Jyaaazus lads.

Jujenjitsu

Heh, its been a while since I wandered through boards.ie, a year ago today I set out on the road to dublin airport to kiss my old home goodbye. Reporting from Canada these days, missing home no doubt I am.

And heres one to swell all your guts to your throats, I'm on a T1 connection it costs me no more than 30 dollars a month. Ahh yes, broadband, how I love thee.

Zombienosh

hows it goin, canada treatin ya well is it?
i always wanted to go there.

ErinGoBrath

Jujenjitsu wrote:

And heres one to swell all your guts to your throats, I'm on a T1 connection it costs me no more than 30 dollars a month. Ahh yes, broadband, how I love thee.

Dare I ask what sort of download speeds you get from that bad boy connection?

Jujenjitsu

He whom dares wins.

I've yet to see a server max it out, but I'd say the max I've gotten in a single download is 1mb/sec sustained for ... well... 15 seconds before the download ended, hehehe.

meditraitor

what were u downloading, the new walter mitty movie

tman

jesus :eek:
and i thought $30 for my grandad's 3 meg line was good value.

think i'd waive homesickness in favour of that connection tbh

Blisterman

Well I get 5mb connection for free included in my rent.

Jujenjitsu

I've let the thought of homesickness slide when compaired with the land of gold this country truely is. Fairs fair, mind you; its minus 20 ****ing degrees outside and theirs 3 foot of snow but thats a price you pay for +30c summers and even in the winter the sun shines. This part of Canada has virtually no rain, and I see the sun all the time. I love it.

Canadians as a people are nothing short of exceptional. Their giving nature and persona carries no stigma, they're just plain nice. But alas, who doesn't long for home once in a while..

Evilution

Jujenjitsu wrote:

I've let the thought of homesickness slide when compaired with the land of gold this country truely is. Fairs fair, mind you; its minus 20 ****ing degrees outside and theirs 3 foot of snow but thats a price you pay for +30c summers and even in the winter the sun shines. This part of Canada has virtually no rain, and I see the sun all the time. I love it.

Canadians as a people are nothing short of exceptional. Their giving nature and persona carries no stigma, they're just plain nice. But alas, who doesn't long for home once in a while..

What are you working at?

Jujenjitsu

Nothing right now, sadly. Gathering the money to process the resident form is a pain in the ass. I've no leaving cert, therefore no degrees. But thats another story for another time.

Evilution

Jujenjitsu wrote:

Nothing right now, sadly. Gathering the money to process the resident form is a pain in the ass. I've no leaving cert, therefore no degrees. But thats another story for another time.

You could always buy a degree online with your spanky T1 connection

Jujenjitsu

Never thought about that..

Evilution

Jujenjitsu wrote:

Nothing right now, sadly. Gathering the money to process the resident form is a pain in the ass. I've no leaving cert, therefore no degrees. But thats another story for another time.

Is it tough to get a job out there?

Jujenjitsu

No, even for an uneducated ****.
And if you are educated, life is grand.

Evilution

Jujenjitsu wrote:

No, even for an uneducated ****.
And if you are educated, life is grand.

Let me see: You've moved to canada, you don't work but you can afford to stay out there and have spanky T1 connections.
Folks, I think we've found the Norn Iron bank 26 million thief here

eth0_

Jujenjitsu wrote:

No, even for an uneducated ****.
And if you are educated, life is grand.

Good luck gaining permanent residency if you aren't educated!
And as you've been there a year, i'm guessing you can't work (legally) anymore and are overstaying your one year visa?

Zombienosh

isnt it supposed to be really hard to stay in canada , like to apply to for citizenship or whatever it is.....

Jujenjitsu

I married a Canadian lass, y'see. Its not hard to get in, its just time consuming and very tedious. The wife pays for the connection. The wife pays for everything, which is why I'm dying to start working.

Evilution

Jujenjitsu wrote:

The wife pays for the connection. The wife pays for everything...

You total utter bastard

PRE_10_DER

just one Q.. If i have family over there, can i apply for a full visa? my uncle has lived over there for about 20 - 25 years and i assume he is a citizen

am i entitled to apply for any kind of permanent visa or sometihng? always good to know

tman

not sure about Canadian visas, but US visas are only granted to someone with either a sibling, spouse or parent in the states...

Stephen

Hold on... you say you have a T1 and are downloading at 1MB/sec? That's impossible, since T1's run at a speed of 1.544 megabits per second - or approximately 192KB/sec. You sure its not a T2 or cable or something?

Sleepy

Does anyone else think that Ireland is about to experience another brain-drain in the near future as our grads start heading abroad to get away from Rip Off Ireland?

eth0_

PRE_10_DER wrote:

just one Q.. If i have family over there, can i apply for a full visa? my uncle has lived over there for about 20 - 25 years and i assume he is a citizen

I think it can only be a parent or POSSIBLY grandparent. Canada is very difficult to get residency in.

Evilution

Sleepy wrote:

Does anyone else think that Ireland is about to experience another brain-drain in the near future as our grads start heading abroad to get away from Rip Off Ireland?

Its happening as we speak. I have friends who are abroad and who are planning to go abroad. Australia seems the popular choice these days, although for the life of me I don't know why.

deRanged

Evilution wrote:

Its happening as we speak. I have friends who are abroad and who are planning to go abroad. Australia seems the popular choice these days, although for the life of me I don't know why.

Yeah - I know a fair few people (tech grads) who're all heading abroad. I reckon I'll go myself once I finish up in college. The future looks much brighter out of this country.

PRE_10_DER

i never got the whole australia thing why does everyone want to go there??

ionapaul

Well, my application for Permanent Residency in Canada was mailed to the Canadian High Commission for Immigration in London early last month - only 18 months or so to wait now!

And Rip-Off Ireland is one of the main reasons I am going to leave - in addition to my belief that Canada / America are wonderful places to live anyway. Obviously the world or Ireland doesn't owe me anything, but I cannot live in a country where someone with a Master's degree is not being paid enough to afford a nice house in a good location! Screw that. I'll take my savings to Vancouver and will only need a mortgage for 50% of the price of a 2-bed apartment downtown. One hour from one of the finest ski resorts in the world!

PRE_10_DER

what's your masters in? do you think you'll be given residency? would you just have to have some kind of education to be even considered??

Sleepy

PRE_10_DER wrote:

i never got the whole australia thing why does everyone want to go there??

Nice weather, affordable cost of living, friendly people, if I were to get basically the same job as I have here in Dublin in either Sydney or Melbourne I'd be on one and a half times my current salary...

I can see the attraction tbh.

ionapaul

Doesn't matter what Masters I have - just having a Masters gives you full points in the education component of the test. I think it goes Masters/Phd (top level), 2 basic degrees (2nd level), one basic degree (3rd level), diploma (4th level), and so on, each level getting less points. Go to a Canadian immigration website to review the checklist and see if you qualify - need 67 or over points out of 100 I think.
Since I qualify, I am quite confident of being given residency - its just lucky I stayed in college for so long! Oh, and I needed to have more than 1 year job experience in a profession that is on their skilled worker list - but the list is quite long so many should meet this requirement.

eth0_

PRE_10_DER wrote:

i never got the whole australia thing why does everyone want to go there??

Because it's a beautiful country with beautiful weather, a much better quality of life, people aren't worked to the bone there, it's much cheaper to live there etc etc.

I do think we're going to see an exodus to other countries. Even just moving to the UK you have a better lifestyle and might actually be able to buy a house within a year or two of finishing college! I'm moving to the UK in the summer and I cannot wait.

PRE_10_DER

my brother moved up north.. he bought a nice 3 bedroom house for 60K sterling and he's also earning way more now than he did in Ireland:rolleyes:

cheaper house and bulkier wallet = good deal!

fischerspooner

jesus. Original poster, your situation sounds so much like my experience a few years ago. Met a Canadian girl here, moved out to Calgary eventually, got hitched, couldn't work for a while. Although I managed to get under the table work, with poor pay. Yes I don't miss the 6 month winter though, I really don't think the nice summers are worth cold like that for so long. I've thought about going back to Canada, I'm still married to a Canuck, the reason I came home is that I was just not getting on well there and holding both of us back so she went back to her part of canada (newfoundland) and I went back to ireland. I've been to NFLD since. I did get a valid working visa though, you can get one while your application is being processed but it takes a while and was costly. Yes the standard of living is better over there apparently, but I think I'd take the buzz and culture of europe over the big houses and dead town centers of western canada. Best of luck though mate, vancouver's a lovely place

Jujenjitsu

Indeed Canada is a lovely place, and I do miss the hustle and bustle of the old world. As for my education, I left school 3 weeks before the leaving cert, in protest. I decided that the leaving cert was a joke, and further more the education system in Ireland was one which was based on the highest possible merit earning you a place of only mediocrity. I've been doing graphics design since I was 12, am 19 now, mastered Flash, Photoshop and a handful of scripting languages. A creative writer by nature, with just as much time and experience in that field as the graphics design one, an accomplished and noted philosopher with enough theorem to pack a stadium. An I.Q. of 132, 8 points short of a mensa membership.

I am determined to make something of myself outside a country which is imploding in on itself. The gap between the rich and the poor in Ireland is set to widen to stupid-sized proportions. And I'm not going to be there when the economy Mary R. built out of her own hands gets squashed by the greedy fat-guzzling competitionless Irish market goers cause the system to collapse. Let Eircom, ESB and all the other monopolies have the country, I don't give a flying fudge-sickle. I seriously recommend that anyone with half a brain leave the country immidiately, and force the government to take action to help reduce the exportation of the Irish people who're subject to a country that is neither willing nor wanting to help them better themselves.

Sleepy

I've usually noted that anyone who takes Mensa seriously is lacking in the most important form of intelligence: common sense. Not having a go, just an observation.

fischerspooner

ok jujitsu fair enough but don't you think someone of your apparent genius and creativity should put it to use to change his own country instead of going abroad and telling us all to leave and what a horrible place we live in? The vast majority of irish people couldn't just up and leave, it's handy enough if you're a 19 year old with no ties or responsibilities. Canada is hardly the most inspirational place in the world either, a country who's culture can be defined by kraft dinner, ice hockey (or just "hockey" as they say over there), the word "eh", and maple syrup. Why do you think you meet so many canadian backpackers and canadians living here and everywhere? They leave because it's a soulless place, made up of immigrants, with no sense of community. My ex used to assure me that newfoundland was different to the rest, a cultured homely place, but when I got there it was like the rest of canada, long motorways lined with subways, wendys, A&Ws, dennys, tim hortons...
Anyway I'm rambling, my point being, don't dis ireland!

Jujenjitsu

No, no, you're right, you hit the nail on the head. We must all learn the difference between knowledge and wisdom. And a mensa member with a healthy dose of both is a powerful man indeed. My bud, Allan Tearnan graduated 6th year last year with the highest leaving cert results in recent history. But hes' as dumb as a box of rocks. I remember Darragh O'Brien owning him in class one day with one simple remark. "You know Allan, you're the smartest idiot I've ever known."

Jujenjitsu

DON'T DIS TIM HORTONS, MAGGOT.

Just kidding.

You must understand, that my feelings towards Irelands economy and people are grounded in my opinion and personal experience. Canada _isn't_ the most inspirational place in the world, and to be honest: Ireland was. I lived in Wicklow, Ashford to be precise, so how could I not look out the window into the vast rolling fields and woods on a sun-lit day and find torrents of inspiration? Why, from Irelands night sky alone in mid summer you can write thousands of words and they'll come like water from a river.

Like all Irishmen, my home is where my heart is, and you can't take an Irishmans heart out of Ireland. I even miss english Telly, hell, I just miss England, and I didn't even live there.

koneko

Mensa don't accept you based on your IQ score, they have a test of their own.
Just nitpicking..

Jujenjitsu

koneko wrote:

Mensa don't accept you based on your IQ score, they have a test of their own.
Just nitpicking..

Ahh, I was told it was an I.Q. rating of 140 or higher. But I even hate bringing up the topic of I.Q.s, read Kevin Warwicks "The quest for intelligence." to find out why.

pickarooney

koneko wrote:

Mensa don't accept you based on your IQ score, they have a test of their own.
Just nitpicking..

Don't you have to introduce a member to a gurl or something?

koneko

But I even hate bringing up the topic of I.Q.s

No offense, but you're the one that brought it up... right?

pickarooney wrote:

Don't you have to introduce a member to a gurl or something?

And bring cookies!

Or so I was told. I was the girl so I didn't have to bring anyone.*

*Please note the above is all fictional

Sleepy

Personally I've complete disdain for mensa, I sat their test just so I could refuse membership... It's the sort of thing that anal people with little or no social skills use to put on their CV in place of a proper extra curricular activity.

pickarooney

Sleepy wrote:

I sat their test just so I could refuse membership...

No, seriously that's the sort of thing anal people with little or no social skills do.

PRE_10_DER

Sleepy wrote:

Personally I've complete disdain for mensa, I sat their test just so I could refuse membership... It's the sort of thing that anal people with little or no social skills use to put on their CV in place of a proper extra curricular activity.

do you mean ''i sat their test so i could prove how intelligent i am but i failed miserably so i'll pretend that i did it so i could protest''

way to go:D

Sleepy

Well, t'was more to see if I could do it, tbh. Had no interest in joining, was curious to see if I'd qualify for their self-styled elite based on a measurement that you can learn to improve, is completely culturally biased and takes no account of the arguably more important emotional quotient.

PRE_10_DER

what kind of questions were asked? i'd be curious to do it myself.. and as sad as i may be, i think it would look very good on the cv

Jujenjitsu

pickarooney wrote:

Don't you have to introduce a member to a gurl or something?

Sleepy

PRE_10_DER wrote:

what kind of questions were asked? i'd be curious to do it myself.. and as sad as i may be, i think it would look very good on the cv

Trust me, I've seen a CV tossed into the bin with the word "tosser" pronounced over it for having a Mensa membership quoted on it.

Jujenjitsu

Hahahahaha, I wouldn't be surprised. Most Irish people could easily qualify for Mensa anyway, they're smarter than they should be.