Come and talk to me about Sweden, Germany and Canada.

[VictorianSqualor]

I want to emigrate.
Not yet, I want to be qualified and dp to have a good few years experience in our chosen fields first.
I also want to learn the language so probably in about 3/4 years.
I haven't visited any of the countries, but DP has and can speak swedish and german pretty well.

Well, I anm german, but have lived over here for the past 13 years...but if you have any specific questions...I probably would know someone who knows....

Just adding to threads I'm on so I can lurk as am interested too...

Whereabouts in Canada? It's a pretty big country!

I'm half German.

The upside of Germany is that it is apparently very well organised.

The downside is the sheer amount of official paperwork you have to complete in order for other people to ensure you are sufficiently organised.

The upside is they do have a sense of humour.

The downside is they hit you on the arm sometimes to make sure you know the punchline is about to arrive.

The upside is that they think about the environment a lot.

The downside is that you need about 10 different kinds of bin in your kitchen to cope with the recycling.

I could go on ...

btw...dh really wants to go to and live in canada, but I have never been there.....hmmm..was different when I took te sttep to move to the uk, etc. when dh was in the army...

I live on the West Coast of Canada, in British Columbia, an hour east of Vancouver, what would you like to know?
(Am also German by birth, left Germ with parents at age 12, wouldn't move back for all the tea in China).

do you have children? If so - how old are they - the education system in germany sometimes leaves a little to be desired!

I live in Canada, it's great, we love it. Come here.

is canada as scenic as it looks? What are the Job opportunities say, for an Occupational Therapist?

Not being funny but surely you should at least visit somewhere before deciding to emigrate? it's a big decision!

Germany is fab in that v. family orientated and crime rates are low. You get Xmas markets (excellent) and a V. safe place to bring up kids and down in the south where I am, you get fab winters full of snow and skiing. Lots of people speak English and in most big towns there are established ex-pat communities.

But on the downside, like Deb says the school system is hard - onus is on parental coaching to make sure they make the grades and there is constant assessment which can be demotivating. Plus, like Boffin says, its a v. beaurocratic existence full of recycling and forms in triplicate - but then if your other half speaks fluent German that would no be so hard.

Take a long hard look at Tescos too, because supermarket shopping will never be the same again either. Dirty, small and poorly stocked and there is no German word for "customer service" for a good reason.

I would go for Canada if it was me - that's where we are thinking of going

working in canada you can get some info here on your specific field.

We are in Montreal, have been here 6mths. Really enjoying it. It's not too big a city, easy to get around. Language is no barrier, even if we try out our little French, we are replied to in English. We work in English in our office (both at same company) as well.

It is more expensive for travelling anywhere, because it is so huge. Supermarkets are not as good as Tesco/Asda, there is quite a difference in quality of produce.

I don't know about schooling as DS is only 18mths, but I imagine I should start checking. He is in subsidised daycare which took about 3mths to find. Most had waiting lists for under 2's of about 2yrs.

It's certainly not cheaper than the UK here. Food seems more expensive. Clothes a little cheaper. Add tipping 15% on restaurant bills, and they are still a bit cheaper. But generally about the same.

We are enjoying the move, and will most likely extend our planned 2-3yr stay as long as there is work.

Read the German schools threads

I would investigate the school and childcare systems in each country very carefully. There are some radical differences to the system here, e.g. half-day school in Germany.

Actually I quite like German supermarkets, and hate Tesco. Food is better quality in Germany than in the UK, I find, eg if somethign is fruit flavoured, it will actually have fruit in it, even if it's the cheapest brand on the shelf.

But the schools are awful. Where we are in Bavaria, free state eduction does not exist. Your child attends school in the mornings, but the catch is that they cannot make the grade that is required, without you the parents providing the missing afternoons, either by tutoring your child yourself at home, or paying private tutors.
Teachers are arrogant and lazy by UK standards, and don't seem to have any responsibility for whether the children actually learn anything in the school. Well, as Anna says, just read the german schools thread.

I have nothing useful to say, despite having lived in Germany, although I did find it very 'foreign' there, more so than most places I've been. But I'm intrigued BrownSuga's 2 year waiting list for under-2s, does that mean that most people put their child's name down before they conceive or that there are not actually any places for under-2's they just pretend there are and wait-list you until your child turns 2?

I forgot I even started this thread.
Branflake, don't worry I will visit them first!
Yes I have children deb. Three.
Dp is a police officer, I will be an English teacher, so need to know about how these jobs pay in the other countries and if they are easy to get into , what extra training is needed (I appreciate that's asking a lot!!)

Erm, what's schooling like? crime? that sort of stuff.

The Gabsters post about german customer service or lack of made me think of something I was able to observe.
Like I said I am german and when speaking german not a problem at all and firendly enough, etc...however, when I visited a friend of mine, who is english and was posted to germany we spoke english in shops to eachother and the rudeness I encountered was quite an eye=opener and erm, experience...it's great though if you can speak and understand the language and give a great comeback though.....the faces of embaressment were always worth having to take the initial rudeness [evil grin emoticon]

I am quite surprised at what people say about the german school system, as that is obvioulsy where I was educated and there was no need for tutoring, or anything at, it is normal that school is only in the mornings...although, as you get older the schoolday extends a bit more...but yes you get more homework from a very early age, but , well, when I was little, it was pretty muhc expected that I would get on with it myself, with little input from my mum....so, not sure if things have changed...
I prefer the later intake and , when I was small, they did like an intake assesment with each child and looked at the individual childs emotional and physical readyness, and if they are still doing that, than that is certainly a pluspoint...unlike over here where your child is virtually a "Baby" still when they have to enter the world of big school.