Steve & Karen's Emigration Story


What We Did While Waiting

As we have a 2 year wait (give or take the odd impatient look for the Postman) we've been trying to fill the gap with some constructive things. Not only in terms of bettering our chances when we land (think positive) as new immigrants but also in terms of things we want to do or see before we ship ourselves to the other side of the world. Below is a few things that we are doing. (I should say before anyone comments that we are aware that at the time of our application the documented waiting list was only 18 months but we are working on two years so that we don't get too impatient nearer the time... for an up-to-date look at the official processing times please click here.)

Clear Out The Rubbish

We've been doing this in several ways:-

	Car Boots Sales - This has not been as lucrative as we had expected (maybe this is because the people in this area have a discerning eye for a bargain). For example we had thought in our ignorance that we would get more than 50p each for old VHS videos, all pre-recorded, all proper stuff. But having said that, once we had re-aligned our expectations all was OK. We had 3 car boot sales in 2004 netting us approx. £200.00.

	Ebay - We've had some fun with this. Like Car boot sales you have to be strict with yourself and not go off looking at what other people are selling or you will find something that you want to buy and probably don't need. One of the better successes we had here was selling all of Steve's Remote Control Airplane gear.

	Wheelie Bin - Some things we chucked. Other things we couldn't even give away at the car boot sales so we chucked when we got back. We've learned to be strict in this area. Steve has also put a padlock on with wardrobe door so Karen doesn't throw out all those old faded jeans with holes in the knee and paint all over them. He has promised though that they will go before the rest of the clothes are packed up and shipped out.

Polishing up our Resumes

This has been both in terms of extra qualifications / courses and also application for several professional bodies. The idea here is so that we are making the most of our waiting period to ensure that we are as attractive as possible to potential employers when the time comes.

	Karen’s in her second year of a HNC is Hotel and Food Hospitality Management which we are hoping will be of interest to potential employers in Canada. While Steve, after finishing his French Course last summer, is now learning Web-design (!) and also Lotus Notes development. In the spring of 2005 he is planning to undergo Prince-2 Project Management training course which was recommended by an IT contact while in Calgary last summer.

	Karen has been accepted as a member of the HCIMA (Hotel and Catering International Management Association) which is internationally recognised. In fact one of the employers she was interviewed by on our last research trip is also a member.

	Steve has been accepted for membership to the BCS (British Computer Society) the sister organisation to the CIPS (Canadian Information Processing Society). The BCS have also said that with the amount of experience Steve has then he should also be successful if he applied for CITP (Chartered Information Technology Professional). Steve has also been accepted as a member of The Institute of Operations Management (IOM).

Getting the House ready for Sale

While it is true for everyone that they want to make their house look attractive and welcoming to all visitors not just to potential purchasers we are trying to be careful in all that we do to ensure that each particular change would be seen as a positive thing by a potential purchaser. Things that we have done include:-

	Replacing the bathroom carpet with ceramic tiles (not as cold as you think but we haven’t had a winter yet). We've also redecorated the bathroom, replaced the shower with a more powerful, up-to-date one and replaced the radiator with a heated towel rail.

	Decorating throughout with light neutral colours in several rooms we have had the walls skimmed so we can paint rather than put up wallpaper.

	Laminate flooring in the hall (and soon the lounge and dinning room)

	Refitting the kitchen worktops and incorporating a gas hob.

	In the summer we will change the hardwood kitchen door to the garden as it is going rotten and repaint all the woodwork / guttering around the outside.

Keeping In Touch With What is Going on

This is a vital part of keeping the dream alive. There are several ways in which we are doing this.

	Reading Canada News

	Going to every Emigration Show

	Keeping up to date with the bulletin boards

	Establishing contacts in Canada and keeping up to date with the news over there.

	Reading on-line Canadian newspapers.

Research Trips

This is covered in a separate area in our journal. Please follow the link at the top of the page (or you could press here).