Hi there

We lived in Perth for 5 years and returned to the UK. I have been doing a Creative Writing course through UEA and recently entered a competition and found out today I have been shortlisted!! The theme was migration and only 500 words were allowed. It was based on my time in Perth when we lived in Carine and how I felt towards the end of our time there. I hope you don't mind that I post it on here as some of my inspiration has been from British expats and about the grass isn't always being greener! Hope some of you can relate it:

Shades of Green
‘Where are my thongs?’
Jenny shook her head as she said it and reminded herself they were flip flops, not thongs. She already felt like she’d lost part of her identity and didn’t want to start forgetting her language too.
She hunted amongst the dry crisp leaves which had pooled by the door but couldn’t find them. So she took a sharp breath, braced herself and then tiptoed barefoot as fast as she could to the washing line. The bare red patio bricks burnt her feet and she was glad to reach the small square of shade made by a towel flapping on the line. Although the sun had been one of the major attractions which had drawn Jenny to Western Australia, these days she tried to avoid it as much as possible. She could just about cope when it was twenty five degrees but today was one of those awful forty degree days.
The hot dry air smelt of eucalyptus mixed with washing powder and above her the towering palm trees rustled in the wind. The rainbow lorikeets screeched as they hoped from frond to frond hunting for nectar. Originally from the Eastern States these birds were unpopular with the locals, but Jenny found them both beautiful and intriguing. She’d heard that a Sydney resident, who had adored the lorikeets, had brought some over when they moved to Perth in the sixties. The lorikeets had adapted to the environment so well they were now dominating and wreaking havoc on the local parrot species. Unlike the lorikeets with their bold brazen colours, Jenny hadn’t acclimatised quite so well.
The rich blue of the sky reflected down on to the pool as the water glistened and gently lapped the sides, like a picture from a holiday brochure. However Jenny knew there was a big difference between being on holiday somewhere and actually living there. ‘You must be mad to miss the UK’ her family and friends from home had often said. Stories of how the UK was overcrowded and generally going down the pan had worried her slightly, but the pull of home just wouldn’t go.
Nearby the springy prickly grass was scattered with brown burnt patches where the reticulation hadn’t quite reached. She smiled as she thought of previous generations of migrants who had tried to recreate English style gardens in what was essentially a desert scrub. But lately things had changed and the more modern Australian garden consisted of landscaped limestone rocks and native shrubs. People were finally taking notice of the water shortage. The grass definately wasn’t greener here, just different.
The washing she had put out thirty minutes ago felt dry and hard, like cardboard. Jenny always brought it in as soon as it was dry; the sun had previously bleached too many of her clothes. But this would be the last time she would worry about that as these clothes were going straight in to her suitcase. Today, she was finally going home.

I know it's abit naff and it's not my favourite piece. I also realise I don't stand a chance in hell of actually winning but it just reminded me of how I felt at the time and wanted to show that sometimes the dream isn;t all it's cracked up to be. Good luck to all of you coming back. The UK really isn't that bad!

Well done JRB! I am in awe of anyone doing a creative writing course and I think you have put the reader right where you were! To be shortlisted is fantastic!!!!

BTW it's raining in Canberra at the moment - how cool is that?!

Great JRB, loved reading it.

I can so relate to it, especially the hanging the washing out bit. I put sunscreen and sunglasses on to hang mine out! The prickly grass too.....what's that all about? It hurts to walk on doesn't it? Oh for soft lush green grass underfoot, with a sprinkling of daisies and buttercups...heaven.

Any news on the home front?

Second viewing last night. Loved it. Offered $30k lower than already silly low price

Yes well done-really captures it!

So what will you do Tracey?. Try and get another few grand out of them?

Even that low offer could be your way out of here.

Good luck


Sorry JRB. Forgot to say good luck with the competition.

That's the problem now though, they think we will all drop to stupid levels.

Lets hope they come back with a better one, if they want it, they will pay.

Well done J, and for it being shortlisted

Great to talk the other day, will let you know what happens.

Sx

Great! Well done!



Glad the UK isn't ALL bad - as it's made out to be!!! Thanks for reassuring us!!

Thanks for sharing, JRB. I enjoyed reading your story. I could relate to it. For me it was the other way round -- growing up in the southern hemisphere and moving to the northern hemisphere. But everyone who has moved countries has something in common, regardless of the direction in which they've moved. Although you were allowed only 500 words, you exquisitely captured the essence of the experience. Just that one brief chore of taking your laundry off the clothes line was a window into your entire sojourn in Western Australia.
x

congratulations... at least your writing/topic it is one positive thing to get out of living away from home. I live in NZ not Oz but still the underlying emotions are the same. Good luck with the competition

Thoroughly enjoyed the read and congratulations your doing brilliantly! DDO you have any more to share I felt like I was really there, congrats again.

Plants

JRB ~ that was a lovely piece of writing, that captured your thoughts wonderfully. What is UEA?

I agree with everyone else what a lovely story and so true...

Congratulations on being shortlised - well done!!

Kath

p.s. Good luck Tracey