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I’ve been back in Canada for over six months now, and I must say that it has been difficult readjusting to Canadian life. Although it has been nice to be with my family, and there are some perks this side of the Atlantic, (maple syrup flavoured whisky!) I have to admit that my nostalgia for the UK is still very much present. I’m thrilled to announce I will be going back to the UK next month on an Ancestry Visa, so I will soon again be reunited with everything I miss about Great Britain. Until then, however, here’s a list of things I miss about the UK: 1. Pubs Of course, this is number one on the list. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, pub culture is just not a thing in Canada. It really is a shame. 2. Taxes Added Before Checkout This is a huge annoyance I completely forgot about until coming back to Canada. Taxes are added after checkout, so the price tag on the shelf is actually not the price you will pay. It’s nice being in the UK where the price you see is the price you pay. No surprises! 3. Easy Travel This is more specific to London, but generally, transit is so much more efficient over in the UK than here in Canada. Not to mention how close the UK is to Europe! The options for travel are far more diverse than Canada, where apart from the States being our next-door neighbours, we just have a lot of nature. Canadian holidays are typically going to the cottage, and holidays in the UK are going to France, Italy, Spain, etc… I'd much rather the latter! 4. The Weather Now, this is more specific to southern England where it doesn’t get too cold but still gets warm enough in the summers to be able to suntan. Canadian summers are just so humid and brutally hot, and the winters are cold enough to freeze your fingers off. I miss the less extreme climate of London where my shoes don’t get wrecked in the winters from slush and the salt they use to melt the ice. (That being said, the UK really needs to step up their game in the air conditioning department.) 5. Cheaper Alcohol I’m not talking about the alcohol you buy in pubs or bars, because depending on where you go drinks can be MUCH more expensive than in Canada... (hello, London). I’m talking about your average shop that sells alcohol. For example, I love a cold bottle of Heineken. If I were to get a 12 pack of 330ml bottles, I’d be paying £11 at Tescos. That translates roughly to $19 Canadian. However, if I were to buy the same pack of beer at the Beer Store in Ontario, I’d be charged $28.50, and that’s BEFORE tax. Essentially I’m paying over $10 more for the same product in Canada that I would be in the UK. 6. Cheaper Phone Plans I’m not entirely sure why Canada has such expensive mobile plans, but they do, and they’re some of the most expensive in the world. Plans here are upwards of $100 (58GBP) and don’t even necessarily include unlimited data. Complete ripoff. 7. 'Free' Prescriptions Well, not necessarily “free,” because they’re paid for through taxes, however, it is nice not to worry about paying hundreds of pounds for life-saving drugs. Unless you’re exempt, you just pay an £8 dispensing fee and that’s it. I used to work at a pharmacy in High School and the number of people that would come in without insurance and would have to pay hundreds– or even thousands of dollars for their prescriptions was heartbreaking. We have socialised health care, why not socialised prescriptions? Oh, and birth control in the UK is COMPLETELY FREE. Get it together, Canada! 
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Well, here I am… back in Canada. In truth, I’ve been here for three weeks. I came home six weeks early because, like many affected by the pandemic, I was certain my flight home in July would be cancelled. (Spoiler alert, it has.) Air Canada was and still is, the only airline to be repatriating Canadian citizens, and when I looked at their website for flights in July I was looking at paying $2000 for a flight home. I also knew if I left early I wouldn’t have to pay rent back home as I’d be living with my parents, and I could start working to save for my ancestry visa much sooner. And, that’s what I’m doing. With the health surcharge going up by $2000 in October my goal is to be able to apply for my visa by the end of September. This means, however, that the latest I can come back to the UK is the end of December because I can only apply three months before I go. This isn’t ideal because it’s right around Christmastime and I’m imagining there will be a second wave of the virus at that point, however, if it will save me $2000 I’m going to try. At least I have a job waiting for me when I get back. I’ve been slowly adjusting back to Canadian life. To my family’s amusement, my Britishisms in my speech are still very prevalent. My mum chuckles when I say ‘jumper’ instead of ‘sweater,’ and they do prefer ‘aubergine’ over ‘eggplant.’ As much as it’s good to be back with my family, I do miss London dearly. I know now that’s where I’m going to settle. When I move back, it will be for good.  Happy New Year! It's officially 2020, the year my UK visa expires. This morning, I've been sitting here in my small flat near Stratford looking at flights back home to Canada in July. The fact that I will have to go back in six months is becoming a heavy reality which is causing me to have plenty of mixed emotions. I'm excited to see my family and friends back home who I haven't seen since last Christmas, but I'm also dreading leaving the UK, because I feel like I've made a new home here with friends I can't imagine living without. All that being said, I still have six months. A lot can happen six months. I'm producing a show that I've written at the Brighton Fringe in May which is going to keep me pretty busy. In this last year and a half, I've discovered so much about myself, and I've experienced an exceptional amount of personal growth, which has led me to switch career paths from acting to writing. I've discovered that the reason I wasn't making an effort to pursue an acting career in the UK was because I wasn't in love with the process of acting. I didn't love auditioning, spending a ton of money on headshots or courses, and most importantly, I hated not being in control of whether I got a job or not. I want to be in control of the story. I want to write the stories. Ultimately, I love the process of writing. Regardless of the medium, I want to write. My plan is to eventually come back to the UK on an ancestry visa. Whether that will be in a year, or five, I can't tell you. Ancestry visas are expensive, and I need to be able pursue my career as well as save money to come back to the UK. I'm planning on self publishing my first novel by next Christmas, and following that, a book of my poetry. I'm excited to see what 2020 has to offer!  Just over a year ago I wrote my first instalment to this series comparing my life in Toronto to my life in London. Then, I had been in London for only two months. Currently, I've been living here for 14 months, so I figured it was about time I write a part 2. Most of the things I mention are pertinent to not just London and Toronto, but also the United Kingdom and Canada as entire countries, as I've travelled across both (apart from Eastern Canada). 1. The UK absolutely LOVES Harry Potter This isn't exactly an entire UK thing, but England and Scotland absolutely milk the fact that Harry Potter is British. In London, its the massive amount of Harry Potter filming location tours, and all the HP paraphernalia at literally any Primark. Then, of course, you have the Cursed Child on the West End, Kings Cross Platform 9 3/4, and the Leavesden Studio Tour (which is in Watford.. so technically not in London). Furthermore, I spent a day in Oxford where they filmed the Great Hall and other areas of Hogwarts and there were TWO Harry Potter stores. There's also two Harry Potter stores in Edinburgh where the Queen herself, J.K. Rowling, lives. You can also have tea at the Elephant House where she wrote the first book. Lastly, up in the Scottish Highlands you have the Glenfinnan Viaduct railway, famous for being the tracks that takes the students to Hogwarts. If you're a Harry Potter fan, you NEED to come to Britain. The whole country (minus Northern Ireland and Wales) is a HP museum. Toronto, of course, has no relation to Harry Potter. However, We do have the Lockhart which has some amazing HP inspired cocktails. Also, lets not forget about Curiosa, which, legally can't say they're a Harry Potter store for copyright purposes, but has some awesome HP inspired goods. 2. "You alright?" This is a Brit's way of saying "what's up?" They don't really care if you're alright. This was a huge learning curve for me after actually trying to answer honestly the first few times. It's just a formality over here. 3. Reality TV I will never understand the UK's obsession with reality TV. If you're here when Love Island or the Great British Bakeoff is on, they will literally be ALL you hear them talking about it. I actually attempted watching Love Island once and barely made it through the first episode. There's also the X Factor, the Voice, the Circle, Naked Attraction, First Dates... the list goes on. We have reality TV in Canada, however I'd argue the only show that really matters is Hockey Night in Canada. We prefer our comedy shows, such as Just for Laughs, the Rick Mercer Report, and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. 4. Free From Now, this is something that the UK is definitely doing right. "Free From" is a section in every supermarket that has food specifically meant for dietary restrictions. Each item is clearly labelled whether it's gluten free, dairy free, vegan, etc. As a vegan myself, this is a life saver. Canada doesn't have anything comparable. I really hope that changes soon. 5. Weatherspoons If you thought coming to London involves buying expensive alcohol, you'd be absolutely right... If you're not at a Weatherspoons. Weatherspoons (Spoons, for short) is a chain of pubs that has the cheapest booze and food you will ever have in the UK. Their menu is the same wherever you go, and they have an app just in case you don't feel like queueing at the bar and want to order directly from your phone. They have locations all over the UK, so you're never far away from cheap beer. Sadly, we have nothing that compares to this in Canada. If you want cheap alcohol, just don't go to the Toronto downtown core. It's as as simple as that. 6. Lack of bugs/ no screens Yes, the UK still has bugs. No, they don't nearly have them as bad as we have them in Canada. In London, no house has a screen on their window. That's because big blood sucking mosquitos don't really exist over here. The most I've seen are small flies and ants. It's bloody amazing. 7. Rolling Cigarettes I'm not a cigarette smoker, so I'm not an expert by far on this subject, but I've never seen anyone roll their cigarettes in Toronto. If they do, it's not common. Over here, you're more likely to see someone roll their cigarette than take a pre rolled one out of a package. It's cheaper, so most people choose that option. People roll at work, on the train, while walking...it's as normal as rain in London. 8. So many Bank Holidays I'm not sure who decided to give this country so many Bank Holidays, but it's absolutely amazing. I feel I work less days of the year over here than I did in Canada. It's awesome. 9. Snow= Panic The UK simply doesn't know how to deal with snow. Trains are delayed the moment a sprinkle of snow falls, and everyone makes a fuss. That, and people complain how utterly cold it is. I try telling them that's nothing compared to -40 degree weather with snow up to your knees, but they'll never fully understand. I will be honest, I do miss a proper snow fall, but I also love not needing wear full on snow boots with thermal socks every time I go outside. 10. Each country in the UK is distinct Do you want to know the easiest way to get a Northern Irishman, a Scotsman, or a Welshman to hate you? Lump them in with the rest of the UK. Specifically, England. England has a bad reputation for taking things that aren't their's, and Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish independence are all examples of that. I understand historically, it's a lot more complex than that. As someone who has travelled all over the UK, the one thing all countries have in common is that they are all proud of their culture. (Northern Ireland is REALLY complicated.. let's not go there.) The Welsh language is still fluently spoken in rural areas, as well as Gaelic in parts of the Scottish Highlands. They are proud of their history and are absolutely stubborn when it comes to lumping them in with the English. Canada also has it's own unique cultures and traditions. Eastern Canada is very different from Western Canada. However, the most comparable issue we have is obviously with Quebec. French Canada is very proud of their heritage and culture, so much so that they've been struggling for independence for years. .  You know when you're doing something really fun and you take a second to think that whatever you're doing won't last forever and its only a matter of time before it ends, and then you shake it off because you're trying to enjoy each and every moment? That's been my thought process over the last month. I passed my year anniversary in the UK on the 14th of July. Oddly enough, I wasn't even in the UK. I was in Chernobyl. Yes, I was wondering around the site of one of the most dangerous radioactive accidents in history. Before that I was in Barcelona. So far, 2019 has brought me to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Greece, Spain and Ukraine. In September I'll be headed to Italy, and who knows after that where I'll end up? Living in the UK has spoilt me in terms of travel, which I'm trying to take advantage of because I don't know whether I'll come back here to live. I came to the UK to travel and act. Obviously, I've been doing a lot of the former. I've been submitting myself to castings and trying to take initiative, but my motivation has shifted. Ever since I produced my film "Sugar," I've had this urge to continue to make my own work. Over the last few months I've been taking writing more seriously and have gotten good headway into the feature for "Sugar," as well as some other film projects I have in mind. Furthermore, I started writing a novel, and have really gotten back into writing poetry. Prior to "Sugar," I never thought I could make a career in writing, but it does make sense. Its been one of those things I've enjoyed since I was young. I still love acting, but I want to focus on acting in the work I write and produce. Whether I stay in the UK or not is largely dependant on this altered career path. It would make sense to stay in Toronto to produce my own work, largely because I already have connections there and to go through another UK visa process would be expensive. However, there's this burning inside me that doesn't want to go back. As cliché as it sounds, I feel at home here. With less than one year left, I'm trying not to think about the inevitability of me having to leave London. I just need to enjoy this last year as much as I can.  One of the many reasons I decided to move to London was because I felt in Toronto I was just another blond actress in her mid 20s trying to compete with the thousands of other actress who looked just like me and sounded just like me, but started their career much earlier. The first agent I met with fresh out of school basically told me "there are many actresses within your type and age range who've been doing this much longer than you have so they have an advantage." I was 24. Needless to say, I needed something to help me stand out. In the UK I have an accent, which even my agent here said is unique and will run in my favour. Needless to say, since arriving on British soil I've been busy settling in and haven't exactly been completely focussed on acting. However, over the fast month or so I've found my focus again. This is a list of things I've noticed so far that differ between the Toronto and UK acting industries. (I won't include information about Spotlight because I already discussed it in one of my previous blog posts: Moving to London: The Struggles) Headshots Don't even think about bringing your $500 headshots from Toronto to the UK thinking you can use them. The style here is so different, after getting my new headshots here my agent didn't even want me to use my Toronto headshots at all, which is a shame, because they are good headshots. In Toronto the style is very much capturing your 'type.' Your headshots are a reflection of what casting directors will see you as. They're very stylized, with posing being used a lot. Here is one of my headshots by the lovely Hayley Andoff from Toronto.  In the UK, however, simplicity is key. Headshots are supposed to represent you, not who you can play. They're much more close and intimate, allowing the casting directors to see you as a blank slate. Black and white is still used here, as well, however, I think its currently on the way out. I received my new headshots in both black and white, as well as colour. Below is one of my new headshots curtesy of Yellow Belly.  Jobs
One of the most significant differences I've discovered from being an actor in London vs. Toronto are the job opportunities. Toronto is such a film and television hub. Productions from the U.S. as well as our own home grown media is filmed there. From Workin' Moms to the Handmaid's Tale, there are always a ton of film, television, web series, commercials, etc, filming at any given moment. From an actor's perspective, this is awesome, because that means a lot of work. Its unfortunate though that most American productions only cast American actors for lead roles. Basically, a working actor in Toronto has probably done a few dozen commercials and maybe a few one liners in an American television show by the time they retire. (If they can ever afford to retire.) Oh, and also a stint on Murdoch Mysteries, of course. Film and Television is where the money is, so even actors who are faithful to theatre will probably do a commercial or two. Speaking of theatre, compared to screen, its a smaller industry. Of course you have the likes of Stratford, Mirvish, Soulpepper, etc. The people I know who make a living in those companies and are regularly paid theatre actors are mostly those who are well trained from proper, established theatre schools. (I'm not sayings screen actors don't train, but its more common practise for them to do short courses and private coaching. Not to mention screen acting is very visual so its less about talent and more about looks, unfortunately.) I don't want to jump the gun and say theatre is harder to get into than film and TV, but perhaps because I've been in London where theatre is so massive compared to screen I now know just how small the Toronto theatre industry is. London is a whole other ballgame. I mentioned how enormous the theatre industry is, and it is enormous. Musical Theatre especially. I'm almost at a disadvantage because I don't want to do Musical Theatre. Furthermore, because theatre is so huge, drama school is taken into the highest regard. The UK houses some of the best drama schools in the world, and most working actors you meet probably trained at one of them. Moreover, castings are much more diverse. One of the biggest casting categories in the UK that you never see in Toronto are cruises. So many cruises cast in the UK, and most of them are musical theatre (again, I'm at a disadvantage). Furthermore, there are many more international castings in London. Commercials filming in Turkey, Spain, Italy, Norway, etc, are constantly popping up on casting websites. This is just an example of how attainable Europe is (well, until Brexit comes into place). Pantomime is another huge casting category in the UK. I remember studying Panto a bit in school, but you never really see it in Toronto at all. The UK has loads of it, especially now around Christmastime. Lastly, student films in the UK can be PAID. In Toronto, film schools have an agreement with ACTRA which basically makes each actor work for free, regardless of union status. In the UK its a bit different. Not all student films are paid, but some are, which is kind of refreshing if I'm being honest. I'm still learning about the UK's acting scene, but I'm excited to dive head first into into. Hopefully in the New Year I'll start auditioning more and really experience what its like to be a working actor in London! Everyone has their own thing that helps them establish a sense of permanence. Something you do when you know you're going to be in a place for awhile. It could be joining a book club in your area, a class of some sort, or simply getting a loyalty card at your local coffee shop. For me, it was a gym membership. After the craziness of moving to a new flat (again) and travelling (again), I felt I could finally fall into a routine in my new life. (Furthermore, I should mention I was so out of shape it was embarrassing.) Having that routine of waking up in the mornings and going to the gym before work was, and continues to be important to me, because it finally gives me a sense of normalcy after the craziness of the last three months. Having said that, I'm going to be travelling again in a couple weeks so the craziness will start up again. (At the beginning of October I went to Germany for Oktoberfest and in November I'll be headed to Ireland.. it never stops!)  I've been in London for just over two months now, and ever since I started walking on British soil I've been mentally collecting a list of everything different from Toronto. Some of these things are noticeable within the first couple of hours and any tourist would see them too, and some of them you wouldn't know until actually living here . This list is constantly growing, so I figured I'd break it down into segments. Furthermore, there's so much I could write about the differences of being an actor in London vs. Toronto, but that's for a whole other list.  It's been about a month and a half since I've arrived in the UK. There have been some absolute highs, most of which were spent in that first three weeks during my program. It seems moving to a new country is never all highs, however.  Looking out the view from Castle Campbell in Dollar, ScotlandIts absolutely crazy how time flies by when you're in a full time acting course in a new Country while simultaneously trying to find a place to live for the next two years. It's still hard to believe I'm actually here. The program at Guildhall was incredible. I can now compare training in the UK to that of Canada, and even though there was some overlap, I found in London, (or at Guildhall, at least) there is a huge sense of play which my former training lacked. It was a lot more physical which I found incredibly useful. Furthermore, after studying in a film acting intensive course for two years while also being wrapped up in camera acting since graduation, it was so nice to be able to jump head first into theatre again. I know for sure I made the right choice to move here knowing how viable theatre is in London compared to Toronto.
As for Flat Hunting, I was super lucky. The first flat I saw I took. Its in Newham, so a little far out from the centre, but its a good area with great flatmates (who have dogs!), and decently priced rent. The next things on my checklist are to get a job and an agent, but thankfully I know people who can help in both departments. I'm also prepared to really tackle the networking thing, because as any actor knows, it's all about who you know. Before I do those things, however, I'm spending the next week in Wales visiting relatives. I can't wait to see more of the UK! |
Megan RuthEverything you need to know about my move to London. Archives
December 2020
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