 Hello! Welcome back to the channel. Today I have Chantel with Growing Up Without Borders and we're going to talk about what it's like as an American and Canadian moving abroad. And so this is going to be part one and if you want to see part two, which you will want to see, it's going to be up on the Growing Up Without Borders. I'll have the link in the description. So here we go. Okay, so to start us out let's talk a little bit about our story. So I'm an American that moved my family of six to New Zealand and I have lived here for seven years. And so I have lots of stories if you want to hear them all. It's all on my channel. But today me and Chantel were just talking and like just so many stories about what it's like moving abroad and we came up with this video idea. And so I hope that you like it. So why don't you share a little bit about you so then we can just jump in. Yeah, so really fast. So we're a family of five. My husband and I, we have three girls and we travel around the world. We came here in March 2020, got stuck in New Zealand for a wee while and kind of fell in love with the culture. It had fun with it. And now we are officially moving to New Zealand. Yes. Yeah. So we're kind of two women with kids moving abroad. We both work from home. We're very similar. Very similar. So it's like easy to connect with Tara. Every time I see her we're like we share so many funny stories. Yeah, it's great. And so we were just talking about and it's so funny because we like decided if you, okay well we had like my live cooking show yesterday and we started to hint on some of the differences of being from Canada, from America, say in New Zealand in particular, or maybe you have stories other places. But okay, so one of the things that we talked about was when I first came here and I still do, when people meet me they ask are you from Canada? And she said, no, I get like every time we speak and we don't even sound really American but we kind of have this like blended accent. People always like, oh you guys are from the US. We're like, Oh, no. Well you lived in the US for 10 years, right? So it's not, oh six years. Oh, okay. Still, you know, you kind of usually get your, your, yeah, of course I think you sound Canadian. I think I sound Canadian. People say I sound Canadian but they always say like US first and I think it's just because the US is so big. It's just like, oh you're from the States, right? And I'm like, oh no, we're from Canada. And then the first thing I'm like, I'm so sorry. Yes, they apologize and that's exactly what I get because I'm like, no, I'm not from Canada because. She's clearly not Canadian. No, Americans are very offended by being called Canadian, just like Kiwis are offended by being called. They're offended? Yes, sorry, it's true. Oh, that's funny. Because we're like, we don't really acknowledge that Canada exists. Oh, stop, stop. We're the true North Stronger 3. Okay. You guys are like your big brother, you know, you're like the big brother beside us and like, you know, it is what it is. We don't even know that you're there. I know. Have you not seen the videos online where people are like, can you point to Canada and they're like, yeah, they don't know it's right above if you're especially if you're in Minnesota or something, but like, you know, and so I say when people ask me about Canadian, I'm like, oh, and they're like, oh, sorry, will we always say that because Canadians get mad if we think that they're American? Oh, yeah, it's not well, have you not American in 2023? Let's just be honest. Have you not seen when you're traveling backpackers who put a Canadian flag on their backpack, and they speak and you know, they are not Canadian, like they're so American. And you're like, what? Why would they do that? Because in certain countries, they don't want to say they're American because they might be poorly looked on in certain countries. Yeah, no, it's true. Definitely. I've seen the change even just being here for seven years. You're like, you know, you can't hide it really, because the accent always gives you away. And so that's funny. No, so that's that's like one thing. But yeah, most people are like, a lot of the people here will be like, Oh, yeah. So Canada and the US is similar to our Australia and New Zealand kind of. Right, just like, you don't actually dislike them. But it's just a little bit like, wait, I'm not Australian, you know, if you're from New Zealand, right? Like, and it's the same way. So, you know, it's just it is similar, a little bit similar. And then arguing about like who owns what or whatever. But I'm just telling you, like, I don't think in any conversation, living in the US till I was 30 some years old, that we ever talked about Canada. Remember, like maybe you find out like movie stars are from Canada, you're like, really? Oh, you'd be shocked. You're always like a little disappointed. So anyway, no, no, it's true. It's true. But there's plenty of good ones. Anyway, I've learned to appreciate Canada. Okay, because this okay, one more thing about that. So I've made lots of friends. And then friends are like, I'm going to go move to Canada. And for me, that was like, why? Why would you move to Canada? And not the US? Like, why would you do that? Obviously, it's easier if you're in the Commonwealth and all of that. So that makes sense. But actually, people prefer it. People are like, we don't want to move to the US. You know, like, it was like, we don't want to, you know, we could mark on the obvious reasons. But like, in general, this was before like, probably all of this stuff, this was early on, they were just like, no, we'd rather move to Canada. And for me, as an American hearing that was like, huh? Well, what I find interesting and kind of funny is we were just in India this year, or I guess now last year. And we went to certain areas. And there's these huge immigration signs move to Canada, move to New Zealand. Yeah, yeah, yeah, big, huge. It's a big business. They're bringing people in mostly in like that Punjab area. Oh, okay. I think other parts of the country too. But they're like, that was the only spot I saw these big huge signs on all the build, like buildings. And so we're like, this is crazy. And I'm like, why would like, if a person literally chose to move to Canada, and they have the option between Canada and New Zealand, just for the weather alone, for the New Zealand, like, what are you thinking? But I don't know, they have this mind and I'm I feel bad. No, I feel bad for them. They get there in January, February, they're probably like, what did I do? You know, yeah, I just feel like it's very highly regarded as a Commonwealth country, Canada is that I just had never experienced because I lived in the US where it's like, this is the greatest place on earth. Why would you ever want to go anywhere else? Like kind of mentality, right? People don't travel. People don't really know there, you know, and you don't want to diss it because it is a good country. I feel like it is. It is. I've been there. Once I've been to New Zealand, I then went when I went back to the US, I then traveled to Canada quite a bit because it is stunning. And so much of it when I was walking moving around like cafes and stuff spelt like New Zealand, whoa, this is giving me New Zealand vibes, which America doesn't at all. And it's so huge. It's a very big country. So it changes from one side to the other. Yeah, that's true. It's very different. I haven't seen everything, but it is stunning. Yeah, it's like really beautiful. So to be honest, I need to go back and discover my own country, to be honest, like I've discovered, like how long have you lived in Canada as an adult? Um, like, you know, to really, yeah, like where you could really appreciate it because here, yeah, see, like you do, right? We left. We left. And I was gone from 16 to 20. And then I was only back for a few years. I started going to Florida. So maybe four, no, maybe four or five years. Okay. Yeah. But that's still not a lot. Like that's true. Like you on and off. I think that you would appreciate. So I think that if I went back to the US, no, no, I feel like seven because Julia was only born and that's where I started going back. So you've been in Canada for seven years? Or more like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I was there seven years is what we're going to say. But like I think that also when you travel, like you travel and live so many places that you then start to appreciate different things about your country that you wouldn't have if you didn't, but I'm definitely feeling that way. Like I'm obviously America has all these problems. And I really appreciate living in New Zealand, but I can start to see, you know, you just do look at it differently. So one other thing for this video that I want to talk about is, okay, I just want to give you some advice. Okay, now moving to New Zealand, you're going to feel not that different. You're going to feel like, Oh, this is the same, but just a little bit different. Okay, that's what you're going to feel. As you get in depth into the culture, it's quite different. And so this is why I have the training hub for people moving here because like you don't really understand and like that's really helpful. But in addition to that, what I really suggest is that you get used to asking questions. So if you're not a person that asks questions, yes, gonna take you a while. Because like even today, so we've been here for like seven years, even today, we're in a meeting this morning, and we're like, What did he say? Yeah, we just didn't get a lot of mumbling. There's a lot of variation and in the accent here. And man, you miss a lot. Both of us, we looked at each other and we're like, What just happened? Are you kidding me? And then like words, like we're constantly learning words. And like, I have to get used to saying, I actually, and because it feels embarrassing, and it feels like you just want to pretend like you know what it means. But I'm, I'm just here to encourage you to ask a question. Because I because I was like, what are you? Because sometimes I don't even know if that's positive or negative, like on a very basic level. What are you even saying? Because they're using jargon or whatever and it's jargon that I haven't heard. And I feel like I know everything and I don't. And you just and it's just so different. So definitely ask questions. So here's a story, just one quick story. When I first moved here, somebody invited me to lunch. So nice to people here. So nice, right? People are so nice. Yeah. So she invites me to lunch. And she is a really strong accent. And she's giving me directions to her house. And I, I'm not no joke. I think I asked her seven times to repeat it, to spell it, to write it. And I'm telling you by the end of it, still no idea. Still no idea. And like, what am I going to do? I don't know where I am. I don't have any sense of where anything is. What was she saying? I don't, I don't know. She was spelling it out. But like, the way they're saying the letters was like, wait, I felt so, I was so embarrassed, you know, because I have to keep asking. And so, imagine English, imagine moving to a country where you don't speak the language. And so I, I ended up, okay, so my plan was, is I get in the car and then I decided I was just going to go to the general vicinity, tell, call her then, tell her where, and then I eventually got there. But it was, I was really stressed because I don't know. And I asked the questions and then died. I was like, can you repeat again and again? And yeah, or can you text it to me? You know, give me that, maybe I didn't have a phone yet, maybe that's what it was. I don't know what I did, but I got there and it was stressful. So there's so many stories like that. So even like, I even encourage people when they get off the plane, you don't have your cell phone set up yet. So just ask somebody, like they're really, really helpful. But yeah, and be okay with asking questions. There you go. That's the lesson for today. Okay. All right, so go over to growing up without borders and watch part two.