

Regarding the post earlier abot comparing canada to oz! I was in oz few years ago and theres nufn to do xcpt drink. Irish have a bad name out there. I cant see the same thing happening tbh!

silja

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ciaran67

ciaran67 wrote: »

Don't know what Australia has to do with this.

It's simple. If you want to get pissed, go to Oz.

If you don't, go to Canada.

Punitive drink laws mean those who should be able to drink can't.

Easy drink laws mean those who should never be let near a drink, can drink.

Pays your visa money & takes your choice.

retalivity

Telling anyone who complains about the price of alcohol in Canada to go get pissed in Australia instead is ridiculous, as is the notion that everyone who has gone to/lives in Oz is a raging alcoholic. While we are at sweeping generalizations, do you hang around airports in your spare time breathalyzing people as they get off the plane?

I didn't drink much in Canada, partially because of the cost and availability of alcohol in Ontario, partially because of the drinking culture (no pubs), and it was dull. So, so dull.

Kev_2012

There are places doing offers on beers in Vancouver alright but the main problem for me is cover charge on the doors and insane queues and bar staff taking bribes. It's only really downtown but still it's a joke, needs to be sorted out. Took myself and a friend 45 minutes to get into the Lamplighter in Gastown on Saturday night, but we could've gone straight in if we gave the bouncer $20 each and then paid $12 at the door plus $4 for coat check! Would've not bothered but we were meeting people there.

@Ciaran, Granville Island have some savage beers! Do you not like em or is it the hangover you don't like?

Oh and my main problem with drinking here, A PINT IS A NON NEGOTIABLE MEASUREMENT!!!

I seen a sign one day on Granville st. saying $4 for 12OZ pints, $5 for 18OZ pints and $15 for 60OZ pints (prices may not be accurate) but the what the f*ck!!! :mad: