Moving to Canada or Israel?

[goingtoexplodesoon]

Well, my DH came back after 2wks in France working for his company and it turns out that they're closing the English branch. They have five branches- Canada, Israel, Dubai, South Africa and England. In each of these countries, they have about twenty offices- Canada has it in Calgary, Edmonton,Winnipeg, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, two Toronto offices, Yellow Knife, and then places dotted around rural Ontario and a place near Big White. Israel only has a few branches.

It's going to be fazed out slowly, so if we move, it will only be in two years. Everything seems to be happening at once- one moment I'm with my kids and watching my twins learn to walk and talk (they're 1yrs old) and preparing my older daughter for Yr1, the next, I'm thinking about Canada an Israel!

I have relatives in Canada and I just love Canada. I studied in Canada (in Montreal) and I've always wanted to move. So it might be a blessing in disguise having to move. However, my husband has relatives in Israel. If he moved, he would be closer to them, and though my kids are bilingual- they can speak Hebrew and English- I just think it would be more of a culture shock. Can anyone give me links to a forum about English people in Israel or Canada- or any advice? I would have to change jobs whatever happened, I work as a historian, but becuse I studied history in Canada, it would be easier for me to get a job in Canada. But DH is really missing his family in Israel. Sorry if it's all a bit garbled .

Well if Israel do go in to Iran as predicted within the next few months - I'd not fancy living there for a while.

You'd be safe and sound in big white or yellowknife though - although if your husband likes crowds (as many Israelis seem to), perhaps those options are not for him.

Have you tried expatforum.com? They have a Canada forum, not sure about Israel.

We moved to Canada and love it here, so that would be my choice. It sounds as if there might be more job security here too, which is something to bear seriously in mind. When we emigrated dh was offered the choice of Canada or the US and chose the US, three months later that branch was closed. Moving twice in less than six months was fairly hellish.

However Canada would be much further away for your dh to visit family, and flights from Canada are expensive.

There are lots of places with advice for moving to israel, google nefesh b nefesh or the Jewish agency
There is a site called janglo not sure how much advice is available there but it is a forum for Anglos living in Israel.
Good luck

I live in Israel. I came as a kibbutz volunteer in the 90's and met my husband here. We now have three (bilingual) kids and I've learned to speak fluent Hebrew. I've had two jobs in the past ten years which both required English as mother-tongue. New immigrants are offered free Hebrew lessons to help them integrate.

There is work here for native English speakers (you're perceived to be v. intelligent if you know English, kids often struggle with it in school and people regard it as a very difficult language to learn, although the majority of people do speak it one degree or another). There is a large community of British and American ex-pats, mostly Jewish.

Before I came here, I was sure that everyone rode camels and lived in tents in the desert, but that is far from everday reality. Israel is not a third world country, it feels very American/European here, especially in Tel Aviv and other cities. For me, the culture shock was getting used to Israeli mentality. Israeli's are generally louder and more outspoken than Brits, they don't like to queue, they will often say what they think, and many people will have no problem asking you how much you earn or what your house is worth. On the other hand, they are very warm. If you fell over in the street, at least 20 passers-by would stop and help you. It is a very child friendly culture too. I think the culture and driving habits (they drive like crazy people!) are similar to other mediterranean countries such as Italy.

Hth, If you want to know more, just ask!

If we were moving it would be a village just outside Tel Aviv which is close to my DH's relatives. Been there before and it was interesting but I just love Canada so much!

Britishexpats.com is a great site - they have a very busy Canada forum, not sure about Israel but they do seem to cover the world!

In this current political climate I'd have to say Canada - but then I live here, lol.

Good luck with your decision.

when would you have to decide?

With the current political climate, I would say Canada with frequent visits to Israel. But things may settle down a lot in the next two years (or get so obviously bad that your choice will be clear).

Try jobnet of the association of Americans in Israel. They post bilingual jobs.

I'd do a budget very carefully before plumping for Israel. Salaries (outside of hitech and finance) are shockingly low and the cost of living is shockingly high (think London prices plus). I've no idea how people make ends meet.