just sharing again....when we landed last may of this year...we spend the first day sleeping, we need to catch up since our baby cried the entire flight from toronto to edmonton, we have two airport transfers....in paris (from dubai), then to toronto our POE, then to edmonto alberta....I have a 1 year old baby, and it was like a duty on flight for us....but we were ready, from milk to changing clothes....all these should be well organized or else u guys may suffer the worst travel in your life....just joking,,,but really this is a very serious thing you have to look on....we stayed at our relatives' house in edmonton, just outside the city proper....roads are not like what we have in dubai...although there r less vehicles, less traffic, speed limits are lower.....locals are very polite....from the airport in toronto to supermarkets in alberta,,,most if not all them smile on us, saying hi....hello....outside it was very cold....its like inhaling the breeze from a freezer, although i haven't seen any snow....we seldom go outside since we were suffering from sickness....the following days, we visited a register office, where one can apply for health cards, driving license and YES divorce..hehehehe....everything is accessible...by the way health insurance in alberta is effective on the date of your landing but we were not able to secure ours bcoz you need to be in alberta for atleast half of the year....we left last week of May....then we opened a bank account for a minimal amount just to establish our credit history.....we also visited the nearest Service Canada office, where we obtained resource materials for job hunting, scholarships, etc...there, u can have free assistance for resume writing, career building, bridging programs, printing of resume is free, anything related to jobs jobs jobs....and related benefits.....speaking about benefits, was told that there is also a minimal subsidy for kids......schools for children are present in every community, day cares also...and commercial centers are just stone throw away...u can go to big groceries, eat in fast food or have a cup of tea...u have a lot of affordable choices even if you are outside the city proper......we braved to ride the bus going to nowhere...we reached downtown without knowing that is the city center, we walked and observed community lifestyle....it was simple, peaceful, quite, family oriented, and environmental friendly...for my wife, it was like a love at first sight, she liked it the first time she saw it....but for me, being a father, was thinking more about the challenge ahead...house rentals (2-bedroom is around 1200-1500 outside city proper), nanny for our baby, jobs and yes driving license...I've seen a lot of job postings, but not the kind that i want, i was bit disappointed since many were telling me to obtain a canadian credential before I would be considered for the profession that I'm into.....those few days, i spend a lot searching how to improve my credentials, got a lot of infos from friends of our relatives...the more people I talked to, the more infos i obtained...and one very important they advised me is to enroll in online certificate programs related to my profession while in Dubai....that i hope can help me find a better job when i return for good next year....really, the feeling of first landing is both joy and worry....Indeed, I witnessed that there is always a better place, but that can only be realized If one should strive to put his self in that place....
