Texas person living in Toronto............feels lonely..............

Hey Dallas

Hang in there. I'm from Houston and lived in London Ontario for 7 years and loved it. I don't know if you work or go to school but once I got a job I meet some wonderful people. A few of them have even come to Denmark (where I am currently living) to visit. They still make fun of me for saying "Ya'll" but there is no better word eh. Maybe you need a trip to London. The night life is great and everyone there is friendly. Hope it works out.

thank you.  I'm happly married to a Canadian, therefore my reason for being in Toronto.  Just miss having Americans to talk too, that understand cream gravy and chicken fried steak.  I dream of homemade sweet tea, not from a can.  I'm heading home to Texas tomorrow to charge my texas battery, and thought I'd share my thoughts and see if any other texan is within hearing distance of Toronto.  if so, I'd love for ya'll to speak up, and let me know I'm not the only southern person in Toronto. 

I found your post while doing research on our own possible move from the DFW area in Texas to Toronto with my husbands company.  I already feel your pain on the chicken friend steak...so no "Babe's Chicken house" in Canada, huh??  I have so many real questions!  If we DO move up there (should know in the next month or so), I would LOVE to chat about survival techniques for a Texas family living in Canada!!

In the last 2 years I've met about 15 US families who moved to Toronto from across the US (ny, north carolina, miami, houston etc)and a lot UK and South African families as well. The majority are based in the downtown core. Majority of these kids are home schooled.

I have been here since February arriving from Austin....I am in Montreal with my french Canadian husband after living for 20 years in California and 8 months in Austin.  It is an adjustment.  I have met one woman from Florida and quite a few guys from New York.  People look at my TEXAS plates like I am from Mars.  they ask questions like why are TEXANS so racist? How can you live in a desert?  Puh-leeze....

so for me, its learning to speak French with a slight accent, say ya'll and people look at you like you're nuts...  seriously, I am enjoying many things Canadian, like having a job!  I do miss Tex-Mex food something awful and BBQ...miss my family, miss TEXAS....ITS A WHOLE OTHER COUNTRY!!!!!
I hope you stay in touch!  I will watch for you here!
Dana Bazinet

I am TEXAS living in Montreal.  I grew up in Germany so I really love this place.  I am homesick from time to time but really miss the food, biscuits and gravy for breakfast, breakfast burritos, Tex-Mex, BBQ...oh baby....
I am relatively happy here, go to Burlington VT and Plattsburgh NY frequently just to hear AMERICANS speak....and to shop....I find it really expensive here and Quebec is a place of its own as well....but I am happy to have this opportunity and to be in a really good country with truly wonderful people.  I do miss having girlfriends to hang out with, go to a movie with and get a pedi with though!
I am sooo happy to see other TEXANS on this site!
Please stay in touch!!!
Dana Bazinet

Toronto and ontario in general is a police state.  most women dont' notice it, as soon as you leave the downtown core you would.  it is also intolerant, and rascist against whatever is not fashionable, and texas is not fashionable.  i grew up north of there, we were euro immigrants and my grandfather lived in new mexico for 30 years. he felt free in the desert and only went to ontario for getting the boys construction work and keeping them out of vietnam.  the kids were never accepted two hours north of toronto, never, did not matter what they did, persecution our whole lives and we were white.  i live out west now, it is basically the same, canada is quite a shallow, fashion driven country, if you do stuff that ain't fashionable you are out. you want to fit in you must conform, do whatever the other turds are doing.

thanks everyone for your replies!!  I have just returned to Toronto after two months in Texas!!  It was great to recharge my southern batteries, but yet again, I'm back in toronto, adjusting to the "shock" of it.  People in the south are just different.  I'm slowing adjusting, but it's more apparant after being home for awhile and returning. YIKES... I guess I will always feel "different" here

I just feel out of place so many times..........I'm Texan and always will be.  But I'm always grateful to Canada and allowing me to live with my spouse, and learn and experiance new things!!  But again, I miss those 'southern' charms of the south, and probably always will.  Thanks for the words of encouragement!  Ya'll are great. 

I'm curious why you are not more interested in integrating yourself into canadian culture?  Don't get me wrong, I understand all too well what you're talking about.  I understand missing the type of food you grew up with, the warmth and closeness that you miss, etc.  And I'm not dissing you for feeling lonely in Toronto.  But, have you considered, instead of finding like minded americans here in toronto to hang out with, possibly focusing your efforts on building great friendships with canadians and introducing them to some of the wonderful things you miss from Texas.  Not only would it help you to feel the connection to your Texas culture, you would be instrumental in possibly making a canadian fall in love with something they haven't been familiar with - Texas culture.  I think one of the biggest issues most Toronto people have with immigrants is that they come here and tend to stick to their own kind and stay close to their own culture, instead of integrating more into canadian culture, being accepting of some of the wonderful hints that Toronto has to offer and also making a conscious effort to share the positives of your own culture with us.  I'm a born and raised Canadian and I can tell you for one that I'd love to be introduced to the Texas culture, food, people, etc.  Give the people in toronto a chance, they may surprise you.

Just my two cents.

Mink

will do!  thanks for you 2 cents...........all opinions welcomed, and of course I'd love to share my Texas charm with anyone who's interested........  take care,

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kind of a long story for me on how I ended up in Toronto. I've been living there for 12 years but originally i'm from Dallas. It took some time adjusting but I found some great things about that city. Nevertheless I still felt there was a part of me that belonged in the south. Maybe it was the food maybe it was the people but this summer i decided to risk it all and make a move back to Dallas. Luckily, I was able to find employment to support myself, and I finally felt like I was home. Its great to be back. Toronto was great but nothings beats hearing people say ya'll on a daily basis lol.

Howdy yall!

I have also thought I was from another planet since living in Toronto. I am original born and raised in NYC so Toronto city life is nothing new but I was living in Houston for 10 years and consider Houston home over NYC as an American.

It can be easy to nitpick the differences of Houston and Toronto but maybe different is good and if I was meant to stay in Texas then I would still be in Texas. I sure miss Houston's cost of living verse Toronto! I miss Houston's 10 different freeways verse Toronto's very limited 401, 427, Don Mills, QEW/Gardner.

While being here I laugh sometimes when I'm at the gas station and I see another American with New York or New Jersey plates and even though we are Americans (and I am a NYC native) they don't really click with the Texas plates.... Damn Yankees! ha ha

But when I happen to have that very rare occasion of running into another Texan with Texas plates its like meeting a long lost friend who knows Texas is many miles (or kilometers for none-Americans) and even though we may be from different parts of Texas, we still share that unique Texas pride of Don't Mess With Texas!

Can Americans identify a Canadian by his accent ?

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I read that Canada is very similar to US so why are you folks homesick depressed and lonely and sometimes culture shocked ?

Hi, some posts have been moved.

Please stop personal attacks.

Thanks,
Harmonie.

Harmonie wrote:

Hi, some posts have been moved.

Please stop personal attacks.

Thanks,
Harmonie.

Thank you Harmonie

TexanInToronto wrote:

I can almost instantly, Hericles.

I think all Americans do !

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TexanInToronto that's awesome ! I used to think Canada and US were similar. Now i see i was wrong.  In what way do you see it different from US besides accent?
P.s. The Canadian ''about'' is very obvious.

Hericles wrote:

I used to think Canada and US were similar. .

I mean no disrespect to the American fellows on this thread but I know that most Canadians feel "offended" when they are confused with Americans... same with me  (Latinofrom Peru) when in north america people feels that all spanish speakers are mexicans... so I am in the same boat here... Just to add that to Hericles remark.

Peace & Love