Fiona&malc

You poor thing !! Homesickness is awful and nothing can prepare you for it. It hit me after 3 months of being here, once the honeymoon period had ended, thankfully ive got through it but ive now been here 11months and i can be feeling fine and optimistic and within a second can be missing the UK, but thankfully it doesnt last long, keep your chin up, you will settle in, everything is still new and 'foreign' to you but within a few weeeks you will start to adjust and once you start your new job that should help you make some friends too. As someone else said, think of what youve already gone through to get here, dont give up just yet !

Let us know how you are feeling (and whereabouts you are)

Fee xxx

wickpayne

I've been here 6 mths now and they are probably the hardest 6 mths of my life, even going to the supermarket can be really daunting!!!.. I feel that only in the last month I've really settled, have a group of friends to call on and my own activities to keep me happy and busy. I joined an evening class "great dinner parties" where I was able to make a few friends and now the class is over we even have a dinner party reunion lined up. There were times before when I really thought it was all too hard but sticking it out has enabled me, already, to have some of the most incredible experiences.

There is a girls not out in Sydney organised for Friday night - if you're based in Sydney search it on the forum and come along. One thing I found is every step was a struggle in the beginning, every invite out you felt you had to say yes to in order to make friends but it works and is well worth the effort (even if it is exhausting )

In my opinion I really think you need a good 6 months to get a real feel for the place

BadgeIsBack

In the case of people who can't take even 2 days, you do wonder how they left home, raised a family, did their first job interview, dealt with their first stress situation, passed their driving test. The mind boggles! Makes me realise how confident and resurceful most of us expats actually are and everyone is to be congratulated whatever their situation.

ABOD

When I read the above it reminded me of exactly how I felt years ago.

It will get easier believe me. You will make friends and recreate a life out here. It is hard work and no research before you come out here prepares you personally for the reality. I had a similar gut reaction to Oz as soon as I got here. I threw myself into my job and basically put on a theatre performance everytime I left the house (homesick indoors, living the dream outdoors). But over the years I have realised that the UK is where I want to live. But you have to give it at least a year if not two, so that you can exhaust every emotion and know that you have tried every avenue. You need to go home for a visit and realise in some ways some of the things in life are the same and others are so different. Would I do it again yes and no. I had to. Australia was unfinished business for me, I lived out here eight years ago and wanted to try it once more before I was too old to take the plunge. No because of the emotional rollercoaster. There are people on here who are really living the dream. I made the mistake of replacing like for like. I live in a suburb of Sydney not too disimilar to Winchester which is where I lived. I do the same job. I wish I had perhaps moved to a coastal town and lived the Ozzie life that I pictured at home. What I have learnt is to take as much with you from this experience as you can. I hope you get over the initial stages, it is early days. Even if you do go home, at least you did it, others spend their lives back there wishing if only...

Regarding pets, you need to get a rabies jab at least eight months before you depart. Then three weeks after the jab you get a blood test. Provided the tests are okay you have six months before your pet can return. Just so that you know I had my cats vaccinated 13 months ago (I have been here 2 and a half years) and have only just go around to leaving. It will get better.

Good luck

einar

Amen; I just moved to the US and am miserable. Utterly. Good to know I'm not
the only one.

Welshie

Oh its too soon to decide surely? I'm on week 2 and I have to say the first few days were quite emotional. You have to give it at least a few months before you can really give up on it all.

Which part of Oz are you in?

mand8002

Hi

Hang in there!! We arrived on 21st Jan 2005 and my husband had to return to the UK on 5th Feb (he still travels backwards and forwards due to work) and immediately I felt unsettled. About 3 weeks laster me and my younger daughter decided that we would return to UK at Easter. Giving myself this timescale allowed me to enjoy the time we had left anf before I knew it I didn't want to leave. Maybe this would work for you.....set yourself small goals and timelines. We returned to UK for Xmas and it made me realise that we have certainly done the right thing in moving to Australia.

cypry

while we're all pontificating and handing out all of our little gems of experience..... anyone noticed where "Scared" has gone? It would help greatly if she were to give a location then perhaps, help we could...... Hope that doesn't sound too negative

Vash the Stampede

Three weeks and you want to go home already. Um...

What exactly are you finding "too hard", and why are you "so unhappy"?

chance to be

Hi Scared
i really feel for you. perhaps though, you should redo your opening post and put it into the Moving back to the UK part of the forum. here are all the guys going through the same as you and you'll get all the info you need. they are very supportive.
im preparing to take my dog back to the uk too so can answer any questions on that if you want to pm me.
you can have the rabies vaccination in Australia, so its not the end of the world. its just if u dont want him to have quarantine the other end, the jab has to have been done with the all clear for 6mnths if that makes sense
chin up!
c x

arkon

Hi Scared, I'd like to say it gets better but we have been here a year now and would kill to go home. I'm adjusting better than the wife is and we have eased the heartache a bit by planning a trip home to the uk in april for a month. We would both stay at the drop of a hat but we too have 2 dogs here so have to come back. I'm hoping the trip home will remind me why we came here in the first place but for the life of me I can't remember. You will feel better once you have your dogs out I can assure you. My advice would be to not tie yourself down too hard by buying property and other material goods and what ever you do don't buy a herd of Aplacas!!

I would like to offer you the wife to chat with but she won't come near BE with a shitty stick. I know exactly what your going through as I see it everyday with the wife. We are staying for citizenship and then so long as we like what we see when we visit home it's offski for us.

arkon

Yes but give the girl a break, we too landed here and spent the first 4 weeks in sydney in 47 degree heat day after day in a caravan, visiting the dogs every day in a fly infested hell hole to be allowed an hour with them. I can tell you that is one experience that I'd gladly never repeat again, add to that the wife had really bad morning sickness that lasted 24hours a day then I think you get the picture. We spent the first 4 weeks wondering what the fukk we had done.

I think if it had been winter and the wife not ill it would have been much better. So what I'm trying to say is I can fully understand where she is coming from, give her a break!

Stephen

It is only natural that people will feel this way on occassion.

For some people it is only after a period of elation; perhaps a month or two; that they suddenly come down with a bump.

But one thing is for sure in my experience and that is when you eventually get into your job and meet people, you will feel so much better. Feeling isolated is natural because you are isolated at the moment. But within a month or two that isolation will gradually diminish and you will be in a daily routine, worrying about the price of bread rather than the price of an air ticket.

It doesnt matter where you move to; if its unfamiliar it has a drastic effect on your life....initially. But you will settle in.

For your own sake primarily, I would give myself a target of say a review of your state of mind having been in your job for a month and after your pets arrived. Even then you may still feel homesick but that will pass.

Good luck.

Dreamaway 10

My Sympathy goes out to you.Iam still in the Uk and know soon I will be going through the same feelings to begin with.
It is a huge thing you have just done and really will take time for you to adjust.Don't throw in the towel just yet .You will probably feel a lot better once you start work.
As others have already said take one day at a time tell your partner how you feel and try to make him understand what you are going through.
Hope it all comes right for you what ever happens .Good Luck let us know how it all goes.Dreamaway

tinkerbell1

Hi Scared, I feel so sorry for you, It must be so difficult as it is a strange place and a complete change for you. Is there any other Brits near to you that you could maybe meet up with to try and make you feel less lonely and isolated? I am sure that if you have people to talk to it would be much easier for you. I think men adapt better to this kind of change but us girlies miss our friends and family that little bit more.

I think you should try and give it as long as you possibly can before you make any drastic decisions, you may regret it if you decide to go home now. Try and stick it out, if you really are too unhappy to stay then maybe its best for you to go home. At least you have tried it and thats more than a lot of people will do.

Keep your chin up, lots of luck to you