[Punker]

In 2002 I moved from Edmonton to a foreign country despite speaking little to none of the native language and knowing 2 people in the country (distant friends working in the company).

How good an experience it is for you is dependent heavily on you; living in Alberta is a pretty ethnically un-diverse experience, in a place with a very high standard of living.

You may want to ask for an escape clause in your contract; something whereby after 3 months, you have the opportunity to terminate the contract with no penalty, in case there's some particular thing you can't handle (weather, crime, missing mommy, whatever).

Also, and I can't stress this enough: get your non residence papers filed with Revenue Canada. Thats what prevents you from having to worry about your taxes while living overseas.