Originally Posted by kiwichild

Who does it matter who Worzel makes friends with, as long as they're friends? :confused:

Originally Posted by Rooksie

Worzel am i right in thinking that you put your daughter in school and then moved her to another? how did that go down? i am worried sick that if i make the wrong choice i will have to move them again. is it so bad??

Originally Posted by Margaret2

OOOOOhhhhhhhhh noooooooooo, think carefully when answereing her :D

Originally Posted by Rooksie

Worzel am i right in thinking that you put your daughter in school and then moved her to another? how did that go down? i am worried sick that if i make the wrong choice i will have to move them again. is it so bad??

Originally Posted by worzel

Yeah we did. As she hadn't settled that well we decided to move her to within walking distance of our new home rather than face a 15 min drive each way. It is only bad for a couple of weeks - kids adapt easily. But those two weeks can be a bit of a worry. She is really happy at her new school just 2 weeks in.

Originally Posted by Rooksie

Worzel am i right in thinking that you put your daughter in school and then moved her to another? how did that go down? i am worried sick that if i make the wrong choice i will have to move them again. is it so bad??

Originally Posted by Rooksie

Worzel am i right in thinking that you put your daughter in school and then moved her to another? how did that go down? i am worried sick that if i make the wrong choice i will have to move them again. is it so bad??

Originally Posted by moneypen20

God, you crazy screwed up woman. Stop pushing your neurosis on your children :D

Originally Posted by Rooksie

Originally Posted by moneypen20

Oh very grown up :p You're obviously not arguing though :D

Originally Posted by worzel

I have seen a few posts recently where people have mentioned it being hard to make friends and Aussies being superficial being a part of that. I just thought I would offer a genuine appraisal of how me and Sam found it in the hope it helps other people. :)

Both of us had really good old mates we saw once a year for a weekend or those we got on well with and enjoyed a regular social but were only reasonably close too. This suited us both. I am lucky that I think of Sam as my best friend. (I don't believe I am going to publish that - you will all be reaching for a sick bag!)

For me, I have found it easy to make 5-10 friends (mostly via BE one way or another) close enough to call a night out every so often and feel comfortable chatting to openly. I have also got on well enough with colleagues at work to go for a few beers after work but no more. (Probably wouldn't want to overlap work and pleasure anyway!).

Sam doesn't work but via the Thursday lunchtime meets at Hillarys has made really good friends. She meets with some of them regularly outside this too and even though it has only been a few months she is gradually building these friendships up to a very close level.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that if friends you have in the UK are good enough for a laugh and a drink but no more you will soon build up to that level once you get here. But if you had friends in the UK that took decades to build to the level where you can share intimiate secrets etc then of course that is going to take many years to recreate out here. Some people seem surprised by that. At least you should be able to find expats who you can strike up a conversation with as you have something in common.

Also remember that you won't have a history or even common memories nor be able to discuss that AFL final of 1998 etc. So making Aussie friends is harder. Aussies don't like negativity so avoid talking about how much better the UK was (obvious you would think).

Our daughter (8) has struggled more than we thought too. She did 4 weeks before school hols and got on well but they re-jigged the classes this year and she lost most of the friends she made. We moved house and moved her school and she is much happier now and going round to a friends house (Aussie!) tommorow for a play for the first time. While kids adapt easier than us - they still go through it a bit for a while. So don't neglect them.

So there you have it - another one of Worzel's - open and honest appraisals of Aussie life. I haven't done one for a while. I think I need a few :beer: now and a lie down.

Originally Posted by Professional Princess

Worzel, you and Sam could make friends anywhere. :)

Excellent post.

Originally Posted by worzel

I have seen a few posts recently where people have mentioned it being hard to make friends and Aussies being superficial being a part of that. I just thought I would offer a genuine appraisal of how me and Sam found it in the hope it helps other people. :)

Both of us had really good old mates we saw once a year for a weekend or those we got on well with and enjoyed a regular social but were only reasonably close too. This suited us both. I am lucky that I think of Sam as my best friend. (I don't believe I am going to publish that - you will all be reaching for a sick bag!)

For me, I have found it easy to make 5-10 friends (mostly via BE one way or another) close enough to call a night out every so often and feel comfortable chatting to openly. I have also got on well enough with colleagues at work to go for a few beers after work but no more. (Probably wouldn't want to overlap work and pleasure anyway!).

Sam doesn't work but via the Thursday lunchtime meets at Hillarys has made really good friends. She meets with some of them regularly outside this too and even though it has only been a few months she is gradually building these friendships up to a very close level.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that if friends you have in the UK are good enough for a laugh and a drink but no more you will soon build up to that level once you get here. But if you had friends in the UK that took decades to build to the level where you can share intimiate secrets etc then of course that is going to take many years to recreate out here. Some people seem surprised by that. At least you should be able to find expats who you can strike up a conversation with as you have something in common.

Also remember that you won't have a history or even common memories nor be able to discuss that AFL final of 1998 etc. So making Aussie friends is harder. Aussies don't like negativity so avoid talking about how much better the UK was (obvious you would think).

Our daughter (8) has struggled more than we thought too. She did 4 weeks before school hols and got on well but they re-jigged the classes this year and she lost most of the friends she made. We moved house and moved her school and she is much happier now and going round to a friends house (Aussie!) tommorow for a play for the first time. While kids adapt easier than us - they still go through it a bit for a while. So don't neglect them.

So there you have it - another one of Worzel's - open and honest appraisals of Aussie life. I haven't done one for a while. I think I need a few :beer: now and a lie down.