Rosy

Just had a glance through today`s topics and posts, and got to wondering - if we all stopped posting about how awful the place we live in is, how much less time I would spend trawling through this site!!!

So far, we`ve had

"My weather`s better/worse than yours"
"My property`s worth more/less than yours"
"My children`s school is worse/better than yours"
"My crime rate`s higher/lower than yours"
"My TV`s better/worse than yours"

etc. etc.

Is it human nature? Are we all trying to convince ourselves that what we are doing is the right thing?

If I ever get to do a degree in Sociology, would anyone mind if I used their contributions in a Thesis???!!!

Bilbo

You forgot to mention willies.

Kath

The whole process of emigrating would give you enough material for a sociology degree! Why do we put ourselves through it?

I often envy my good friends who live happily in their 3 bed semi, never having been abroad, no wish to travel or live away from their home town in England. I wonder why can't I be like that? After 1 year in Perth I keep trying to justify to myself, well it's a great experience for our family, we have options for our future, dual nationality etc etc. but the stress we've gone through often makes me wonder?!

jayr

All right, your willy is worse than mine.

Bilbo

And Bruce's willis'?

Bilbo

An infection of the mind, a meme.

Rosy

Kath,

Thanks for that. It`s EXACTLY how I feel. Before I came here, I said to myself "It`s better to have tried, and found out it`s not for you (NEVER, NEVER say "failed") than not to have tried at all...

BUT, and this is a big BUT here, I do envy all our friends who appear happy and contented in the UK. The stress of moving here has been ENORMOUS. It has taken a huge toll on the whole of our family - the children have seen my husband and I arguing (we didn`t argue very often in the UK) so much since we`ve been here. The financial toll is something else to consider - we are at the mercy of a currency which is reknowned for its volatility - we have sold our "safe" investment in the South of England.

I like Australia for many, many reasons. I also fear it is not the place for us for as many, very valid reasons - what a dilemma...

Kath

I feel exactly the same as you. We also sold up our country house in the South of England, left good schools, jobs and wonder what we could have been thinking of?!

I suppose I knew deep down the grass wouldn't be greener but I didn't expect such differences in education, work conditions. Like you I love Australia but maybe for retirement! Whilst I'm educating my children and we're having to earn a living I think the UK might be a better option.

cruisey

Hi Kath and Rosy,

My wife and I are just waiting for our pre-grant letter, so hopefully we'll be off to Oz soon.

I was just curious, how long have you been out there? We are trying to agree an amount of time to stay in Oz before we decide if it's for us or not....

Kath

We've been here (Perth) nearly 1 year (end of June). We wanted to give it 2 years. I think our 2nd year will be better than the first, we've sorted out our son's school (gone private) and there is a chance my husband might move jobs with better pay and conditions. I suppose you can't expect to get everything right straight away, it takes time to establish yourself, every family has different expectations.

I don't regret the move but waiting for the visa was hard (16 months wait) then all the emotional goodbyes from friends and family are terrible, packing your whole life up - you feel completely exhausted before even leaving the UK..... THEN you arrive in a new country and have to find the energy to start all over again, accommodation, schools, jobs, cars etc. I wouldn't want to go through it again. I do feel better now, more settled and have met some good people I can trust but like Rosy I'm not sure it's for our family long term.

cruisey

Thanks for the insight Kath, we haven't got kids (yet!) so hopefully things might be a little less stressfull for us. The thought of packing up our lives and walking into another country and saying "here we are" is starting to be a bit daunting!

Best of luck for the future!!!

C

etlniwd

Rosy,

I do not understand you. A few weeks ago you wrote this :


Now you are saying you don't like it and want to go back.

You also state

Well, according to my best guess, you sold your 'safe investment' (which I assume was a house) at the absolute peak of the market. You probably would have coverted the capital into Australian dollars at one of the best exchange rates you could hope to get. Now the dollar has strengthened and the UK housing market has started to slump you must be quids in. Where is the 'financial toll' there ? You should be jumping for joy.

Sorry, but I just don't understand your reasoning.

Vee

Rosy, you've only been there a few months? Gawd, by the way you were going on and on about how bad it was I'd have thought you had been living there for yonks. Give it a fair ol' go. Could it be that you are just homesick and missing friends/family?

When I was 21 I moved from Canada to Manchester and didn't really like it for the first 6-8 months. I missed my friends so much (at that age you don't really miss your family!!) I stuck it out and 10 years later I'm still here (albeit trying to now move from London to Qld). I'm really glad I stayed in the UK instead of going back to Canada as it was the right thing for me to do at the time. Give it at least 2 years (like Kath).

Gra.B

I reckon you could have enough of your own material without using anyone elses!

Rosy

We sold our house in April 2002 - the prices in our area (near Winchester) were climbing steadily upwards at that point, but since then they have soared even further - just take a look at the Land Registry figures if you don`t believe me.

Secondly, we converted at a rate of around 2.6 to the £. Hardly "one of the best exchange rates you could hope to get" was it? I recall at some point last year they were nearly 3 to the £.

The dollar HAS strengthened in recent months, but is still around 2.52/2.54 if we wanted to convert back. We are not "quids in" as you put it, taking into account all the expense in coming over here.

Hope that explains my reasoning a bit better.