marietuluse

Been back in the UK now for 8 months after returning from Alberta, Canada to our home in Walton on the Hill, Stafford.

My last update was somewhat taken over by someone's personal remarks so i'll try again

Life has been great since returning home. My husband has had, if anything more work than he can cope with ( he's a plumber) he's earning 3 times the wage he was in Alberta and enjoying his job again, and I still say the cost of living here is much less than Canada
Shopping in Asda is still a joy compared to Walmart.... and the choice!....
Eating out is a fraction of the cost the same with clothes shopping ( and believe me with a 15 year old daughter, we do A LOT of clothes shopping )

This past weekend we spent a few days in Whitby, it was beautiful, stayed in a little cottage by the harbour, did the fish n chips in a restaurant looking out to sea, visited the local landmarks...... & yes, the 'Heartbeat' village too
A couple of months ago we spent a weekend in Liverpool and did the whole 'Beatles experience' even going to The Cavern Club to watch the in house Beatles tribute, who were fantastic! such a wonderful weekend and so much to do
We had a Jubilee Street party with all of our neighbours, brilliant
& now the Olympics in full swing and Team GB doing very well, bringing the country together, it's a wonderful place to be right now and we couldn't be happier.
I think before we moved to Canada we lost sight of just how beautiful the UK is and all there is to see and do here.

Although I will say again, we enjoyed our time in Canada, did some fantastic things there but just could not see ourselves living there forever and missed the UK too much. I still miss a Tim Hortons coffee though

Homeiswheretheheartis

Hi Marie

So glad you are enjoying your return home, sounds like you are making the most of it.

Could I ask how long you had been away and how was it for your DD returning as a teenager. Did it affect her education much.

marietuluse

We were only in Canada just over a year, she was 13 when we left, she found it very hard to settle/make friends/school etc.... there, she was 15 on our return, so missed a whole school year and a bit but managed to catch up and pick up where she left off regarding school, she didn't feel she had missed much schoolwork and will be doing GCSE's next year. Friends seemed to have moved on and seemed more grown up but she made new friends here easier than she did in Canada, although going back to the same school helped, having said that, she made friends with girls she didn't really know before we went

lf1

Glad to hear that your return has been positive. I hope I can post in a similar vein in a few months. We are enroute home from Calgary, Alberta and Leave NY today. Yaaaay!!!!

feelbritish

Glad to hear such a nice upbeat post. Mirrors everything I thought when I was out on holiday in May, hence we now want to go back!

Brigette

Congratulations! I'm very excited that things have worked so well for you. Looking forward to reading more...

Homeiswheretheheartis

Thank you, we are in the USA and my DS will be 13 when we return having missed 2.5 years of UK schooling and my DD will be 11. My DS is fine here and has made friends easily but my DD has not settled and has no real friends at all. She is aware of when we are going home and is just counting down the days:-(

Trouble is theres another 2 years to go, it breaks my heart that we made her come here, as I know she isn't happy and just tolerates each day. Its worst at the moment as she is due back at school soon and doesn't want to go. She loved her school back in the UK and will be returning there when we return. We are not able to return the UK for another 2 years having done 1 year already:-(

Pleased to hear that your DD was able to settle back in the UK with new friends:-)

jemima55

Great post, you sound so happy!
Re- Tim Hortons (Canadian, I know), I`d love to see some of my favourite US places migrate over here. I`m a huge fan of Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn, good job they do international delivery. I guess you cant do that with a cup of coffee, though!

sallysimmons

Great to hear that things are going so well for you - thanks for sharing.

I hear you on how much there is to do. We've booked a week's 'staycation' to get out and see some of the sights near us. We're only doing day trips and yet we still can't narrow it down to just 5 or 6 day trips because there is so much we could be doing all within an hour to an hour and a half away.

Whitby is actually on our list so it's good to hear you had a good time there.

Are you finding any downsides so far (except for the coffee)?

marietuluse

Probably just the weather, the rain seems to be never ending, although we don't seem to have it as bad as some, with flooding etc.... so thankful for that and there have been some pretty fantastic sunny days inbetween Having said that, in Alberta last year, the summer seemed to be the same and we had weeks and weeks of rain, the bonus is here, when it is sunny, you are not plagued by mozzies

When you go to Whitby, you must visit The Quayside Fish & Chip restaurant! it was fantastic and the fish was massive

Enjoy your trips

marietuluse

I have my Tim Horton mug and Tim Horton coffee for my machine but it's still not the same Although I have just found some french vanilla instant coffee in Waitrose that is almost as good

& Crispy Creme doughnuts (although twice the price) do a good impression of Timmys doughnuts too

marietuluse

We felt the same with our daughter and when one of her teachers emailed me to tell me she sits on her own in class every lunchtime and doesn't speak to anyone, we were so worried.
She did eventually make some friends and even a boyfriend ( that didn't last ) but they weren't really true friends and none of them have really kept in touch.
She, too, counted the days down, writing each day until the final day on a pad and tearing each page off daily

I think the thing that kept her going was telling her we are definitely going home so just make a real effort to have a good time and enjoy the experience to look back on and to just make the most of the time there.

marietuluse

Thank you all

Lorry1

Hi Marietuluse, it sounds like you are having a great time back in England. Please continue to keep us posted on the good and bad

tomparker