Kath & Graham

Nice to hear things are going well for you Louise. I too have a 17 year old gonna be 18 when we return to UK and wondered if you heard anything about College costs etc etc !(as I read somewhere that if you are out of the country 3 years or more you have to pay) do you know if this is correct?

Wish my eldest was also happy about going back giving me grief to say the least, she wants to stay), its so hard, there we were convincing her Australia was great, now Im back to trying to convince her UK is better I just really want her to come back with us if and when we return.

hope all continues to go well, keep us posted.

Scrawni 2

Your situation sound very similar to our own. We left a 17 year old daughter who only stayed in oz for 6 weeks before returning to the uk. Like you i was distraught .

Like you we returned to the uk and have been back for 2 years now. I know how you were feeling. Now though, we are considering returning and our daughter is all up for coming with us, along with her boyfriend Wild horses would have kept her in oz last time. She has grown up alot since then though.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi, glad you are a family again cause it makes all the difference. Just enjoy!

Mandy

LouiseD

It's so difficult with older children isn't it? I suppose it's inevitable really that being a family of adults, each will have their own feelings and likes/dislikes etc. It's really lucky if everyone likes the same thing at the same time. I did hear that if you are not permanently resident prior to attending college/university then you have to pay full fees but I'm not sure what the length of time is - it didn't affect us as our daughter only stayed for 6 weeks in Oz. I think there was a full thread on this subject though just before Christmas which may help you. Good luck with it all.

Hi Mandy - I really hope it all works out for you if you do decide to return. It does make a huge difference to how you feel about a place if your family is split up. We had financial concerns in Australia but I think we could possibly have overcome these if our daughter had stayed there. If it had been Spain or somewhere that we could have visited then it may have been easier but the distance was just too far. I do feel now though that it was a huge mistake taking her at 17 - totally the wrong age, especially for her personality as she doesn't like any change at all. As you say though, they mature and grow up and realise that there is a big wide world out there waiting for them to explore. Good luck with everything.

Caggsy

Louise - this so interesting to read. We too are now back in Blighty after just 3 months in Sydney. We were homesick and my OH struggled to get work (he's a plumber/gas fitter which enabled us to obtain visa's - permanent residents). We thought there would be loads of work for him - but not the case and very poorly paid! I worked in the city as a PA and the people weren't friendly, no banter or laughs. The train journey on the western line was not pleasant and it took an hour 10 mins each way.

We missed home, friends & family desperately. I cried every day and couldn't speak to anyone from home without getting upset.

We're now renting a tiny flat as we sold our home but there's still a part of us that's missing Oz - really weird I know - but we are actually toying with going back but to Perth. It was, like you, our dream.

Sparkle2nite

Hi Louise....glad to hear things are going well for you and you are so happy, that is what it is all about isn't it!

Our stories are similiar, as you know, except my husband took it very badly coming back as we thought we had 'gone for good'. He became very depressed before we returned and has struggled over the last few months, but today he passed his LGV part 1 at the first attempt and I am so pleased as it has given him a boost. He didn't want to go back into his old profession so has decided to do driving (HGV as it was but is now known as LGV....Large Goods). He started driving on Monday and passed today with flying colours, has to wait 2-3 weeks for the licence to come through then he can take the second part (artics), then........he can get work again. It has been so hard for him as he feels to blame for everything going wrong, even though it wasn't his fault.

I've been lucky and found a job I love. I work in a school and everyone is so nice and I really look forward to going to work every day. My job before we moved used to reduce me to tears, I hated it that much.

We are both looking forward to buying a house of our own again and that time isn't too far away. The kids are really happy to be home and counting the days that our cat can come and join us, which will be sometime in May. I came home from work yesterday to find a letter from Spain with photo's of Katie which gives me hope that I might not have a fight on my hands to get her off the lady who is looking after her.

So, yes, we are happy to be home too....more than happy. Life in Spain was lovely, but very hard financially and we too lost a lot. But, things can only get better as they say and after today we are a big step nearer getting back on our feet. Wild horses wouldn't drag me back either!

Good luck to everyone moving back home.

Sparkle

redlion

'Before we came back, people told us of asylum seekers everywhere in our town and Poles taking over the building trade - we haven't seen one shred of evidence to support these claims'.


Hi I just wanted to say what a well balanced and clear report you have given since your return to the UK. I did however want to ask where your town is because i want to inform you that there are indeed many many east european and european people flooding into the UK, I can not walk up Lincoln high street withought hearing polish spoken by every third person i pass. So you are either very fortunate in the town where you live to not have many europeans living there or you need to look a little closer. Please dont take this as a criticism of you personally as i beleive from your post you have obviously made the correct decision. I just want to point out s you have said in your post that there are good and bad pints everywhere, nowhere is utopia and i have to say that it is my opinion that the UK is sinking under the burden of more and more people entering the country extremely easily and having access to all facilities and benefits without having to jump through the many many hoops that we are all jumping or have jumped through to get into Australia.
Once again this is not maent as a personal dig it is just my opinion.


Nev.

May i also just add this is not a slur on people of any race, colour or creed, it is about this country allowing so many people in when we already cannot cope with what we have here.

stuckinblighty

There are plenty of polish in and around where i live and work.

Sorry to be blunt but thats the truth

Geordie George

If you're not keen on immigrants, Aus may not be the best choice for you. For example, more than 30% of Sydney's population is not Australian.

LouiseD

Hi Nev - no I certainly don't take it as a criticism at all. I do really understand that there are too many people being allowed into the UK and that there are certain people who are taking over certain trades and areas. I think what I was really trying to say was that the people around my area in particular had been exaggerating in many ways. I do think that whilst the UK has many good points, it does have to change it's policies in others and it's immigration policy is one of those things.

LouiseD

Hi there Sparke - Big huge CONGRATULATIONS to your hubby!! Well done. It's the start of a new chapter for you all now hey? I'm so pleased that you are feeling settled again, lets hope hubby will soon be working in his new career and enjoying it - is he feeling better now? I bet he's totally on a high now

TraceyW

I'm just wondering about all of the Polish people and whether they actually effect these posters PERSONALLY? Do they cause them any personal trouble? Do they come up and offend them personally? I suspect they probably don't and that these posters are just jumping on the media bandwagon that "Blair/Brown ruining England" despite it being the 2nd most economically sound country in Europe.

When you people have lived outside of the UK for any length of time please come back and comment. It would be good to see how your opinions have changed when you become aware that some countries have bigger issues than the Polish workers coming over!

kiwi_child

PERTH ? I suggest you read the 'legoland perth' thread first! and Janeyray's recent update.

dingbat

I went back home recently and whilst I did hear many more East European accents than on previous visits, I obviously missed this huge wage of economic migrants from Poland. I am old enough to remember the same grumbles about the Ugandan Asians, Bangladeshi's, Pakistani's, Jamaicans, Vietnamese....all of whom came, settled and sometimes went home to their countries. Society adapted and moved on. If I was Polish, able to move to the UK, be happy and earn good money to send home to my family, I would do the same thing. Most of the Poles that I have met over the years were hardworking and honest people. It is human nature to grab what you can if it is offered. The UK is not sinking under the weight of uncontrolled immigration just yet, despite what The Sun says.

TraceyW

Totally agree with you. I still remember my parents discussing Enoch Powell's "Rivers Of Blood" speech donkey's years ago. The UK was supposedly doomed back in the 70's because of the immigrants. Hasn't happened and it's been 30 odd years.

I had, and still do have, absolutely no problems with anyone moving to the UK to better themselves, work hard and earn a decent crust.

redlion

Acutally on the contrary, I am going out this evening with my wife and daughter to have some drinks with a polish couple we have met who are having a house warming. I resent the fact that you think i am jumping on the media band wagon, do you think i am a child or something?? I can actually make my own mind up thank you very much and if you read my origional post carefully enough you would have seen that i was mearly expressing an opinion which i stand by, This country IS allowing too many people in, some of them are contributing to our society by earning and paying taxes like the rest of us but maybe its you who should take a look around and see that many many of them are not contributing and are just sponging off our freebie system. Even the big issue sellers on the high street have been taken over by these people, this has not been told to me by 'the sun' this i see with my own two eyes. Can i also say you have no idea who i am or what i have done in my life, so you dont know if i or my wife have lived anywhere else other than this country, you just assume that because we want to emigrate to Australia that we have never been or seen anywhere else. WRONG!!!
The OP took my post as it was meant as shown by her comments, maybe you would have the curtesy to do the same.

Nev.