onepearlyb

Well, time is fast ticking away.I have very mixed feelings about leaving oz and returning to the Uk for good on Monday. Some feelings which I didn't expect to have.
Like the sadness and the regret that we weren't able to make it all work out. There's a tiny feeling of failing at this experience which we tried so hard to make work for us.
I've spoken to friends and family from back home recently and all I get is bleakness and gloominess with regards to just about everything from the weather to the price of potatoes. Of course I'm aware that Brits love a good moan, but it's really highlighted to me how the ozzies see things more positively in comparison and how much the bleakness doesn't appeal to me at all.
Am I ready to go back - I don't know!! I'm worried to be honest. Fearful of starting again,returning to somewhere VERY different to Oz, sh*t weather,and yet it was such an easy decision to return to begin with.
I know we wont be back here.Too costly, too much upheaval again and this being my third time here - I just know this was it,last time.
So - we are all set to return on Monday.I am feeling very sad just writing this and just wanted to share.

Cheers.
*pearly*

sans

Good Luck Pearly Have a great trip back and its only normal to have last minute doubts I had them too and now listen to me lols

brits1

Pearly it is natural to feel like you are doing now....look back at some threads of people returning home (or some who are leaving their own countries to try somewhere new) and there is always a feeling of..."are we doing the right thing"....."I kind of like it here now"..."I will really miss this and that"......"I feel like I have failed"....etc...it's horrible and hell on your sleep but maybe these feelings will help you make the most of your new start in the U.K...ie maybe you will visit more places, appreciate frosty mornings....(we don't have them here in Perth)....it is scary and what I try to do is think things like..."well if the rain gets on my nerves I will go visit one of the many stately homes I did not visit when we lived in the U.K"..."take up and indoor sports"....(I need to anyway ha ha)...good old "pub lunch"..visit the many indoor markets (missed having them here in Perth)etc,you have tried to make Aus home and thats all you can do.....Yorkshire is a beautiful county (nearly as nice as Lancashire) plenty to see and do...York and plenty of other lovely olde worlde villages/towns to visit, the East Coast, the Horse Racing days out are fun. When I am feeling like you do my OH (who is very black and white) says Jack just think of the positives and he reals off all the things we have missed being able to do while living here in Perth....

take care and all the very best to you.....just think it's Spring soon, apple blossom, lighter nights (yes even when it is rainy) and truly on lovely days when the weather is nice (and thats the cases for most countries) the U.K can be one of the prettiest places to live in.

sans

Hey !!! you got your hair dye'd yet How you doing??

Merseygirl

Try not to spend too much time listening to the 'doom and gloom' merchants in the UK. These people very often have not lived in another country and have the misguided impression that almost anywhere is better than Britain.
You will be going back with a fresh and realistic set of eyes. You know already that some things in Britain will be worse than Oz such as the weather and the negativity so you will be prepared for that, it won't come as a shock. Just keep focusing on the reasons why you are leaving Australia, they must be good ones as this is not the first time you have been through all of this.
I wish you all the best for the future. Take it one day at a time....

kevin747

I sincerely wish you all the best.
Take that positive attitude back with you.(Australian influence)
You did it remember,most do not.This takes guts.
You have not failed ,you tried it but presumably prefer somewhere else

Best Wishes

theyoungs

Oh Pearly, I know exactly how you feel.

This is also our second time around here in Oz and we too are very soon returning to the UK.

Like you, when I speak to family and friends back home all they keep going on about is the economy, how people are losing their jobs hand over fist, places shutting down etc. etc. etc.

To be honest, I am absolutely **it scared about returning now. I am the worlds worst at questioning my decisions. So as the time ticks by I too am thinking "are we doing the right thing?".

Our PR visa has now run out and we havn't secured citizenship (OH just wants to put complete closure on the whole Oz thing) so when we leave on that big white bird I know that there is no coming back and to be honest I am really very sad about that BUT I miss home so much

This migration milarky can sometimes be absolute hell and I am so envious of the people who just "get it" when they arrive and everything is so right with their world.

We will be going back with very little money (not even sure how much yet) and knowing the current situation so say I am a little worried is a gross understatement.

I'm sorry I havn't been of much support but I just wanted to let you know that there are people out there who are having the same thoughts as you.

Best of luck Pearly, I'm sure you and me both will look back at these threads in a few months time and say "what the hell was we thinking, it's good to be back"

Take care, have a safe journey and please let us know how you are getting on.

Chelle xx

P.S. Does anyone know how Nu-Shooz is getting on?

quoll

Good luck, Pearly, I am sure it will all be just fine. Dont you dare think of it as a failure, think of it as a lucky escape! As for the relative lack of doom and gloom from the Aussies - that's because they are so thick, their heads are still in the sands. They'll wake up in the end

I definitely think Britain could do with a good patriotic shake up - we have mentioned that before on these boards and maybe you returnees could be in the vanguard of the Great!!! Britain promotion.

dickchap

Pearly , I know how you are feeling about the OZ dream being a failure. I too wish everything had just fallen into place and we lived happily ever after. Its sad that everything about staying here just feels wrong. Our relatives back home keep harping on about what a state the UK is we are better off where we are etc etc. Today my OH was called into a meeting about his company making redundancies. We are planning on returning to the UK in October. It might be sooner if he is made redundant. Everyone that returns to the UK knows what it is like, faults and all and are obviously willing to except them. As my UK friend said "you had the balls to give it a go". Hope you have a safe journey. All the best. Nikki

islandergirl

Best of luck with it pearly, please please come back and write a long update from The Other Side. You can always come back for a holiday every few years if you need an Aus fix.

onepearlyb

Guys, you've all said brilliant things and not a "well, it's your choice" in sight!!

Right now I can't see those great things about the Uk as I'm sweating it out in over 43 degrees today, but I know they are there and I know that the sight and feel of a cold, crisp but sunny day back home will remind me how good it feels to be back there.
We're going to treat oursleves when we get back and spend some serious cash on "us".

I think the main 3 reasons we can't stay here are -

1.We didn't expect to miss family as much as we did. Not that we're going back there to live next door to them, not at all - we are moving to somewhere we haven't been to before and will be about 3 hours drive away from our rellies. But at least they are closer by.
2. My health has meant I've had to deal with continuous follow up out here on my own. Hubbie is here too but we have no-one here other than oursleves.
3. We have tried, but we just can't afford to live here. What we could buy for our money in the area we wanted to stay in is horrendous - a tiny 2 bed unit in a little village setting with about 12 others.

My head is not in a great place just now because I can't say I absolutely hate it here and can't say I'm DESPERATE to be back in the Uk.
Hopefully in a few weeks time once we're back and have sampled Uk life once again, I'll be able to see more clearly.
All your individual replies were great. Cheers guys.


*pearly*

Margaret3

Goodluck pearl, i think its natural to be shitting yourself as for the doom and gloom, the people spouting it should try to live here , then they'd know all about doom and gloom and worrying about things like toothache and how to buy your kids school books, you will go back and i am sure be grateful for all things the doomers and gloomers are taking for granted

long live the nhs

Gordo Marshall

Best of luck, and like the other poster said, simply ignore the merchants of doom. They were probably there in the background when you went to Australia and will be there when you return to the UK. You will never win with those type of folks, so the answer is, don't try to.

Point is you gave it a real good bash in Australia, and most people don't have the bottle to do so in the first instance; so do not be so tough on yourself. Take the positives of your experiences in Australia and reflect those nice thoughts into positive ones in the UK.

Personally having been through what you have at first hand, I can empathise, and it is not easy, not at all. But think about this - your experience is your own, and that nobody else.

I personally think the UK has alot of fantastic things on offer, and so much further ahead of Australia in many ways, esp in the way people engage with each other and the history and culture. Culturally we British are home-birds, and we love our culture deep-down, but often are too scared to be proud of it. I for one are very proud of many things British and are enternally grateful for those.

Best of luck and value what you have at any given time wherever you are is the secret I reckon.

Take Care, happy flying!

mabozar

Why are you leaving what was the big decider for you?
Was there a large pull towards the uk friends and family?

We have a visa but still have not used it yet it expires in 2012.

Carol Ritchie

onepearlyb

See my post above - Nos 11.