Back in the UK one month - update
Mar 10th 2007, 4:47 pm
#31
Hanging by a thread
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: England to Spain, Spain to England and back home for good
Posts: 218
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by 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 
On the subject of 'Poles' we have no experience of any settling where we are. I do agree that it is too easy to enter the UK, if we upped and went to Spain with no plans we certainly wouldn't have been given any help whatsoever. We were entitled to absolutely nothing and lived off what we earned or had saved, and rightly so I believe.
All we want to do now is earn a living, buy a house again and live happily as a family again enjoying what is around us and what we should have stuck to in the first place!
Mar 10th 2007, 6:39 pm
#32
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 148
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by redlion
.
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.
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.
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.
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.
England should make the immigration tougher and take a leaf out of Australia or Canada etc books...
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
Mar 10th 2007, 10:27 pm
#33
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2004
Location: Southern Ontario(house is SOLD on our way back to UK/aug 09)
Posts: 426
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by LouiseD
Hi everyone - well we've been back in the UK for exactly a month now so I thought that I'd update you all on how things are going here in Blighty.
We arrived early February to cold, snowy winter days, which was in sharp contrast to the 30+ Melbourne summer. To be honest though I haven't been bugged by the weather at all - there are far more important things in life than weather and anyway, spring is on the way.
It is wonderful for us just to be a family again - for those who don't know my story, our youngest daughter who was 17 at the time, only stayed in Australia for six weeks, leaving me distraught as we had to stay due to our eldest daughter being at university there. We stayed in Oz, hoping to make a go of things and hoping that our daughter may return, however our eldest daughter didn't really settle either, missed her friends and her sister and hubbys work was very sporadic and much lower paid than in the UK. Whereas in the UK we had fantastic holidays and a great lifestyle, in Australia, our finances were such that we had no choice but to return to England. Every month we had to dip into our savings to help pay the rent, which wasn't part of the plan.
Whilst we liked Australia, we didn't fall in love with it at all, however once the decision was made to return, removals and flights were booked, we actually started to feel a bit sad at leaving. After all, it was the end of our dream - 3 years of planning and hopes of a new life were coming to an end.
On our return, I expected people to be telling us "I told you so" etc., but they haven't. Most people are genuinely interested in our adventure and tell us that they wish they had the bottle to do something so exciting.
Since our return 4 weeks ago, hubby started work after one week and one phone call - it's great to be earning a decent wage again. We bought two cars and after three weeks we'd signed up for a rental property. The house was the hardest thing in that we have loads of stuff coming over from a big 4 bedroomed Australian house and British houses are much smaller. We persevered though and eventually found an beautiful old cottage just outside town with lovely views over hills, fields and a golf course. The village pub is about a 5 minute walk away
We move in at weekend and just can't wait.
We've also been able to celebrate our daughter's 18th birthday and I'm now teaching her to drive
It makes me so happy to be able to take her to college each morning - as she walks away, I just sit there in the car grinning, realising just how wonderful life is. It isn't big houses or sun or warm weather that make me happy, it's people and living life. Life in the UK is portrayed as being bad by the media here, but in reality it's nowhere near as bad as they try to make out and no different from anywhere else - good and bad everywhere. 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.
Our social life has been renewed - it's great to get out with our mates again. Shopping is fantastic - the choice and quality of goods is just brilliant.
So to all of you who are on your way back, don't worry. Life in the UK is good. Very good. In fact wild horses wouldn't drag me back to Australia right now
We arrived early February to cold, snowy winter days, which was in sharp contrast to the 30+ Melbourne summer. To be honest though I haven't been bugged by the weather at all - there are far more important things in life than weather and anyway, spring is on the way.
It is wonderful for us just to be a family again - for those who don't know my story, our youngest daughter who was 17 at the time, only stayed in Australia for six weeks, leaving me distraught as we had to stay due to our eldest daughter being at university there. We stayed in Oz, hoping to make a go of things and hoping that our daughter may return, however our eldest daughter didn't really settle either, missed her friends and her sister and hubbys work was very sporadic and much lower paid than in the UK. Whereas in the UK we had fantastic holidays and a great lifestyle, in Australia, our finances were such that we had no choice but to return to England. Every month we had to dip into our savings to help pay the rent, which wasn't part of the plan.
Whilst we liked Australia, we didn't fall in love with it at all, however once the decision was made to return, removals and flights were booked, we actually started to feel a bit sad at leaving. After all, it was the end of our dream - 3 years of planning and hopes of a new life were coming to an end.
On our return, I expected people to be telling us "I told you so" etc., but they haven't. Most people are genuinely interested in our adventure and tell us that they wish they had the bottle to do something so exciting.
Since our return 4 weeks ago, hubby started work after one week and one phone call - it's great to be earning a decent wage again. We bought two cars and after three weeks we'd signed up for a rental property. The house was the hardest thing in that we have loads of stuff coming over from a big 4 bedroomed Australian house and British houses are much smaller. We persevered though and eventually found an beautiful old cottage just outside town with lovely views over hills, fields and a golf course. The village pub is about a 5 minute walk away
We move in at weekend and just can't wait.We've also been able to celebrate our daughter's 18th birthday and I'm now teaching her to drive
It makes me so happy to be able to take her to college each morning - as she walks away, I just sit there in the car grinning, realising just how wonderful life is. It isn't big houses or sun or warm weather that make me happy, it's people and living life. Life in the UK is portrayed as being bad by the media here, but in reality it's nowhere near as bad as they try to make out and no different from anywhere else - good and bad everywhere. 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. Our social life has been renewed - it's great to get out with our mates again. Shopping is fantastic - the choice and quality of goods is just brilliant.
So to all of you who are on your way back, don't worry. Life in the UK is good. Very good. In fact wild horses wouldn't drag me back to Australia right now
We are looking into the move from Toronto Canada, it is sooo cold here, I've had enough. 90% of the family live there.
We worry about the housing situation, as we have never owned a home in the UK before. we own here, and we find it would be hard to see our house money be dwindled away on rental properties...I quess we could always find the 'worst house on the nicest street'. If that is an option anymore?
Well, good luck w/your family future, It will be nice to be back too. We are thinking Suffolk/Essex. More affordable.
Mar 10th 2007, 11:17 pm
#34
Gutter Gob!!
Joined: Feb 2005
Location: Perth
Posts: 13,098
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by Phil & Chele
Hi... Just wanted to back up what Red Lion said regarding Lincoln and the Polish....Down Hill Tesco's (Canwick Road) is worse than the High Street.... It isn't just Polish also Latvians and Albanians etc... Some housing areas in Lincoln are flooded with them ie Monks Road, locals are finding this a struggle especially with the group fights that are happening between themselves - also imagine living in your same house for 15 odd years to find out that it has been sold and about 11 Latvians moving in, I worked for an Estate Agents and watched this happening..We moved from Lincoln last Summer to Dorset and the problem does not appear to be the same here at the moment... Not all of England has been affected by this and its still a great place to live - well I love it here in Poole..
England should make the immigration tougher and take a leaf out of Australia or Canada etc books...
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
Mar 11th 2007, 12:49 am
#35
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Formerly Montreal now Oxfordshire, UK
Posts: 545
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by Phil & Chele
Hi... Just wanted to back up what Red Lion said regarding Lincoln and the Polish....Down Hill Tesco's (Canwick Road) is worse than the High Street.... It isn't just Polish also Latvians and Albanians etc... Some housing areas in Lincoln are flooded with them ie Monks Road, locals are finding this a struggle especially with the group fights that are happening between themselves - also imagine living in your same house for 15 odd years to find out that it has been sold and about 11 Latvians moving in, I worked for an Estate Agents and watched this happening..We moved from Lincoln last Summer to Dorset and the problem does not appear to be the same here at the moment... Not all of England has been affected by this and its still a great place to live - well I love it here in Poole..
England should make the immigration tougher and take a leaf out of Australia or Canada etc books...
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
All the Brits can do is whine about how their jobs are being taken and how different it is in Canada,(never having lived there of course).
Jonathan
Mar 11th 2007, 1:41 am
#36
Account Closed
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,533
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by jonfrank123
All the Brits can do is whine about how their jobs are being taken and how different it is in Canada,(never having lived there of course).
Jonathan
Jonathan
Mar 11th 2007, 11:55 am
#37
redlion
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Livin it large in the lovely Perth!!!
Posts: 1,743
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by jonfrank123
I don't understand why people feel so threatened from Polish People. I do business with some Polish people in the UK, who are hard working and pay their tax like anyone. They are also highly skilled and reliable tradespeople, Polish plumbers can actually be bothered to ring you back and fix the problem for a reasonable price.
All the Brits can do is whine about how their jobs are being taken and how different it is in Canada,(never having lived there of course).
Jonathan
All the Brits can do is whine about how their jobs are being taken and how different it is in Canada,(never having lived there of course).
Jonathan
Nev.
Mar 12th 2007, 1:06 am
#38
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 936
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by redlion
... I do not believe that Australia is some kind of Eutopia but please be under no illusion neither is lovely oldy worldy full of history, varying weather, great pubs UK. I absolutely love this country what i cannot stand any more is what is happening to it. Yes i have my family and friends and great beer etc but this place is heading down a very dark and slippery slope and i for one do not want my daughter to be a part of it when the S**T hits the fan over here.
Nev.
Nev.
Also, apart from the odd bit of rosy retrospection here and there, I think most people going back are under no illusions about the UK, as they spent most of their lives there, and many of them until quite recently. They just feel that the UK is where they really belong, warts n all.
Mar 12th 2007, 11:57 am
#39
Life is more than a dream
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: Kings Moss, UK - it's a bit like Emmerdale
Posts: 1,389
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by jonfrank123
I don't understand why people feel so threatened from Polish People. I do business with some Polish people in the UK, who are hard working and pay their tax like anyone. They are also highly skilled and reliable tradespeople, Polish plumbers can actually be bothered to ring you back and fix the problem for a reasonable price.
All the Brits can do is whine about how their jobs are being taken and how different it is in Canada,(never having lived there of course).
Jonathan
All the Brits can do is whine about how their jobs are being taken and how different it is in Canada,(never having lived there of course).
Jonathan
I love living in England again, but am absolutely convinced that something needs to change with our immigration policies. It simply cannot be a free for all for the whole of Europe - I'm no economist but even I can see that our benefit system and health service cannot survive if the current levels of immigration continue.
Mar 12th 2007, 12:21 pm
#40
Bendy Bully
Joined: Feb 2005
Location: It's the wrong answer, and there's a light on.
Posts: 281
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by Exile
I hear this phrase quite a bit. Could you be a bit more specific? Exactly what kind of sh*t is going to hit what fan? How do you see the future of the UK? Do you just mean it's going to be overrun by immigrants? Backlash, civil war? Just curious.
Ditto me.
Come on Nev - don't be shy. Paint us a picture of this apocalyptic vision of the future of yours. Is it going to be like "The Terminator", only with Polish plumbers instead?
Mar 12th 2007, 1:11 pm
#41
redlion
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Livin it large in the lovely Perth!!!
Posts: 1,743
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by Eric Hitchmo
Ditto me.
Come on Nev - don't be shy. Paint us a picture of this apocalyptic vision of the future of yours. Is it going to be like "The Terminator", only with Polish plumbers instead?
Come on Nev - don't be shy. Paint us a picture of this apocalyptic vision of the future of yours. Is it going to be like "The Terminator", only with Polish plumbers instead?
At least i can laugh with you regarding the onslaught of the polish plumber exterminators
. I am not some kind of 'end of the world is nigh' wierdo but i do believe that with the general feeling of the majority of people in the UK that there is going to be some kind backlash with the general population. You only need to look at the more recent political voting that has happened where people are voting for BNP as a form of protest!!! jesus christ how dangerous is that! Contrary to what you probably think i am not racist and it frightens the crap out of me that people are protest voting for the bloody BNP but what it does do is speak volumes to me that people are prepared to go that far because they have no faith in the polical system in place. All i am trying to say here is that i actually cant stand the people who say that Australia is the answer to everything just as much as those who say that the UK is soooo bloody marvelous in comparison. There is crime everywhere on this planet and drugs and all the other social problems that plague us daily. I dont know if Australia is going to work out for us i hope it does i have done as much research as i can and only time will tell.At the risk of repeating myself this is only my opinion that just maybe when you are coming back to Uk because Australia is so crap then it just could be same s**t different day. I suppose the facts are in the numbers where there are many people who things dont work out for and they return, the numbers who stay far outway them.
Have a nice day
Nev.
Mar 12th 2007, 2:56 pm
#42
Fronting the Parole Board
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,466
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
I guess the thing is that sometimes human nature, displaying a need for friends, family and the familiarity of home, overcomes thoughts of the more over-arching reasons that people may have left. Its all very well to think "I won't go back because of the crime, the influx of eastern Europeans, the price of houses, whatever....." but I think there are a lot of people out there to whom those issues pale into second place against the need to feel they are "at home" again.
Mar 13th 2007, 4:40 pm
#43
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
hello everyone,
i have a quick question if any can help.
my mom is from england, that whole side of my family is actually. i would like to move to england when i am done school i would like to move there. I also like to get a duel citizenship, if thats even possible. I hope you can help.
Thank You
i have a quick question if any can help.
my mom is from england, that whole side of my family is actually. i would like to move to england when i am done school i would like to move there. I also like to get a duel citizenship, if thats even possible. I hope you can help.
Thank You
Mar 13th 2007, 6:02 pm
#44
on my way home :)
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Auckland
Posts: 79
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by LouiseD
Hi everyone - well we've been back in the UK for exactly a month now so I thought that I'd update you all on how things are going here in Blighty.
We arrived early February to cold, snowy winter days, which was in sharp contrast to the 30+ Melbourne summer. To be honest though I haven't been bugged by the weather at all - there are far more important things in life than weather and anyway, spring is on the way.
It is wonderful for us just to be a family again - for those who don't know my story, our youngest daughter who was 17 at the time, only stayed in Australia for six weeks, leaving me distraught as we had to stay due to our eldest daughter being at university there. We stayed in Oz, hoping to make a go of things and hoping that our daughter may return, however our eldest daughter didn't really settle either, missed her friends and her sister and hubbys work was very sporadic and much lower paid than in the UK. Whereas in the UK we had fantastic holidays and a great lifestyle, in Australia, our finances were such that we had no choice but to return to England. Every month we had to dip into our savings to help pay the rent, which wasn't part of the plan.
Whilst we liked Australia, we didn't fall in love with it at all, however once the decision was made to return, removals and flights were booked, we actually started to feel a bit sad at leaving. After all, it was the end of our dream - 3 years of planning and hopes of a new life were coming to an end.
On our return, I expected people to be telling us "I told you so" etc., but they haven't. Most people are genuinely interested in our adventure and tell us that they wish they had the bottle to do something so exciting.
Since our return 4 weeks ago, hubby started work after one week and one phone call - it's great to be earning a decent wage again. We bought two cars and after three weeks we'd signed up for a rental property. The house was the hardest thing in that we have loads of stuff coming over from a big 4 bedroomed Australian house and British houses are much smaller. We persevered though and eventually found an beautiful old cottage just outside town with lovely views over hills, fields and a golf course. The village pub is about a 5 minute walk away We move in at weekend and just can't wait.
We've also been able to celebrate our daughter's 18th birthday and I'm now teaching her to drive It makes me so happy to be able to take her to college each morning - as she walks away, I just sit there in the car grinning, realising just how wonderful life is. It isn't big houses or sun or warm weather that make me happy, it's people and living life. Life in the UK is portrayed as being bad by the media here, but in reality it's nowhere near as bad as they try to make out and no different from anywhere else - good and bad everywhere. 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.
Our social life has been renewed - it's great to get out with our mates again. Shopping is fantastic - the choice and quality of goods is just brilliant.
So to all of you who are on your way back, don't worry. Life in the UK is good. Very good. In fact wild horses wouldn't drag me back to Australia right now
We arrived early February to cold, snowy winter days, which was in sharp contrast to the 30+ Melbourne summer. To be honest though I haven't been bugged by the weather at all - there are far more important things in life than weather and anyway, spring is on the way.
It is wonderful for us just to be a family again - for those who don't know my story, our youngest daughter who was 17 at the time, only stayed in Australia for six weeks, leaving me distraught as we had to stay due to our eldest daughter being at university there. We stayed in Oz, hoping to make a go of things and hoping that our daughter may return, however our eldest daughter didn't really settle either, missed her friends and her sister and hubbys work was very sporadic and much lower paid than in the UK. Whereas in the UK we had fantastic holidays and a great lifestyle, in Australia, our finances were such that we had no choice but to return to England. Every month we had to dip into our savings to help pay the rent, which wasn't part of the plan.
Whilst we liked Australia, we didn't fall in love with it at all, however once the decision was made to return, removals and flights were booked, we actually started to feel a bit sad at leaving. After all, it was the end of our dream - 3 years of planning and hopes of a new life were coming to an end.
On our return, I expected people to be telling us "I told you so" etc., but they haven't. Most people are genuinely interested in our adventure and tell us that they wish they had the bottle to do something so exciting.
Since our return 4 weeks ago, hubby started work after one week and one phone call - it's great to be earning a decent wage again. We bought two cars and after three weeks we'd signed up for a rental property. The house was the hardest thing in that we have loads of stuff coming over from a big 4 bedroomed Australian house and British houses are much smaller. We persevered though and eventually found an beautiful old cottage just outside town with lovely views over hills, fields and a golf course. The village pub is about a 5 minute walk away
We move in at weekend and just can't wait.We've also been able to celebrate our daughter's 18th birthday and I'm now teaching her to drive
It makes me so happy to be able to take her to college each morning - as she walks away, I just sit there in the car grinning, realising just how wonderful life is. It isn't big houses or sun or warm weather that make me happy, it's people and living life. Life in the UK is portrayed as being bad by the media here, but in reality it's nowhere near as bad as they try to make out and no different from anywhere else - good and bad everywhere. 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. Our social life has been renewed - it's great to get out with our mates again. Shopping is fantastic - the choice and quality of goods is just brilliant.
So to all of you who are on your way back, don't worry. Life in the UK is good. Very good. In fact wild horses wouldn't drag me back to Australia right now
Mar 13th 2007, 9:29 pm
#45
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2005
Location: miles from a pint of milk!
Posts: 863
Re: Back in the UK one month - update
Originally Posted by Pollyana
I guess the thing is that sometimes human nature, displaying a need for friends, family and the familiarity of home, overcomes thoughts of the more over-arching reasons that people may have left. Its all very well to think "I won't go back because of the crime, the influx of eastern Europeans, the price of houses, whatever....." but I think there are a lot of people out there to whom those issues pale into second place against the need to feel they are "at home" again.
