BadgeIsBack

Enjoy Some of you might recognise this from an article about a family coming to terms with some life-changing news. (I've as such amended the first sentence).

"Migrating is like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland."

Tableland

Hey - ease up on Swindon.

OzTennis

That's all well and good as an analogy however what if they have Tesco in Italy but not in Holland?

OzTennis

chrispy

Blimey... that is an abstract post... not been smoking anything while in "Holland" have you

The people in the other 10 provinces of the Netherlands might get a bit peeved they were not worthy of a mention

BadgeIsBack

Nope. I got sent it by some mates who had a deaf kid, and I've been meaning to post it for while. And we've had the recent Perth posts too.

Mid Lifer.

They wear clogs in Holland.I wanna wear flip flops or even better go barefoot.Do they do that in Italy?Lake Como or Rimini maybe.

dottyspots

That piece was actually written in response to the birth of a child with additional needs - about coming to terms with having a child different from others.

chrispy

I think it applies to the original scenario well, quite poignant , not quite sure i can see it as applicable to going to live in Perth.. after all you know where you are going and if you have read anything at all, more or least what to expect, the fact that you get arsed off with some inconviences and miss relatives and friends at home is something you should be aware might happen and you either deal with it or move back..

Gjn200

'New Holland' surely?

dottyspots

I think everywhere has it's ups and downs and life pretty much goes on regardless - generally you need to get up (at some point in the day), have breakfast, take the kids to school/go to work/whatever, come home, eat, do whatever, go to bed.

I'd like to think a bit more sunshine would be good day-to-day, but for me it's the opportunity to live somewhere different and depending on where we decide to move, that could be radically different from the UK. What exites me is the different countryside, the flora and fauna (which will be a challenge to get to know).

We're still up in the air as to whether we will go for TRA again. We'll decide soon. Should we get through that stage then we'll plan a reccie and the thought of that is really exciting, especially as I'd like to take the opportunity to go North (I've never been anywhere remotely tropical).

On the family front, I'm lucky in a way in that I don't often see my family anyway (many of whom live outside of the UK as it is), so I'm used to visits being a few years inbetween (saw my father for the first time in 4 or 5 years a couple of months ago). I wouldn't be able to see my mum as often though (the longest being almost 3 years in between us seeing each other - but more recently she's been over every year, but I guess we could contribute to the extra airfare).

I've lived outside of the UK (happily), so know I wouldn't really miss the country itself, it would be more my friends (who could visit) and my MIL, she only lives round the corner and of late has been a real boon on the babysitting front.

JackTheLad

Thats all well and good, but do they have pickled onion monster munch in Holland. Does the chocolate taste strange. Have they got hellmans mayonnaise. Does Marks and Spencer deliver to Holland?

Poppett44

OzTennis

Well spotted and interesting to conjecture what Australia would be like now if the Dutch who 'discovered' the land long before Cook had acted before England sought a way to avoid overcrowding in prisons and on hulks in the Thames. (similar thing in US, New Amsterdam became New York).

There are still some remnants of when it was known as Nova Hollandia eg Tasman(ia), formerly VDL; Cape Leeuwin etc.

OzTennis

Buzzy--Bee

Never mind the Dutch - interesting to conjecture what it would have been like if the Aborigines had an enforceable immigration policy!

Buzzy

stuckinblighty

Atleast Holland has Amsterdam

Crackin' weekend