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  • living in South Korea

Toronto yes, Ottawa no

We made the decision to go to Toronto last night over Ottawa. Back in September I was rethinking and Toronto was a possibility. At that time I persuaded her to agree to continue the move to Ottawa. However earlier this week I realized, in part due to a conversation with a friend, that I was being a little irrational in sticking to my decision to go to Ottawa and that I should think about it more carefully.

Three years ago I decided, after thinking about it and doing some research, that Ottawa was the correct place. But that was three years ago and this is now and the move is coming up fast as is our unemployment. I spent some time looking at Kijiji and Craigslist and have learned that there is about 5 times more work available in web development in Toronto over Ottawa. Additionally while buying a house may be more expensive in Toronto, renting is about the same cost. Finally my wife has never been very keen on going to Ottawa and if she’s not going to be happy there, I will end up not being happy as well. Happy wife, Happy life.

My trip to Ottawa while not a complete waste of time, now means I have no idea what area of the city I’m going to live in. Time for a lot of internet research. I’ve also narrowed my arrival time to sometime around June 22nd – we’ll be booking my flight later this week. I’ve adjusted the countdown timer in the at the top of the flight to reflect this change and it now shows that I have 5 months and 7 days left in Korea.

My wife and kids will follow me around July 14-15. If we get all of our flights in by the 15th, it’s non-peak time and we can all fly with air miles. We’re going separately so that I can have some time to find a place to live and buy a few necessities and basically get set up. The first few weeks I’m there I’ll find a weekly rental, which shouldn’t be too hard (checked kijiji last night).

Life is getting busy and interesting at this time.

Jan 15, 2011 Comments(4) Save on Facebook
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Comments

Picture of wevegotseoul

wevegotseoul: Wednesday Jan 19, 2011  at  10:25 PM Korea (South)

Hi,

  I found your blog a while back but I don’t think that I’ve commented until now.  I’m Canadian and my husband is Korean and similar to your family 3 years ago, we’re in the process of trying to decide where to go in Canada.  I think we’ve settled on Toronto as well (I’m from Alberta so this will be a big change from cow town).

  I wanted to thank you for sharing your experiences as not many others have had the time (?) to do so.

Picture of Sean

Sean: Wednesday Jan 19, 2011  at  10:28 PM United States

Wevegotseoul,

Thanks for commenting. Over the next year, you’ll probably get a lot of information to help you with your move to Toronto. Do you have a date set? How long have you been in Korea?

Picture of Sean

Sean: Wednesday Jan 19, 2011  at  10:28 PM United States

strange that my flag shows me as in the U.S. - I’m in Seoul, will have to update the datase I think.

Picture of wevegotseoul

wevegotseoul: Thursday Jan 20, 2011  at  04:56 AM Korea (South)

Hi,

  I was in Taiwan for 2 years and Korea going into year 5. 

  I’m about half way through my MA so we’ll wait until I’m done that (another year at least).  We’re also waiting on starting immigration apps until then so that I’ve got more time to hunt for further info and figure out what we/I want (let’s be honest here, I’m far pickier than my husband).

  I can’t remember - has your wife lived in Canada before? 

  I checked out the link “city data forums - Toronto” which provided loads of good info about where to start looking for neighborhoods.

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