Fall - I didn't know it'd be so hard

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Cambridge has a HUGE Portuguese population , lots from the Azores. It is a relatively easy commute to Waterloo.
Waterloo is funny for snow. The universities are in the snow belt (so Lastpointe is correct), but, there is a section where you leave the snow belt on the highway and it almost a line where you can be a snowstorm, then you aren't (so Mendalla is correct). I went to university of waterloo back in the day. lived in Cambridge, then Waterloo, then Kitchener, then Cambridge, now near Glen Morris over the last 35 years.
 
I hate November. It's dreary, gray, and has been quite rainy here. I need SUNSHINE!! I'd much rather it be very cold & sunny than warmer & gray. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing. Keeping the lights on is helpful ... some cheerful music on the radio even when working.

I agree that it gets lonelier too - in the summer people are out & about more ... but then late fall comes & we all retreat inside. Sigh.

Giancarlo - perhaps there is a co-working space in Winnipeg that might be a good spot for you to go to - take your computer & do your work from there, instead of alone in your apt. Or go to the local library & set yourself up at a table to work for a couple of hours ... at least there are people around.

Does your apt building have an 'events/party' room? Some, but not all do. Maybe chat with the building manager & see if you might organize a weekly 'coffee break' there - put up some signs & see who comes along - they can even bring their own coffee down - just a bit of time to socialize & then get back to doing whatever. I lived in an apt building for a while & didn't much like it - felt like I didn't know my neighbours, and that's important to me.

As I'm into my first winter of retirement, I'm having to schedule more stuff in for myself - to avoid dropping into that isolation state.

It is NOT an easy thing to be a newcomer - it takes a long time to find your way into new friendships, new routines, new hobbies & sports. I'm glad you posted about this.
 
I am disappointed @GiancarloZ - you seem to have dismissed Saskatchewan with very little thought. That means you haven't heard that Saskatchewan is Canada's best kept secret and is an unbelievably varied and scenic part of our wonderful world. Checkout the FB page called Saskatchewan Scenery.
Saskatoon is also a great place with a lively arts scene and excellent recreational facilities.
To top it off - I could link you to some delightful people connected to the theology branches of the university AND some United Church folks!
 
KayTheCurler said:
I am disappointed @GiancarloZ - you seem to have dismissed Saskatchewan with very little thought. That means you haven't heard that Saskatchewan is Canada's best kept secret and is an unbelievably varied and scenic part of our wonderful world. Checkout the FB page called Saskatchewan Scenery.
Saskatoon is also a great place with a lively arts scene and excellent recreational facilities.
To top it off - I could link you to some delightful people connected to the theology branches of the university AND some United Church folks!
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Why consider a place that is further removed from the reason for an international move in the first place?
 
KayTheCurler said:
I am disappointed @GiancarloZ - you seem to have dismissed Saskatchewan with very little thought. That means you haven't heard that Saskatchewan is Canada's best kept secret and is an unbelievably varied and scenic part of our wonderful world. Checkout the FB page called Saskatchewan Scenery.
Saskatoon is also a great place with a lively arts scene and excellent recreational facilities.
Click to expand...
Also, the entire province is wheelchair accessible.
 
I stick by the stove with book and beer with it as my mind wanders between the pages as a dark stacked nature of mysteriously causing scions of psyche ...

Talk stupid so the despots won't believe you're learning of the strange things in the great expanse of the essence you'll gods ... ghost of chance as fractal fugacity in the frothy quantum ... the odds of meeting your sol head on?

Not in the hard physical domain ... establishmentarian fixation as edifice? Inside that shrouded myths ... really cloudy expressions!
 
chansen said:
You got me thinking about the Granite Club again. This was the main entrance back then:
granite_loc.jpg


Yes, red carpeted, with shiny, polished brass handles and handrails. I liked going in the main entrance. And not being allowed to because I wasn't wearing a tie was silly. The side entrance was to the right, out of the photo. It was just a regular steel door. The security office is just to the right in this photo, between the main entrance and the side entrance. The small figure you see in this photo is probably wearing a green jacket, but the light isn't good.

They renovated 10 years ago. This is what it looks like now:
o.jpg

I think they even changed the location of the main entrance.

Either way, you can't afford to curl here. Also, the application process and background checks will take forever, then you have to have someone sponsor you. It is insane there.
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We have some exclusive clubs like that in Brazil, too, but I think they're in their last years, as the new generations aren't generally very involved. In Rio and São Paulo, the most exclusive clubs even ask for your genealogical tree.
I like the Granite Club old façade more than the new one!
 
Mendalla said:
I like it, though I moved away 30 years ago. Weather is similar to London but less snow since they are further from the lakes. So winter temps mostly below zero but above -10. Summers are generally nice, with maybe one or two heatwaves a year (back in my day, at least).

In the fall, you've got Oktoberfest for entertainment and there's Junior A hockey (Kitchener Rangers) if you're a sports fan and a good symphony orchestra and concert hall for the more cultural side of things. Great network of biking trails and some nice nature areas.

I can recommend an ELCIC church (Dad was ELCIC), too.

I think it is less German than in my youth, but I imagine you would still encounter more German than Portuguese language-wise.

It is fairly handy to Toronto, but has also become a major bottleneck on 401 so not as handy as when I was young.
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It seems very good! I watched some videos of the city and I liked what I saw.
Having temperatures above -10 cheers me up! :LOL:
 
GeoFee said:
Hi GiancarloZ,

Just noticed this thread. I live in Winnipeg and wonder if we could meet for coffee and conversation one day. I will send you a private note with my email and phone information to get started.

George
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Thank you, George! I just reached you by email!
 
Pinga said:
@GiancarloZ , if you are interested re a special section for your new / immigrant posts, let us know. happy to run it past moderators / admin, and then proceed to set it up.
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I think that would be interesting for me. Do you think would be interesting for the other members, too?
 
Carolla said:
I hate November. It's dreary, gray, and has been quite rainy here. I need SUNSHINE!! I'd much rather it be very cold & sunny than warmer & gray. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing. Keeping the lights on is helpful ... some cheerful music on the radio even when working.

I agree that it gets lonelier too - in the summer people are out & about more ... but then late fall comes & we all retreat inside. Sigh.

Giancarlo - perhaps there is a co-working space in Winnipeg that might be a good spot for you to go to - take your computer & do your work from there, instead of alone in your apt. Or go to the local library & set yourself up at a table to work for a couple of hours ... at least there are people around.

Does your apt building have an 'events/party' room? Some, but not all do. Maybe chat with the building manager & see if you might organize a weekly 'coffee break' there - put up some signs & see who comes along - they can even bring their own coffee down - just a bit of time to socialize & then get back to doing whatever. I lived in an apt building for a while & didn't much like it - felt like I didn't know my neighbours, and that's important to me.

As I'm into my first winter of retirement, I'm having to schedule more stuff in for myself - to avoid dropping into that isolation state.

It is NOT an easy thing to be a newcomer - it takes a long time to find your way into new friendships, new routines, new hobbies & sports. I'm glad you posted about this.
Click to expand...
I also prefer when it's sunny & cold. We had a lot of -20 days with sunshine here, I prefer them over -5 wet and cloudy days.
You suggested very good ideas, thank you! There's a huge and very agreeable Chapters here but it's a 20-minute bus ride from home - I've been lazy to do it but I think it'll be good for me to go there. Regarding co-working spaces, I tried to do it when I arrived but they demand a 24-month contract for reasonable fees, otherwise, it cost a little fortune per day. So I might stop being lazy and consider going to Chapters. I already tried the Public library close to home but I didn't like the vibe - there're lots of drunk and drugged people who go there to get warm.
Thanks for your support!
 
KayTheCurler said:
I am disappointed @GiancarloZ - you seem to have dismissed Saskatchewan with very little thought. That means you haven't heard that Saskatchewan is Canada's best kept secret and is an unbelievably varied and scenic part of our wonderful world. Checkout the FB page called Saskatchewan Scenery.
Saskatoon is also a great place with a lively arts scene and excellent recreational facilities.
To top it off - I could link you to some delightful people connected to the theology branches of the university AND some United Church folks!
Click to expand...
@KayTheCurler , I'm really sorry! I think I didn't express myself appropriately. There are two major reasons why I wouldn't like to go to Saskatoon, the first being the weather which I suspect is very similar to Winnipeg's, and the other being the expensive tuition and the lack of financial aid of the Lutheran seminary there. Aside from that, I think it must be a very interesting place. I have been watching lots of videos and googling information about Seminary cities, and I would easily go there if those two variables weren't present.
 
Pinga said:
Cambridge has a HUGE Portuguese population , lots from the Azores. It is a relatively easy commute to Waterloo.
Waterloo is funny for snow. The universities are in the snow belt (so Lastpointe is correct), but, there is a section where you leave the snow belt on the highway and it almost a line where you can be a snowstorm, then you aren't (so Mendalla is correct). I went to university of waterloo back in the day. lived in Cambridge, then Waterloo, then Kitchener, then Cambridge, now near Glen Morris over the last 35 years.
Click to expand...
Cambridge seems like a good option, too. Is there public transportation to Waterloo?
 
GiancarloZ said:
Cambridge seems like a good option, too. Is there public transportation to Waterloo?
Click to expand...

Not in my day but I believe Cambridge Transit and Kitchener Transit amalgamated to form the current Grand River Transit so maybe. @Pinga? Do you know?

It wouldn't be fast. I lived in the Stanley Park area (Southeast roughly) of Kitchener and it took me 40-45 minutes by bus to get to University of Waterloo.
 
TORONTO also has huge Portuguese and Brazilian populations. Really notice it during the World Cup

But it is much more expensive to live in Toronto so given a choice I would stick to Kitchener/Waterloo. If you end up in Ontario
 
Lastpointe said:
TORONTO also has huge Portuguese and Brazilian populations.
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Hamilton seems to have a decent-sized Portuguese community, at least it did in the nineties when I lived there. The couple we bought our first house from was mixed Portuguese and Italian.
 
Toronto is somewhere my wife will probably never want to live. And if I persist in the ordination track in the ELCIC, I guess Toronto would be too far from Waterloo for a daily commute especially because I don't drive and I don't know if I'll ever be able to.
 
@GiancarloZ & @Mendalla -- There is now the iexpress. If you pick your living area appropriately, you will find that there is transportation to the university. I hired co-op students, and they didn't mind it. They would do their reading on the bus. They would work in Cambridge (near the 401 / Hespeler RD) and stay in Waterloo.
 
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