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OVER 50's+ MOVING BACK TO THE UK - Part II

OVER 50's+ MOVING BACK TO THE UK - Part II

Old Dec 22nd 2010, 7:45 pm
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Default OVER 50's+ MOVING BACK TO THE UK - Part II

Wow sooo many posts to catch up with, I haven't been on here much this past few days, trying to catch up with real life stuff!!

Some really cracking posts, too many to mention. It's lovely to see everybody popping in amongst doing Christmas shopping and wrapping presents, and all the festivities etc.

Sally, you are spot on, those that have a realistic view of what to expect like DDL/Denise and hubby are going to be the ones that make it through what can be a big cultural shock.

"Ye Good Olde Days" have well gone now and are in the past..........we can still get that from old movies, books, talking to relatives, museums, stately homes, etc. but that is our past...........

Life in the UK is out there to be lived in the year 2010/2011 and onwards...........just maybe in not the same way that we have gotten used to all these years living in another country and we all have a tendency to romanticize the past, especially ex pats I think. As much as we are all truly British inside, living in another country and getting used to "their" ways will have really rubbed off on us and some may find that difficult when trying to adjust to British ways.

A few weeks ago I accidentally found myself on page 1 of this thread and read maybe 20-30 pages forward and so many people who posted then are no longer here. Did they give up on their dream? Are they lurking but now "too afraid" to make the move? Or did they give it a go and found it all too hard? It would be really good to hear from the people who went back and it didn't work out for, if they could bring themselves to post here then it would give both sides of the coin.

I am very lucky in that I did go back for my "reccie" last year and know a hell of a lot more than I did in April 2009 and even so I am scared as all heck and my eyes are wide open!!

Oh and yes Sally having a lot of money would certainly help as a buffer and also the means to get back to whence you came if it doesn't work for you, no shame or embarrassment necessary, at least you can go to your maker knowing you tried.

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Old Dec 22nd 2010, 8:15 pm
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Originally Posted by DDL
Nice one, JJ. Palm trees in the UK still amaze me!

Here's the snow in our little development on the Thames:


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5694211_n.jpg
I love that photo, I assume your MIL lives on a private bought development? It would be too much to hope for to get rented sheltered accommodation there with the river Thames at the bottom of your garden.

How do you embed the photo's in here Denise, I only know how to attach them as a link, I can see somehow they are linked to your FB account, but that may only be because I am on your FB friends list??
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Old Dec 22nd 2010, 9:03 pm
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Originally Posted by Beedubya
I love that photo, I assume your MIL lives on a private bought development? It would be too much to hope for to get rented sheltered accommodation there with the river Thames at the bottom of your garden.

How do you embed the photo's in here Denise, I only know how to attach them as a link, I can see somehow they are linked to your FB account, but that may only be because I am on your FB friends list??
I'm witcha on this! Why don't they make it simple. Everything should be done at a click.
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Old Dec 22nd 2010, 9:05 pm
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Anybody have a 'private message' from Rodney or Rosie today or yesterday?

See what happens when we let them loose
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Old Dec 22nd 2010, 9:07 pm
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Originally Posted by cheers
Anybody have a 'private message' from Rodney or Rosie today or yesterday?

See what happens when we let them loose
No private messages today, I gave Rosie my gmail address when we were talking about Frome so that is how she contacted me and I have passed on the 2 messages......hope she is not snowed in!!
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Old Dec 22nd 2010, 9:21 pm
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Originally Posted by Beedubya
I love that photo, I assume your MIL lives on a private bought development? It would be too much to hope for to get rented sheltered accommodation there with the river Thames at the bottom of your garden.
Ooooooo, yes - it's a private development. And just lovely. We're really going to miss it when we have to move!



How do you embed the photo's in here Denise, I only know how to attach them as a link, I can see somehow they are linked to your FB account, but that may only be because I am on your FB friends list??
I just copied-and-pasted it from my Facebook page.
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Old Dec 22nd 2010, 9:26 pm
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Phew! at last, out of breath from racing through the posts before another gets posted!

Lovely to read all the posts...

Rodney, good luck with giving up smoking. A gift to yourself and to your mother.

Gosh, well, where to start?

Beedubya, I actually finished packing on Sunday and flew out to UK that evening, to Birmingham, B'ham is brilliant, we were able to land--but soon after we landed they closed it down, so daughter from Paris couldn't land there....she came next day, but they lost her bag...

Son from another part of USA was flying into heathrow also due to land on Monday, they cancelled the flight, he just arrived today..

one more son to arrive tomorrow I hope, and then we will all be here in this beautiful English winter wonderland!! yes, very pretty...but..no-one shovels!!! and of course, as it's so rare to get snow like this (or used to be), the authorities understandably don't spend $$$ on snow ploughs etc that they probably won't use...

notwithstanding all that, the roads are clear enough that we should all be able to convene in big rented house (v large family) in country for CHristmas and the few days either side!! some of the group is already there....

It is, as always, lovely to be here.

DH said I seemed happier here! Has noticed that before...

Charleygirl, not likely he works for same co as your hubby if you live in NH....

Re the USA/oath thing, we should probably drop the subject but I just want to clarify that I love so much about the USA and do consider it my adopted country, if not my "true home."

My problems with the oath are not at all to do with any negative feelings towards the USA!

But simply related to the way you have to say you are renouncing all former allegiance etc...
to me this isn't just about "bearing arms" but about physical and emotional allegiance to UK.
And I don't feel comfortable swearing to renounce it while all along hoping and planning to live in UK in the end, at least part-time-- because that is my deepest and primary allegiance!

I think I'd be fine with the wording of the Canada oath, or the oath new Brit citizens swear-they don't ask for this renouncing.

And--for the record--health care is not at all the reason I want to go back!! It's culture...landscape....history...cathedrals..villa ges....family...newspapers...
sense of humour....changeable sky.....marmite!
And more.

But...in the new year, FRance. And therefore much closer to UK, quick trips back and forth should be possible....

A lovely Christmas to all!!!! You all feel like friends now.

Tina
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Old Dec 22nd 2010, 11:48 pm
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Lovely to catch up, DDL and JJ love the photos.......Between two worlds, so glad you managed to get there, I usually fly to Brum...
My husband works for a company in Ma. but they are a large French company with offices world wide..........just a long shot!

Barb........hubby thought Sidney was full of drunks...........and the news was full of Police telling them to stay home.....and it was HOT as hell.

Have a great evening everyone.

How do we post a picture here??

Last edited by charleygirl; Dec 22nd 2010 at 11:59 pm.
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Old Dec 23rd 2010, 1:06 am
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Originally Posted by cheers
Anybody have a 'private message' from Rodney or Rosie today or yesterday?

See what happens when we let them loose
Didn't he do a long message on here the other day? ithink if you look back - dontheturner
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Old Dec 23rd 2010, 1:11 am
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Originally Posted by J.J
pictures from home.... snow on my palm tree
Fresh snow here today in West Norfolk, temps hovering around 0 C. Snowfall has been light in this area the past week although very cold.
Hate to dampen your spirit - but if you have not gathered the leaves of that palm tree, and tied them together to stop them freezing inside, it will kill the tree - yes - it will die. as all ours did, after several years, when we forgot, one year, and they froze. dontheturner
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Old Dec 23rd 2010, 1:49 am
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Originally Posted by between two worlds
P
And--for the record--health care is not at all the reason I want to go back!! It's culture...landscape....history...cathedrals..villa ges....family...newspapers...
sense of humour....changeable sky.....marmite!
And more.
Tina, the changeable sky was the one real surprise to me on my trip back this year. I had thought 'oh the UK is grey and the US is sunny' and hadn't remembered that the UK has this unbelievable changeability, so that they say if you don't like the weather, just wait an hour and it will be different.

I found that so magical, because as you drive through the countryside, you can be under dark cloud and yet see a huge patch of bright sunlight in the distance, creating a really gorgeous effect. Here, if it's sunny in the morning, it tends to stay exactly that way all day until the sun goes down.

Not that sun is bad - just that my memories of UK rain didn't include those days that change rom sun to rain and sun to rain and back again all in the space of 2 hours.
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Old Dec 23rd 2010, 6:33 am
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Firstly to wish all posters a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR.
This time of year is always a struggle for me as I try to embrace the Aussie idea of christmas while missing my ideal UK one.


Now for something a little different and for those of you who are in Aussie land this might ring true with you.

My daughter ( in the UK) gives me a substription to a magazine called SAGA its for the over 50's and contains info. articles etc just for this age group as well as lots of advertisements !

The Dec magazine had an article entltled 'Paradise Lost?' by a mid fifties Australian women who has swapped her Sunshine Coast lifestyle for a little flat in London.
To quote a few passages from her article for you to ponder as she has captured my thoughts perfectly.

'Our leafy suburb in subtropical Australia was mind - numbingly quiet,apart from the odd yapping terrier or drone from a chorus of cane toads. Out social life was reduced to nodding at other dog owners when walking our labrador on the rainforest track.

'We decided too exchange this tranquility for the noisy exhilaration of inner-city life in London, hoping to revitalise our lives instead of sliding into the teduim of early retirement.'

'But for me it was harder NOT to change, harder to be stuck in a rut and stagnate.'

[I]'I grew up with a sense of dispacement'.

[/I]'My husband and I prefer culture and history to football and beer'.

I identify with all these thoughts and more and just wondered if any other Aussie feels the same ?

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Old Dec 23rd 2010, 8:30 am
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Originally Posted by sallysimmons
Tina, the changeable sky was the one real surprise to me on my trip back this year. I had thought 'oh the UK is grey and the US is sunny' and hadn't remembered that the UK has this unbelievable changeability, so that they say if you don't like the weather, just wait an hour and it will be different.

I found that so magical, because as you drive through the countryside, you can be under dark cloud and yet see a huge patch of bright sunlight in the distance, creating a really gorgeous effect. Here, if it's sunny in the morning, it tends to stay exactly that way all day until the sun goes down.

Not that sun is bad - just that my memories of UK rain didn't include those days that change rom sun to rain and sun to rain and back again all in the space of 2 hours.
Sally this is so interesting....I too was in the US for so many years and taking regular trips back to UK before rediscovering and appreciating this wonderful changeability--it IS "magical" as you say... (your description of the patch of light is like that wonderful poem by R S Thomas, The Field) .

I shouldn't have been surprised, because I remember for the first couple of years in the States, whenever the sun shone, I wanted to run outside immediately--being English I expected it to disappear in five minutes!

My hubby used to say,don't worry, it'll still be sunny in an hour or two! but I could never believe it!!! So the expectation of that changeability was built in....

However after yrs in the US I got used to how when you wake up in the morning you really can get an idea of the weather for the day ahead....or at least the next few hours.. whereas here in UK you only know what will happen in the next five minutes--and I LOVE that!

I love the way the clouds rush across the sky and the light is always changing and it may be raining now, but in a bit the sun might come out...a lovely hymn we used to sing at school, "After the sun, the rain, After the rain, the sun...." (S Sabine-Gould I think wrote it) just sums it up--so English!!

Of course none of this is really true at the moment, as the sky is uniformly grey and snow still everywhere...beautiful in its own way...tho so atypical.

Well, off to do last-minute Christmas stuff!

Tina
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Old Dec 23rd 2010, 8:39 am
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

Originally Posted by sallysimmons
Tina, the changeable sky was the one real surprise to me on my trip back this year. I had thought 'oh the UK is grey and the US is sunny' and hadn't remembered that the UK has this unbelievable changeability, so that they say if you don't like the weather, just wait an hour and it will be different.

I found that so magical, because as you drive through the countryside, you can be under dark cloud and yet see a huge patch of bright sunlight in the distance, creating a really gorgeous effect. Here, if it's sunny in the morning, it tends to stay exactly that way all day until the sun goes down.

Not that sun is bad - just that my memories of UK rain didn't include those days that change rom sun to rain and sun to rain and back again all in the space of 2 hours.
Sally this is so interesting....I too was in the US for so many years and taking regular trips back to UK before rediscovering and appreciating this wonderful changeability--it IS "magical" as you say... (your description of the patch of light is like that wonderful poem by R S Thomas, The Field) .

I shouldn't have been surprised, because I remember for the first couple of years in the States, whenever the sun shone, I wanted to run outside immediately--being English I expected it to disappear in five minutes!

My hubby used to say,don't worry, it'll still be sunny in an hour or two! but I could never believe it!!! So the expectation of that changeability was built in....

However after yrs in the US I got used to how when you wake up in the morning you really can get an idea of the weather for the day ahead....or at least the next few hours.. whereas here in UK you only know what will happen in the next five minutes--and I LOVE that!

I love the way the clouds rush across the sky and the light is always changing and it may be raining now, but in a bit the sun might come out...a lovely hymn we used to sing at school, "After the sun, the rain, After the rain, the sun...." (S Sabine-Gould I think wrote it) just sums it up--so English!!

Of course none of this is really true at the moment, as the sky is uniformly grey and snow still everywhere...beautiful in its own way...tho so atypical.

Well, off to do last-minute Christmas stuff!

Tina
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Old Dec 23rd 2010, 8:40 am
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Default Re: OVER 50's & 60's MOVING BACK TO THE UK.

oops sorry for double posting, my server went all peculiar...

Tina
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