Question For Rickr

[Glenbow]

Rickr,

I was thinking about you today when my GF (who is from Maine) was telling me how much she likes living in Canada compared to the US. She got her Canadian citizenship a couple of years ago too, and it made me wonder how do you feel about living in Canada now compared to the US? What do you think are the pros & cons of living here compared to back home? Just wondering if more US folks who have come here feel the same way as my GF, or if she is more the exception to the majority.

[reevesr1]

Rickr,

I was thinking about you today when my GF (who is from Maine) was telling me how much she likes living in Canada compared to the US. She got her Canadian citizenship a couple of years ago too, and it made me wonder how do you feel about living in Canada now compared to the US? What do you think are the pros & cons of living here compared to back home? Just wondering if more US folks who have come here feel the same way as my GF, or if she is more the exception to the majority.

 

Wow, big question and difficult to answer.

 

It would take an essay for me to answer that fully. I'll condense it to this.

 

Houston is, and always will be, home. I love it there, the people, my family, the Gulf of Mexico, the sports, just about everything. It has major problems, mostly around the increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor. We don't know how to deal with it.

 

Calgary is my adopted home. I can't see myself ever leaving, or if I do, not coming back. I'll live here as long as you'll let me (and if you don't, I'll become an illegal). The city, it's people and the activities it offers were tailor made for me. I do, however, wish I had a helicopter to commute.

 

So for me, Calgary is where I want to be. I will however say that of my American colleagues, I am in the minority. I don't know anyone that doesn't like it here. But most of them plan to go home some day.

 

But really, I just compared Calgary vs. Houston. I don't know that is a fair comparison of US vs. Canada. There is a famous line that says all politics are local. I think it also applies to choices of where to live. I don't think my choice has much to do with political differences between our countries. It has to do with my love for this area vs. the area I am from. If that makes any sense.