jemima55

It's exactly a year today since I moved back, with my son, to our old house in the UK.

We struggled up from East Anglia to Yorkshire with a pile of suitcases. My husband was still in our USA house, coping with the aftermath of a "derecho", a massive thunderstorm that knocked out the power for a week or more.
When we arrived home the taxi pulled in at exactly the same time as Tesco Direct who were delivering a lot of basics, towels, kitchen stuff, bedding, camping chairs, etc.
The food delivery came later.

So, there we were, in an empty house because the furniture didn't arrive until September.
One of the first things we did was raid the attic for anything useful and came up with some lights and an old Ikea unit that my son appropriated for his room.
My neighbour, bless his heart, brought us a tv and aerial round. Life was improving!
The first couple of weeks we slept on airbeds, but, for me that wore very thin!
Remembering we'd be dumping a couple of the US beds anyway, I ordered up a new bed and progressed to comfort, and a bit more distance between me and the dust mites!
By this time, friends had delivered some bits of furniture to make the place a bit more habitable!

I quite enjoyed those days. It gave me the chance to reaclimatise slowly, and was like "camping out", so didn't feel like real life!
Well, fast forward to July 2013. My son is settling back and is building a new life.
I have had a "big idea" about what to do, hoping to start a small business!
It's been toughest, I think, for my husband, who has had to re establish himself, albeit with the same company, and REALLY could do with a holiday.

I realised a milestone had passed this weekend when we were at a family gathering and NOBODY mentioned the United States, or our time there. I breathed a sigh of relief! We're back and now part of life here! Phew! Yippee!
It's good to be back!

windsong

That's really great to hear!

What a good idea to order the basics from Tesco and have them delivered. I didn't think about that. I think that would work for us, too. I really don't want my SO to wait until I have arrived in the UK to begin populating the house with the basics and he is a little afraid to buy anything unless I see it first. If Tesco is online and I can order from the US I will do it. The bed definitely comes first. We will all be exhausted!

It must be so nice to have no one mention the USA. I think that's a great sign that it is now firmly entrenched in your past and not the present.

Good for you starting a small business. I am thinking of doing the very same thing when I get there.

jemima55

I recommend this lot for beds, or any furniture. They delivered on time and the prices are good.

http://www.worldstores.co.uk

You should be able to open a Tesco account easily enough.
Internet shopping absolutely saved my life, and before we bought cars I would have the weekly groceries delivered. I also had a great time drinking my way through bottles of Tesco's reasonably priced wine. Somehow a bottle was necessary at the end of each day!
Good luck Windsong! You are a living example of how we never know what's round the next corner!

MissBetty

What a great post, thanks for sharing and I am very impressed with the Tescos delivery - that was a brilliant idea and very organised of you!

Great that you have settled back in so well with your family, good luck with the business idea too, keep us posted how it all goes and all the best to you!

NiHao

Thank you for a great update! So glad things are going well. I'm sure I must have read it somewhere but how long were you in the US for? What do you miss from the US and what do you appreciate the most about being back in the UK?

jemima55

NiHao, I was in the US for five years with my husband's job, on a transfer.
Although I made lots of friends and kept busy with voluntary work I missed my own culture and always felt like a visitor, to the extent of getting teary eyed whenever a British shop would open at the mall, like Accessorize or Jack Wills.
I missed our food, clothes, history, just about everything. I was the poster girl for that achey feeling in the stomach of homesickness.
What do I miss? The big bookstores, Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn and the reliable sunshine. Also the slight glamour of living in Washington DC. The thoroughness of all that expensive medical care! What don't I miss? The weather, we had some crazy times with that! Outages in the middle of winter and summer when you least want them! An earthquake!
There's a lot to be said for our climate and 21st century utility companies!

NiHao

jemima55,

Thanks for your reply. B&N, Crate&Barrel and Pottery Barn are all stores I know I would miss, its not that I actually buy much (if anything) from any of them but i do enjoy them

We are in CT and we have have lost power several times in the last couple of years, twice for a week each, the last time my husband was away and I was alone with 3 kids and power, fun times

I do like the blue skies but its very hot and humid here in the summer which I hate. Enjoy a good snow storm in the winter though.

We finally had a chance to visit Washington DC this year and loved it, great city!

I love hearing from you BTDT lot and hope to follow in your footsteps some day!

windsong

Are you saying that you don't find UK health care to be a thorough?

morayeel

Glad to hear you are doing well. I love to hear about peoples experiences on the move back to the UK. I am still here in the US. Hot and muggy outside and lots of bugs here in MS.!

sallysimmons

So glad to hear things worked out - I enjoyed meeting you that day and wish we had been able to do it again before I left the area. If you're ever coming out by Skipton, let me know and you and your husband are welcome for a cuppa.

jemima55 may have a different view than me, but just jumping in to say that I find it less profit-driven, which may sometimes also make it less thorough. In other words, go to the doc here with an achy back and they won't immediately send you for blood tests and an MRI. Instead they'll suggest rest/stretches, give you some pain killers and tell you to come back later if things don't improve (which of course they almost always will).

They won't do smear tests and mammograms every year, but instead you'll be invited every few years unless you request more frequent tests (which you can do).

I do think you have to ask for what you want whereas in the US, you'll be given it whether you want it or not because it's lining someone's pocket.

windsong

Thank you! I can live with this. It makes perfect sense to take the less profit-driven approach, too.

jemima55

Ah, Sally, you have saved me lots of words!
I'm a breast cancer survivor and was tested a lot in the US. Here, the fundamentals of the treatment (gold standard) are the same, but things are slightly less thorough, like no yearly MRIs, but even my US surgeon had decided they were of no more benefit.
I would also have meetings with my oncologist every year. Nice, but my case was uncomplicated so there was not a lot to discuss. Here, I have been told its more of a "one stop shop". I see one consultant instead of three different professionals, surgeon, oncologist, radiologist.
Having said that, I feel very lucky to have had the majority of my treatment in the US because it was so thorough, being paid for by the insurance. Anyway, my five years will be up in October, so then I am free of all the special treatment.

windsong

Now I understand!

Congratulations on being a cancer survivor!!

This was a great topic because I now realize that if I want a certain test or treatment, I need to ask. Good to know!

jemima55

Thanks Windsong!

Brigette

Jemima55,

Congrats on being home for a year! I remember when you were doing passports to home. Glad to hear everything worked out...gives me hope can't wait until it is my turn to return home