ezzie

First full day at school for the kids - did I tell you how tall they are compared to English kids...now, we're not a short family, but the kids are about average or just above average height amongst their friends, but here, they stand out like flippin' giants! Just shows what sun and good nutrition can do!

Anyhow, I have one girl in tears, one lad who has done nothing all day, and the other girl who hasn#'t done much either. Son is in 6th form...they're all doing work on their assessments so not much teaching going on there. The maths work, admittedly it's halfway through the year, is way ahead of anything he's done in Oz.

On an interesting...and slightly disturbing note, he was offered fags all day (he's 15) and invited to a party where he was told 'if you don't drink, don't bother coming'. This wasn't said in a nasty unfriendly way at all, just stating that the purpose of the Friday party was to all get as blinding drunk as possible!

The girls maths class consisted of the teacher yelling at everyone and no maths being done. The girls are in Year 9 and there's quite a few kids who smoke in their class too.

Also interesting.....and yes, disturbing...no girls eat at lunchtime! My girls were just about the only ones in their year who actually bought a big tub of pasta (1.50 quid) from the canteen and ate it. Apparently it's not the fashion to eat!!!????!!!!! The other girls also spent some time saying they didn't eat because they didn't feel well...my girls gave them a bit of a lecture on the fact that if they ate, they might actually feel better!#

On a less pessimistic note. Daughter and mother this morning were sucessful in the semi-dark at getting the horse out of stable, changing coats and putting in field. There was mud, bared teeth, large kicking back legs and I'd like a round of applause from you all at this point!

After dropping the kids at school, I did a bit of (expensive) food shopping in the village at the CO-OP. Had a lovely chat, but everyone seems to be thinking of moving to Australia!

Disaster...my sat nav isn't working. It refuses to pick-up any satelites even though I'm sure there's dozens circling overhead, in fact I can see the buggers, have even tried aiming my sat nav at them and shouting 'here it is' with (not suprisingly) little success. Tom Tom have sent a VERY unhelpful reply stating that although they've received my question, they can't treat it as a question and if I renew the query they won't respond to it and as far as they're concerned the matter is closed....what the???? Anybody got any ideas? I need to navigate to Telford for cheap wellies!

cricket1again

Ezzie, you don't sound happy. What's your deepest instincts about the idea of moving back there permanently now that you're actually there and seeing life as is?

asprilla

Hi ezzie,

This is a really interesting thread. I hope that you find the time to keep it going. Let us know what you decide in the end.

Also, I'd really like to watch the episode when it is eventually aired!! So, if you can find out which episode number it will be...let us know.

cheers

mark

Nu-Shooz

Ezzie can you just clear up afew of my questions

How long are you staying in UK for?
Will we in OZ be able to see this programme, or is it just for UK viewers?

And when is it being aired?

Thanks..

ezzie

Program will be aired on ITV1 sometime next year...sorry, even the producers don't know much more than that. I'm not sure how enlightening it will be to watch.....you won't be seeing the UK portrayed in anything but a positive light and I'm sure we'll come across as unreasonable/insane....which we're not!

3 go mad in Adelaide

I take it Blighty is not for you now then Ezzie?

ezzie

Life is all about ups and downs, and certainly yesterday was a bit of a downer - but not hugely so. One daughter who has desperately wanted a horse for years, after one day of having to get up early to 'see to' the hoss, has decided she doesn't want one after all and that was the only reason she wanted to move to England! Hence, all three ganged up last night doing a 'scum bag England, why would you want to move us here when we're perfectly happy in Sydney?'

Why indeed?

So, kicking myself here, wondering if I am being unreasonable. They are happy in OZ...it's all they've ever known. They're at good schools and have gorgeous friends. DH has a good job and we've a nice house. It's me who misses England and I'm just 1/5 of this family.

Having said that, at the moment I feel like I'd die a horrible soul-destroying death if I returned to OZ. But, early days....there's still a few weeks to go before we have to make any decisions.

Son has half the day off school tomorrow (free periods) so have to pick him up at midday. Apparently 6th formers often go 'into town'. This is hilarious as it's a tiny village with a small Co-op, a butchers and a real estate agent. Not quite hanging out in the big smoke (although from what son was saying about all the fags yesterday, it probably would be by the time the 6th form got there!)

AudsFrmSA

Hope your SAT NAV decides to work today and you can get those wellies!

cricket1again

Life is all about ups and downs, and certainly yesterday was a bit of a downer - but not hugely so. One daughter who has desperately wanted a horse for years, after one day of having to get up early to 'see to' the hoss, has decided she doesn't want one after all and that was the only reason she wanted to move to England! Hence, all three ganged up last night doing a 'scum bag England, why would you want to move us here when we're perfectly happy in Sydney

Ezzie, horses cost lots of money and needs lots of work. I used to have horses, I loved them but then I got a boyfriend. Much more fun. Your daughter will get past wanting a horse.

Poor you. Don't envy you, I can imagine how you must feel when everyone else is pulling in a different direction. Like you say though, you've got a few more weeks so no need to reach a conclusion yet. Keep an open mind, enjoy the moment and wait and see what happens.

TillyG

Hi Ezzie,
So have you given a "final answer" to the TV programme then? I can't begin to imagine how things are for you at the moment - it must be so hard when it feels like the rest of the family want the opposite to you. Hopefully over the coming weeks you will all be able to work together and find a way forward, one way or the other.
T x

ezzie

No, haven't decided to stay. These few weeks are all about making that decision, which is why it was so important to get the kids into a school to check it out. The most important thing we've discovered so far is that I did the right thing by not buying my daughter a horse!

Just lit the fire and put the porridge on the aga to cook. The porridge here has become that awful splattered mulch that's easy to cook, but awful to eat. Might go and nick some of the horses oats!

quote=AudsFrmSA;7006611]Hope your SAT NAV decides to work today and you can get those wellies![/quote]

ezzie

The 'answer' for the program was to stay in Oz.

To be honest, I'd be more worried if my kids all actually wanted to move to the UK and leave what they have in Oz. Good for them for making their opinions heard. I actually wish that I could live the rest of my years contentedly in Oz, but I just really don't like it. It's not me....I actually like standing in mud in big wellies. I was down the shop yesterday and already knew the life history of the checkout ladies. I love that! I just seem to find more people like me over here whereas I feel like I'm a square peg in a round hole over in Sydney. It's not something I can put my finger on, I just think there's more scope for being yourself and a bit nutty in the UK. Anyone else experiencing something similar?

king kong

hi ezzie ,what a great thread. i have wrestled with homesickness and on the verge of going home for years but something somewhere always got in the way .
But the one thing i did notice when i have spent extended times there and actually worked etc is the initial excitement of being there some how seems to make you stand out from the crowd and makes you chatty .
I was speaking to everyone from the dustman to the shop keeper ,but after a while i was just going to work then coming home putting the fire on watching coronation street and so the cycle started again .
When i would return to aussie it was the same thing ,i would talk to everyone and be so friendly ,then slowly as i drifted back into mainstream life again i was just going to work then coming home and putting the air con on and watching home and away .
The only thing i know is i always look forward to going home and always sad to return to aussie ,there has to be somthing in that .Its a hard call espacially when youve been away like me for nearly 20 years .

ezzie

Yes, I understand (we've been in Oz for 22 years), except I go out of my way to be chatty in Sydney. I find the chat very superficial and people will usually smile in response to a comment....then walk away. Whereas here in the UK, I find you'll get a few comments back in turn.

News this morning in UK is horrifically bleak. Looks like it's going to be a very long and tough hawl out of this recession.

I just went into the school to ask if the girls can be put in the top set for maths after the mayhem of the class they were in yesterday and found that the class actually is the top class!!!!!!

Drove back through wonderful amber oaks, a little white frost on the ground, pheasants running in front of my car...they really are the most stupid birds. Beautiful here, pity that the rest of the country is in such dire straits. All politicians should be made to live in the inner city areas. Living in these lovely parts you could forget about everything and believe England was perfect.

cricket1again

Ezzie, wake up girlie. Stop listening to the news. Most of the UK's press are directly associated with political parties who have their own agenda to get the parties into power that they want running the country. It's always been like that in the UK and yes, it's enough to make any half thinking person want to jump off a cliff. But it is all very one sided and highly motivated.
Yes, for sure it's going to be tough in the UK but it's going to be tough in Australia too. Imagine losing your job in Sydney? Where are you going to look for work. Australia is so geographically proportioned and so small in population that a recession here is seriously going to hurt far more than it will in the UK purely because of location, population and size.
If my husband was made redundant in QLD, he might have to go as far as Darwin to get work. If he was made redundant in Birmingham, he might only have to go as far as London. What's that on a train? An hour and a half. He would get work in London because of the shortage of skills to build the Olympic Stadium and he would be home every night. If he had to work in Darwin, he would leave on a Sunday and come back on a Friday.

Aside from this, the gloom and doom merchants are spreading just this, doom and gloom. In February 2008, the UK employed the biggest number of people,almost 30 million approximately, on record. Even if 3 million are unemployed by 2010, that still leaves approx 27 million employed. That;s almost half the population. In England and Wales alone, as of 1996, there were 11 million children under the age of 18.

Yes, jobs will go in certain sectors, but new opportunities will emerge purely because the UK is desperate for certain skills like nursing, teachers and trades. The financial crisis had to happen. People were living on other peoples money far too much. My pension has decreased by 30%. Why? Because it's been loaned to someone who couldn't afford it. That's OK. I hope they are enjoying their new plasma TV. I'm just glad I've only lost 30%. What I'm fantasticly happy about is that this credit crunch has happened now because at least when I retire, I'll have something left of my own earnings before someone else has spent it.

Ezzie, whatever Britain is facing, it's well able to deal with. It is a rich, well populated country and it has a good credit rating. Labour will run the UK into debt, they will get voted out, the Conservatives will get back in and they will blame Labour for leaving a pile of debt in which case they have had to raise taxes, etc, etc. What's new?

Nothing is happening in the UK that won't happen over here. The only problem here is that it will hit much harder once the money runs out.
Stop watching the news and buy the womens weekly. Much happier reading. What does your horoscope say?