Starting "over again" in a new area.

[Ribbons]

My family and I are moving out of the country up to Canada within the next two years. It seems like a good chance to live as a boy up there, and maybe change my family's views on me (they are too over-protective and such).

No one besides my parents and dog knows me. I'm passable in terms of looks, and I already act "like a boy" in terms of behavior and etiquette. The problem is my parents though.. But I always have time to come out.

Anyway, has anyone else tried this? How'd it turn out?

[spacial]

I've probably moved around more than most.

My own experience is that, in a new place, most people are, initially, really interested in you and provided you can respond positively, they will welcome you. But they are also quite defensive of new commers, especially those from a different society. The important thing to do is to discover what local values are and adopt those, especially those which go against your 'grain', so to speak.

Canada is pretty diverse, so it's impossible to predict how things will be. But it may be a good idea to present as a very masculine female. If you try to give the impression you are male, then are found out later, as you will almost certainly be, that could be a reason to create a lot of trouble.

[espo]

City or country ?  That makes a huge difference.  In the country you are more noticed, you are more known.  If you present as boy, its a full time thing but in the city, you have more privacy. More people to hide behind and amongst. More .. hummmm .... anonimity  (is that a word?)

[tekla]

Canada is pretty huge, and as S says it's diverse, but in a lot of ways it's diverse in the same way that the US is, and pretty much the same within the regions.  Oh sure Montreal is unique, in the same way New Orleans is, but Toronto is pretty much an East Coast/Great Lakes industrial metropolitan area, Vancouver has far more in common culturally with West Coast cities like Seattle, Portland and SF than it does with Montreal or Toronto, and Calgary might as well be Denver right down to the cowboy boots and energy company mentality.

And any (and every) rural area in North America has a little bit of the Dukes of Hazard about it.  In Pennsylvania they talk about "Pennsyltucky" being the area between Pittsburgh and Philly, and no matter how unique and liberal SF and LA are, when you get into the Central Valley of California you might as well be in Oklahoma.

So it's all about location, location, location.