Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
Mar 16th 2011, 8:30 pm
#16
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2005
Location: Western burbs, Melbourne
Posts: 2,260
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
we have been back in the UK since August and have seen less of family than we would on a holiday.
My mother is quite elderly and we see her every 3 weeks (rotates with siblings) and quite honestly she would not know if it was once a year or every day.
For us, being here for family is not a consideration.
We are enjoying seeing friends- who are generally making more effort, but are very much looking forward to our return to Aus next year.
My family are always busy when we try and see them!
My mother is quite elderly and we see her every 3 weeks (rotates with siblings) and quite honestly she would not know if it was once a year or every day.
For us, being here for family is not a consideration.
We are enjoying seeing friends- who are generally making more effort, but are very much looking forward to our return to Aus next year.
My family are always busy when we try and see them!
Mar 16th 2011, 8:48 pm
#17
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Auckland
Posts: 97
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
Intresting thread we did just that return to be nearer family who with the exception of my Dad totally blanked us, we were home a total of 7 months and in that time we did not see our inlaws once though not through the want of trying, my eldest brother we only saw when we decided to leave and I pushed myself on him!
I enjoyed being back home, but 7th months without a job proved challenging and our saving diminished, back in NZ we have now had our first visitor (my dad) and tbh loving it, if it was left up to me the inlaws can whistle if they become ill I am not going to spend my hard earned cash racing back there!
I enjoyed being back home, but 7th months without a job proved challenging and our saving diminished, back in NZ we have now had our first visitor (my dad) and tbh loving it, if it was left up to me the inlaws can whistle if they become ill I am not going to spend my hard earned cash racing back there!
Mar 16th 2011, 11:49 pm
#18
Finally Home!
Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Used to be New York, now North Yorkshire
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Mar 17th 2011, 10:09 am
#19
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2011
Location: East Midlands
Posts: 5
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
We have been back for 2 and a half years and have really struggled to settle down, so much so, that we are planning our return to SE Qld. We left due to family reasons and rose tinted specs about being close to family, the reality is very different, have since fallen out with my sister, hardly ever see my brothers and my parents have their own lives. My Husband's family with the exception of his parents don't bother with us either and couldn't even be bothered to come to our son's christening, especially bad as one of them was a Godparent - their loss. I digress, we live in a beautiful rural part of Lincolnshire, but Industry round here is really limited to Retail, Farming and Hospitality - there are far more opportunities for my children back in Brisbane and my big circle of friends who I speak with almost daily are more like my family. So we have made the decision to up sticks and move again, our children are 4 (born in Brisbane) and 18 months so shouldn't be too unsettled by the move.
I am English, will always be English but part of me feels very Australian too and I just don't seem to fit in here and really miss the life I had in Australia. I thought these feelings would settle down given time, but some 2 and a half years on we still feel exactly the same.
Unless you have been an Expat, I don't think you can understand just how it feels.
I hope you are able to sort out your feelings one way or the other soon.
I am English, will always be English but part of me feels very Australian too and I just don't seem to fit in here and really miss the life I had in Australia. I thought these feelings would settle down given time, but some 2 and a half years on we still feel exactly the same.
Unless you have been an Expat, I don't think you can understand just how it feels.
I hope you are able to sort out your feelings one way or the other soon.
Mar 18th 2011, 2:29 am
#20
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Auckland
Posts: 97
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
We have been back for 2 and a half years and have really struggled to settle down, so much so, that we are planning our return to SE Qld. We left due to family reasons and rose tinted specs about being close to family, the reality is very different, have since fallen out with my sister, hardly ever see my brothers and my parents have their own lives. My Husband's family with the exception of his parents don't bother with us either and couldn't even be bothered to come to our son's christening, especially bad as one of them was a Godparent - their loss. I digress, we live in a beautiful rural part of Lincolnshire, but Industry round here is really limited to Retail, Farming and Hospitality - there are far more opportunities for my children back in Brisbane and my big circle of friends who I speak with almost daily are more like my family. So we have made the decision to up sticks and move again, our children are 4 (born in Brisbane) and 18 months so shouldn't be too unsettled by the move.
I am English, will always be English but part of me feels very Australian too and I just don't seem to fit in here and really miss the life I had in Australia. I thought these feelings would settle down given time, but some 2 and a half years on we still feel exactly the same.
Unless you have been an Expat, I don't think you can understand just how it feels.
I hope you are able to sort out your feelings one way or the other soon.
I am English, will always be English but part of me feels very Australian too and I just don't seem to fit in here and really miss the life I had in Australia. I thought these feelings would settle down given time, but some 2 and a half years on we still feel exactly the same.
Unless you have been an Expat, I don't think you can understand just how it feels.
I hope you are able to sort out your feelings one way or the other soon.
These are just a few of the nagging doubts you end up with going over time and time again in your head, we also have to the chance to make it over the ditch to Queensland in the not too distant future and make a go of it there also but still grandkids and family still a long way off to come and visit. Oh well have plenty of time to make up our minds and put together a list of "For's and Against" I suppose.
Mar 18th 2011, 7:46 am
#21
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2011
Location: East Midlands
Posts: 5
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
Well it's not an easy decision whatever you choose as you unintentionally end up hurting someone in the process. How did you find going back to NZ after 3 years out? I'm really keen to get on with going back, but everything is stacked against us what with the Exchange Rate and the housing market in the UK. But those financial issues aside, it's the energy to make the move again, the first time round it was relatively easy as it was just the 2 of us, but having little people to consider is making me over analyse everything. Oh well, we have put wheels in motion and are intending to rent our UK house out until the market picks up and also I guess as a safety net, just in case we go through the same cycle when we get back to Brisbane.
Keep telling myself to regret the things I've done and not what I haven't done!
Keep telling myself to regret the things I've done and not what I haven't done!
Mar 18th 2011, 8:20 am
#22
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: Auckland
Posts: 97
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
Well it's not an easy decision whatever you choose as you unintentionally end up hurting someone in the process. How did you find going back to NZ after 3 years out? I'm really keen to get on with going back, but everything is stacked against us what with the Exchange Rate and the housing market in the UK. But those financial issues aside, it's the energy to make the move again, the first time round it was relatively easy as it was just the 2 of us, but having little people to consider is making me over analyse everything. Oh well, we have put wheels in motion and are intending to rent our UK house out until the market picks up and also I guess as a safety net, just in case we go through the same cycle when we get back to Brisbane.
Keep telling myself to regret the things I've done and not what I haven't done!
Keep telling myself to regret the things I've done and not what I haven't done!
I think I have now turned to the next chapter and will continue reading the next page, life on this planet is so short and full of tragedy and I have lived through a few myself and only go wanting the best for my family. I have learned a lot in the 4 1/2 years I have been here, and yes it is a beautiful country in its own right. But for us at the moment we are torn between two countries, Queensland has drawn me back 3 times in the 4 1/2 years we have been here in NZ and have visited friends often over there, funny enough we too had a house in UK we rented and eventually sold to cut our ties in the UK altogether as our intentions was not to return. We spent a fortune getting back again and now feel no obligation to stay in Auckland with only 17 months left on my contract and so much uncertainty whether I will get a new contract, major downsizing looms over the coming months with budget cuts. But we have choices and are now taking time to consider those choices wisely. We have Indefinite PR in NZ so not a problem to come back either way, but would like to give Aussie a try sooner rather than later.
Mar 21st 2011, 12:31 pm
#23
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 508
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
Most of the threads on this forum focus on people who want to come back to the UK, or have returned and settled in straight away. It's easy to forget that some of us find it a lot harder.
I grew up in the UK, lived in Hong Kong and spent 30 years in South Africa. My wife decided to return in 2006, and I visited her a few times, then she asked me to join her permanently in 2008. I did, with serious reservations, but I had no desire to come back to the UK at all. I left because I didn't like it, more than 30 years ago, and I still feel the same way. I've been back to Africa several times since then, and it's like going home, with the inevitable sadness when I leave to come back here.
I belong in Africa, warts and all, and I'm going back.
I grew up in the UK, lived in Hong Kong and spent 30 years in South Africa. My wife decided to return in 2006, and I visited her a few times, then she asked me to join her permanently in 2008. I did, with serious reservations, but I had no desire to come back to the UK at all. I left because I didn't like it, more than 30 years ago, and I still feel the same way. I've been back to Africa several times since then, and it's like going home, with the inevitable sadness when I leave to come back here.
I belong in Africa, warts and all, and I'm going back.
Mar 21st 2011, 7:54 pm
#24
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Sep 2007
Location: Canberra
Posts: 8,378
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
I think part of the problem with returnees stems from the expectation that they will be going back to what they had when often the hole that they left in other peoples' lives has been healed over and there is no space for them in it any more. And rightly so, in some ways, you cant expect people to be living with the grief of having lost someone important for all that long. In some ways, the onus is on you to try and restore their trust in you - why should they make huge efforts if you could be gone again? People protect themselves from emotional pain in lots of ways and you may see it as rejection but they may see it as protection - not easy for any of you!
In some ways it is much better if people view a return to UK as being a move forward, and treat it just the same way that they treated a move away across the world the first time. If you arent moving back to a home and a job judiciously retained while you did a quick attempt at a foreign country, then head back to UK and try somewhere else and start anew... give it the same sort of enthusiasm and settling in period that you gave the first place.
What is happening, apparently, for some of you is the "curse of the expat" always destined to be looking back at what you had elsewhere and remembering it to be better than what you have where you are now - it's a common phenomenon. Every place is going to have its good points and bad points and the points that made you leave one environment in the first place are still going to be there the second time around unfortunately. There is no utopia.
Good luck with whichever way you jump
In some ways it is much better if people view a return to UK as being a move forward, and treat it just the same way that they treated a move away across the world the first time. If you arent moving back to a home and a job judiciously retained while you did a quick attempt at a foreign country, then head back to UK and try somewhere else and start anew... give it the same sort of enthusiasm and settling in period that you gave the first place.
What is happening, apparently, for some of you is the "curse of the expat" always destined to be looking back at what you had elsewhere and remembering it to be better than what you have where you are now - it's a common phenomenon. Every place is going to have its good points and bad points and the points that made you leave one environment in the first place are still going to be there the second time around unfortunately. There is no utopia.
Good luck with whichever way you jump
Mar 21st 2011, 9:17 pm
#25
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2011
Location: Scotland
Posts: 4
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
I've been back in the UK now for almost three months. I thought it would be easy, just step of the plane and it would all feel 'home' and 'right' just like it did on all those many visits back to the UK whilst living in New Zealand ........ but now its a permanent move it feels hard to be here and I am struggling to find the nice things I left behind (british sense of humour, history, decent housing, bbc, pretty countryside etc etc)
The worst thing that is getting me down is the attitude of people in the UK. Almost everyone is so negative and gloomy and can only see the bad side of pretty much everything. I have literally fallen out with long term friends over this as they were so negative I didn't want to be around them. I see the free healthcare, the opportunity for every child to have a free education, the personal freedoms enjoyed by everyone here and the relatively easy to live with climate and low likelihood of earthquakes and tsunamis.
I am a glass half full kind of person and I was so excited about coming 'home'. Even a recruitment consultant laughed at me the other day when I said I was excited about working in the UK and said "oh my you are the only one who is". Didn't get me a job or even an interview to go on the books though whatever she thought!
The reason I have returned to the UK is that I am an only child ......... and for the final years of my ageing parents lives (they are 90 and 82) I want to do what's right by them as they have always supported me through good and bad times. Not to do this would not give me peace of mind. It was untenable to continue flying back and forth twice a year and always worrying if people back home were OK. So for this reason it is right to be here but for most every other reason its feeling very wrong.
Is this just me or do other returned expats feel this way too? Are there any UK groups for returned expats? We are a unique breed and a lot of folks who have never been anywhere else seldom understand us and our lack of belonging and homesickness either side of the planet.
Just wondered if I am the only one who feels like this. Very lonely and very out of step with pretty much everything and constantly thinking have I done the right thing and should I go back to NZ.
The worst thing that is getting me down is the attitude of people in the UK. Almost everyone is so negative and gloomy and can only see the bad side of pretty much everything. I have literally fallen out with long term friends over this as they were so negative I didn't want to be around them. I see the free healthcare, the opportunity for every child to have a free education, the personal freedoms enjoyed by everyone here and the relatively easy to live with climate and low likelihood of earthquakes and tsunamis.
I am a glass half full kind of person and I was so excited about coming 'home'. Even a recruitment consultant laughed at me the other day when I said I was excited about working in the UK and said "oh my you are the only one who is". Didn't get me a job or even an interview to go on the books though whatever she thought!
The reason I have returned to the UK is that I am an only child ......... and for the final years of my ageing parents lives (they are 90 and 82) I want to do what's right by them as they have always supported me through good and bad times. Not to do this would not give me peace of mind. It was untenable to continue flying back and forth twice a year and always worrying if people back home were OK. So for this reason it is right to be here but for most every other reason its feeling very wrong.
Is this just me or do other returned expats feel this way too? Are there any UK groups for returned expats? We are a unique breed and a lot of folks who have never been anywhere else seldom understand us and our lack of belonging and homesickness either side of the planet.
Just wondered if I am the only one who feels like this. Very lonely and very out of step with pretty much everything and constantly thinking have I done the right thing and should I go back to NZ.
We have just moved back to the UK also (from Ca, USA) and have to be honest - good days, bad days... it takes time to settle in. We have an extremely supportive family so in many ways they make things easier for us.
I think when you are abroad you forget the shitty parts of "home" and for me, only remember the Dougie MacLean "Caledonia"... I know I did! But in reality.... that Caledonia is there - you just have to see it through those expat eyes! Don't buy into the cynicism!!
When the bad days come round, I think about our support system here, the healthcare we have free access to, the humour (it does exist... you just gotta find your peeps!) and of course, the daily "hi, how's it going?" with our parents... that's worth it, right!? My old man had a triple bypass last year and tells me the same story 5 times every day! Ah well... at least I know when to laugh...
I'm so grateful to be home... the job search is tough but again... we're here with the people who love us and whom we love... that's the measure of a good life... not the sunshine, the beaches nor the possessions!
Hang in there...
Mar 22nd 2011, 7:05 am
#26
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2011
Location: Christchurch New Zealand
Posts: 8
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
Hey there
We have just moved back to the UK also (from Ca, USA) and have to be honest - good days, bad days... it takes time to settle in. We have an extremely supportive family so in many ways they make things easier for us.
I think when you are abroad you forget the shitty parts of "home" and for me, only remember the Dougie MacLean "Caledonia"... I know I did! But in reality.... that Caledonia is there - you just have to see it through those expat eyes! Don't buy into the cynicism!!
When the bad days come round, I think about our support system here, the healthcare we have free access to, the humour (it does exist... you just gotta find your peeps!) and of course, the daily "hi, how's it going?" with our parents... that's worth it, right!? My old man had a triple bypass last year and tells me the same story 5 times every day! Ah well... at least I know when to laugh...
I'm so grateful to be home... the job search is tough but again... we're here with the people who love us and whom we love... that's the measure of a good life... not the sunshine, the beaches nor the possessions!
Hang in there...
We have just moved back to the UK also (from Ca, USA) and have to be honest - good days, bad days... it takes time to settle in. We have an extremely supportive family so in many ways they make things easier for us.
I think when you are abroad you forget the shitty parts of "home" and for me, only remember the Dougie MacLean "Caledonia"... I know I did! But in reality.... that Caledonia is there - you just have to see it through those expat eyes! Don't buy into the cynicism!!
When the bad days come round, I think about our support system here, the healthcare we have free access to, the humour (it does exist... you just gotta find your peeps!) and of course, the daily "hi, how's it going?" with our parents... that's worth it, right!? My old man had a triple bypass last year and tells me the same story 5 times every day! Ah well... at least I know when to laugh...
I'm so grateful to be home... the job search is tough but again... we're here with the people who love us and whom we love... that's the measure of a good life... not the sunshine, the beaches nor the possessions!
Hang in there...
Mar 22nd 2011, 9:44 am
#27
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 3
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
Most of the threads on this forum focus on people who want to come back to the UK, or have returned and settled in straight away. It's easy to forget that some of us find it a lot harder.
I grew up in the UK, lived in Hong Kong and spent 30 years in South Africa. My wife decided to return in 2006, and I visited her a few times, then she asked me to join her permanently in 2008. I did, with serious reservations, but I had no desire to come back to the UK at all. I left because I didn't like it, more than 30 years ago, and I still feel the same way. I've been back to Africa several times since then, and it's like going home, with the inevitable sadness when I leave to come back here.
I belong in Africa, warts and all, and I'm going back.
I grew up in the UK, lived in Hong Kong and spent 30 years in South Africa. My wife decided to return in 2006, and I visited her a few times, then she asked me to join her permanently in 2008. I did, with serious reservations, but I had no desire to come back to the UK at all. I left because I didn't like it, more than 30 years ago, and I still feel the same way. I've been back to Africa several times since then, and it's like going home, with the inevitable sadness when I leave to come back here.
I belong in Africa, warts and all, and I'm going back.
Mar 28th 2011, 6:07 am
#28
`
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 38,612
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
Very interesting thread.
Tough one Frequent Flyer. I would have done what you have done. In fact, I did return for my Dad , leaving my husband here. Husband knew it was for as long as it took and was very understanding as he could see that, for me, with my Dad it just had to happen, be it for weeks, months, years.
I did it for my Dad because I loved my Dad and I simply couldn't have cared less whether he embraced my return as the absent daughter or not. I simply loved him enough to just return for him. To be with him unconditionally . He was so precious to me.
We met a person once in Nelson airport. She was doing a twice a year return to the UK to be with her parents. I admired that. I managed 4 returns in 4 years. I'd have done more and for longer if we'd had the money. Husband is back there now with his 83 yr old Mum. We've managed to find the money for him to also get back there annually somehow.
I dunno Freq Fly.
Mr BEVS family all tell us that the UK is going to the dawgs and we are best the hell out of it. They are also all doom and gloom, yet they none of them seem to have it so very bad or seem on the cusp of severing their jugulars. I'm always hearing about the holidays they have or the family get togethers.
Maybe it's that they perceive that we, the removed ones, have / had the better life that they would only dream of ( via fanciful TV progs ) and just simply can't see that it is the same poo , different bucket for most of us. In fact, it can be the same poo without familiar pals and family around us.
They're sticking it to you mate. You 'escaped' but returned. They just don't get it & you are now an exotic. Something beyond their understanding.
There is a reverse culture thing that can go on. Have a read HERE It's an ancient article and just shows what a BE saddo I am.
but it still stands strong I feel.
I think you've done ace in returning . You may not stay forever but you are in the right place at the right time for now. Fair play to you.
Tough one Frequent Flyer. I would have done what you have done. In fact, I did return for my Dad , leaving my husband here. Husband knew it was for as long as it took and was very understanding as he could see that, for me, with my Dad it just had to happen, be it for weeks, months, years.
I did it for my Dad because I loved my Dad and I simply couldn't have cared less whether he embraced my return as the absent daughter or not. I simply loved him enough to just return for him. To be with him unconditionally . He was so precious to me.
We met a person once in Nelson airport. She was doing a twice a year return to the UK to be with her parents. I admired that. I managed 4 returns in 4 years. I'd have done more and for longer if we'd had the money. Husband is back there now with his 83 yr old Mum. We've managed to find the money for him to also get back there annually somehow.
I dunno Freq Fly.
Mr BEVS family all tell us that the UK is going to the dawgs and we are best the hell out of it. They are also all doom and gloom, yet they none of them seem to have it so very bad or seem on the cusp of severing their jugulars. I'm always hearing about the holidays they have or the family get togethers.
Maybe it's that they perceive that we, the removed ones, have / had the better life that they would only dream of ( via fanciful TV progs ) and just simply can't see that it is the same poo , different bucket for most of us. In fact, it can be the same poo without familiar pals and family around us.
I have literally fallen out with long term friends over this as they were so negative
There is a reverse culture thing that can go on. Have a read HERE It's an ancient article and just shows what a BE saddo I am.
but it still stands strong I feel.I think you've done ace in returning . You may not stay forever but you are in the right place at the right time for now. Fair play to you.
Mar 28th 2011, 8:28 am
#29
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 2011
Location: Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada
Posts: 2,060
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
Very interesting thread.
Tough one Frequent Flyer. I would have done what you have done. In fact, I did return for my Dad , leaving my husband here. Husband knew it was for as long as it took and was very understanding as he could see that, for me, with my Dad it just had to happen, be it for weeks, months, years.
I did it for my Dad because I loved my Dad and I simply couldn't have cared less whether he embraced my return as the absent daughter or not. I simply loved him enough to just return for him. To be with him unconditionally . He was so precious to me.
We met a person once in Nelson airport. She was doing a twice a year return to the UK to be with her parents. I admired that. I managed 4 returns in 4 years. I'd have done more and for longer if we'd had the money. Husband is back there now with his 83 yr old Mum. We've managed to find the money for him to also get back there annually somehow.
I dunno Freq Fly.
Mr BEVS family all tell us that the UK is going to the dawgs and we are best the hell out of it. They are also all doom and gloom, yet they none of them seem to have it so very bad or seem on the cusp of severing their jugulars. I'm always hearing about the holidays they have or the family get togethers.
Maybe it's that they perceive that we, the removed ones, have / had the better life that they would only dream of ( via fanciful TV progs ) and just simply can't see that it is the same poo , different bucket for most of us. In fact, it can be the same poo without familiar pals and family around us.
They're sticking it to you mate. You 'escaped' but returned. They just don't get it & you are now an exotic. Something beyond their understanding.
There is a reverse culture thing that can go on. Have a read HERE It's an ancient article and just shows what a BE saddo I am. but it still stands strong I feel.
I think you've done ace in returning . You may not stay forever but you are in the right place at the right time for now. Fair play to you.
Tough one Frequent Flyer. I would have done what you have done. In fact, I did return for my Dad , leaving my husband here. Husband knew it was for as long as it took and was very understanding as he could see that, for me, with my Dad it just had to happen, be it for weeks, months, years.
I did it for my Dad because I loved my Dad and I simply couldn't have cared less whether he embraced my return as the absent daughter or not. I simply loved him enough to just return for him. To be with him unconditionally . He was so precious to me.
We met a person once in Nelson airport. She was doing a twice a year return to the UK to be with her parents. I admired that. I managed 4 returns in 4 years. I'd have done more and for longer if we'd had the money. Husband is back there now with his 83 yr old Mum. We've managed to find the money for him to also get back there annually somehow.
I dunno Freq Fly.
Mr BEVS family all tell us that the UK is going to the dawgs and we are best the hell out of it. They are also all doom and gloom, yet they none of them seem to have it so very bad or seem on the cusp of severing their jugulars. I'm always hearing about the holidays they have or the family get togethers.
Maybe it's that they perceive that we, the removed ones, have / had the better life that they would only dream of ( via fanciful TV progs ) and just simply can't see that it is the same poo , different bucket for most of us. In fact, it can be the same poo without familiar pals and family around us.
They're sticking it to you mate. You 'escaped' but returned. They just don't get it & you are now an exotic. Something beyond their understanding.
There is a reverse culture thing that can go on. Have a read HERE It's an ancient article and just shows what a BE saddo I am.
but it still stands strong I feel.I think you've done ace in returning . You may not stay forever but you are in the right place at the right time for now. Fair play to you.
I read that article. It should be required reading for all returning expats. Most importantly it makes it not only OK, but normal to go through periods of depression, disenchantment and loneliness as we find our way toward re-integration.
I am trying really hard to prepare for going back, to realise that it may not all be smooth sailing and to allow for that part of the expereince as well as the looking forward to all of the things that I miss about England, the easy part. Time will tell but I am dead certain that this is what I want to do.
Mar 28th 2011, 5:45 pm
#30
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 148
Re: Back Three Months and Struggling to Settle ...
I read that article. It should be required reading for all returning expats. Most importantly it makes it not only OK, but normal to go through periods of depression, disenchantment and loneliness as we find our way toward re-integration.
I am trying really hard to prepare for going back, to realise that it may not all be smooth sailing and to allow for that part of the expereince as well as the looking forward to all of the things that I miss about England, the easy part. Time will tell but I am dead certain that this is what I want to do.
I am trying really hard to prepare for going back, to realise that it may not all be smooth sailing and to allow for that part of the expereince as well as the looking forward to all of the things that I miss about England, the easy part. Time will tell but I am dead certain that this is what I want to do.