British Expats - Last say

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROLLIE (Post 5300877)

hiya N., hows things ?
claire
x

hiya Jan,
how r finding everything?
we r a bit frustrated, with how slow things go. just awaiting T.F. now then get job.
GOD is`nt the weather just YUCK ?

what with the uk floods, and now more rain hear than sun.....:blink:

only just got int., so might find a bit
esp. , (with the weather as it is )more time to go on here.:thumbup:

glad to here from u too, t.t.f.n.
claire
x

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clippies (Post 5300945)

oh bugger, missed the upside downers :(

Hello everyone

I'm actually at work at the moment so my message will be brief and then I'll disappear. (maybe - depends where the boss is)

The weather here has been a bit wet lately but unlike UK - you know it won't last forever here.

Quick update on our progress as we've been here 10 weeks now.

Stayed with Oh's rellies for first couple of months NEVER doing that again. She's going through the menopause and her mood swings were absolutely horrendous. The house rules changed on a daily basis, she'd put the washing machine on while you were in the shower so you either froze or were scalded, she left washing soaking in the machine and went out all day so I couldn't do any. Anything that was broken in the house was me or my family (even when you saw her do it). We were all so stressed out that we thought we were going mad. She drank whisky all day long and hid it in coke cans. We were going to bed at 8pm every night just to get some peace.

Thankfully a friend we met here last year saw what we were going through and offered us his empty property to house sit until our own house is ready. It's very basic with no phone or internet - but it's stress free.

We've bought a house in Maida Vale, which we get into on 5th October. Can't wait!!!!

My OH is working for his rellies and hates it. I've got a job temping for the local council. It's not what I want to be doing as I had an excellent job in UK, but it's money coming in for now. I applied for a couple of jobs similar to what I was doing in Uk and didn't even get an interview. I called the interview selection panel and asked if I was lacking in qualifications. I was given some waffle about my application not being informative enough and when I probed further I was horrified to be told basically that I didn't get an interview because they have qualified men in Australia who do this type of work. Granted I was a Training Adviser within the Construction Industry, which is male dominated in UK too, but I was very good at my job and I enjoyed it a great deal. The man I spoke to was very clever how he phrased his reply but we both knew what he meant. He even suggested I apply for a clerical position within the company. (In Scotland I had my own secretary). I see this only as a minor setback. There must be some one here who is not so narrow minded.

My son has yet to find an apprenticeship but we are all looking.

Within the first couple of weeks of arriving my Dad's brother died and my elderly neighbour, who we lived beside for 18 years, lost his wife suddenly. It was very difficult being so far away and not being able to comfort those you care about but it was something we knew would happen at some point.

We miss my our eldest daughter who stayed in Scotland but she's missing us too and plans to come over for a holiday sooner rather than later.

Despite all that has happened we are still all very positive. We have never been homesick and never wanted to return to Scotland.

Lots of Australians are friendly and positive and we are trying to only see the good side of things here, while still being realistic. We didn't come here for a holiday, we're willing to work and make a good go of things. We know it will get better, it just all takes time.

I miss my parents and I'm finding it hard at the moment with no internet. (One good thing about the temping job is that I can email during work time).

I'm just looking forward to getting into our own home and getting my lines of communication up and running again.

Next month the sun will be shining in more ways than one.

So much for the brief message...... and here's the boss back ....lol