Former Laowai

Hi folks

I'm new here, so a brief introduction...

I'm a West Country boy and having visited or lived and worked in around 30 different countries over the past 12 years - mostly in China (hence my username) - I finally returned to England in March of this year.

Previous visits home have always gone as follows:
Week 1 - Enjoy welcome home parties and catching up with family and friends
Week 2 - Enjoy visiting all the places and doing all the things I've missed
Week 3 - Escape!

I don't know why this time has been different but after week 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 I still didn't want to leave and now I'm 100% committed to resettling here. Actually, make that 99%, because my non EEA wife cannot yet join me and our 2 little boys here, but we're working towards that and won't give up just yet, despite how heart-wrenching it is to be apart.

I really wish I'd joined BE years ago as I can see there's a wealth of information and of course lots and lots of interesting people with interesting experiences, stories and advice to share. That description also fits me so I hope to be able to make a worthwhile contribution to the forum once I've learned to find my way around properly!

Thanks for having me!

Jerseygirl

Welcome to BE.

I see you have already posted in our Moving Back To The UK forums...which is what I would have recommended you to do. So kudos to you.

The people who post in our MBTTUK forums are a very helpful and supportive crowd. I'm sure you will get a lot of helpful advice from them.

Please give me a shout if you have any site related problems.

Good luck.

Former Laowai

Thanks JerseyGirl

seda

Greetings Former Laowai!
What makes you able to settle back in the UK? What are you enjoying there? I ask because i'm considering a move back after over 10 years away in a very different climate. Fellow Brits can be quite cynical even if there's good stuff going on and right now I need to hear the positive side to life back in the UK. Of course one has to make the best out of their own life but it is useful to hear the readjustment experiences of other long-term ex pats.
Thanks and good luck!

Alfresco

Wow! What a life experience. Hope you settle well in the UK or wherever you decide to!

Former Laowai

Thanks for your warm welcomes Seda and Alfresco

Seda, I think everything is relative and for me and my life right now, the Southwest of England is where I want to be more than anywhere else on earth.

If I hadn't have spent so many years living in landlocked central China, the countryside and coastline of Devon and Cornwall wouldn't have quite the same appeal. Same when comparing the noise, dirt and pollution. Also my children are now at school age and I think primary education in England is fantastic and not just compared with China which I personally think is pretty awful in this respect (discussion for another thread though).

Mostly though it's family and friends. I've been away for long enough and I now value being close to them much more than I did say 3, 5, 10 years ago.

Rosemary

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

Excellent information can be found in the BE Wiki, not forgetting the Living and Moving Abroad forum that will help you, another set of great help is the permanent threads at the TOP of each forum, they are very pertinent to that particular forum and makes sensible reading.

Moderators deal with any problems that arise such as inappropriate posts, spammers etc, you will find their names at the bottom right hand side of each forum's index in bold font.

As a West Country girl I can understand why you want to move back there, if I left Spain I would definitely return to my roots and not move anywhere else.

Please contact me if I can give you any further help.

Rosemary

Former Laowai

Thanks Rosemary, that's a really helpful and kind post

I'll have a cider and pasty for you