Cheshire Karen

Well, it looks like the time has finally arrived! Hubby has an interview for all four UK jobs that he has applied for! (Hope I haven't jinxed it by writing this!)

Our UK house is now empty and ready to move back into. (low mortgage)
Our school of choice (local catholic school) and local council have been amazing and have held open a place for our children in the 2 years we have been in Oz!
Hubby's mum has a wealth of spare stuff for us while we wait for our stuff to arrive back from Oz.
Fantastic friends who care about our kids as much as we do.
etc. etc.

All boxes ticked, so why do I feel deflated one minute and excited the next?

I think its so much to do with expectation. When we left the UK, I was leaving for good for a better life and to go back will always feel like I failed a bit. Instead of thinking of the wealth of great things there are to do in Europe, I keep thinking of all the 'great' things we could do here with two little ones! I have some unexplained fear of returning to the exact same life we had when we left the UK. (Our life was good!) And have become fixated on the fact that we have a relatively small garden in the UK and a large yard here! The fact that we spend very little time in the yard here is beside the point. (Summer is a no no, hot, sticky and full of things out to get you!, then oldest at school, dark at 5 - 6pm) I think i am seeking justification, as to why do thousands of Brits just love Queensland and everything Oz and we just haven't settled. Am I the odd one out? I haven't even got the major reason most people go back: Family as an excuse.

Basically, I am so bored here!
Work is dull as
Don't seem to know many people who get me (Brits or Ozzies!).
I am over paying through the nose for everything
Decent education for my kids - don't get me started on that one
Out for yourself mentality
Sheer Blatant racism, sexism and acceptance of it.
Inane Barbecue party's
Hot, sticky and Air Con! (My hubby is addicted to air con - he lives in an altered reality - literally!)

Ozzies would say that's Queensland for you - may be case but I fear not.

I know logically I have answered my own question but trying to get that through to my numbed brain is another matter!

I have posted as I think I may have expressed what quite a few of you are thinking!

jad n rich

That cracked me up

The bbq scene bored the living hell out me by the 6th bbq, by the 600th I could have hung myself

I swear 599 of them were the same, food, people or clones of barefooted beerbellied lads and ladies same conversations, oh we went to the beach/boat/bbq ( no really !! ) house prices, plasma TVs, women washing salad and dishes, men placing cooked meat on plates and being congratulated for the wonder of males cooking

Get back to brain stimulation now girl

chrissystevo

Basically, I am so bored here!

I am over paying through the nose for everything
Decent education for my kids - don't get me started on that one
Out for yourself mentality
Sheer Blatant racism, sexism and acceptance of it.
Inane Barbecue party's


Agree totally

So jealous, wish I was in your spot. Good luck to you.

Droidling

Hi Cheshire Karen,

Sorry it hasn't worked out for you ! I would very gratefully swap seats with you right now,you could have my detatched house on Melancholy Hill near Tarporley.

'Basically, I am so bored here!
Work is dull as'
- Very high unemployment in UK right now,if you do manage to get an interview you could be one of hundreds of applicants. I'm stuck in a job I hate with nowhere else to go careerwise. I have to be 'happy' and thankful I have a job (usual UK work ethic).

'Don't seem to know many people who get me (Brits or Ozzies!).'

You should try being a Suvverner in Cheshire.Had to move here to stay in work.

'I am over paying through the nose for everything'

Surely this was one of the reasons why you left UK in the first place ? Things definitely haven't improved in the 2 years you were away.

'Decent education for my kids - don't get me started on that one'

Some folk here are renting property and not occupying JUST so they are in catchment area of a half decent school.

'Out for yourself mentality'

UK is a poor mans USA these days. We seemed to have adopted every bad trait of theirs (liticious society,extreme materialism,language (Urban speak),fashion,music)

'Sheer Blatant racism, sexism and acceptance of it.'

Would agree with your take on that one as far as Aussies are concerned. But bear in mind in coming back to UK as a born and bred British white female you will be a 3rd rate citizen.

'Inane Barbecue party's'

At the moment 70 pubs a week are closing here. The old British life as we know and love is disappearing fast. In it's place - well how about a flat white in Costa (packet).
Or back to those great old dinner parties we love so much (indoors) in the endless winter evenings. Let's all talk about property values again ....zzzzzz. And guess what,
on British telly you can even watch programmes about other people having dinner parties (Come dine with me),scintillating stuff.

'Hot, sticky and Air Con! (My hubby is addicted to air con - he lives in an altered reality - literally!)'

We've just had the coldest winter in 100 years and no summer for 3 years. So you get a weekend off for a change and oh yes it's p!ssing with rain again all weekend. Looks like it's shopping in Chester again then ?

Just hope you're making the right decision !! Missing family,ok,I can understand. But I find it hard to visualize a lifestyle in Oz that could be so bad that it would bring you back here of all places. Better get used to
the 'Live to work' ethos in the meantime ...

moneypenny20

If it's not what you want then it's totally wrong for you. Doesn't matter if people say everywhere else has the same problems, some people, having tried another country realise that for all it's faults, the UK has everything they want and more. No rhyme or reason, just like some people want to leave the UK for some adventure and others don't understand why they would want to leave. It's called individuality.

Nu-Shooz

Grow a set of balls and stop your bloody moaning

Good luck OP..you have fallen on your feet there, sounds like it's all going smoothly

tiamobrit1

I agree, it is about individuality. I have lived here in the USA for 20 yrs, I am 59 , a retired nurse with 2 adopted children. I miss the UK so much, but having worked in Hospitals and nursing homes , there is no way I want to end my days in either over here. I was a nurse in the UK and unlike here , I would not dream of letting someone wait for a bed-pan over an hour! All this , "that's not my patient crap". I know my standard of living will be nothing like I have here , but how many bathrooms do we really need?
Anyway, could someone help me with something, I have just started this process of moving back. Both my British and US passports have expired , do I need both and do my kids need both ? I am planning in moving in about a year , providing I sell my house. I have no family back in the UK, but I am returning for the friendliness of the people. Any tips and info will be greatly appreciated.

Droidling

Nu Shooz,
Do you have this caustic manner in person as well as online ? I pity you if so. I'm guessing you just do it behind your big brave computer screen.
I was just trying to tell a few home truths,it seems my observations aren't in line with the 'gang'. Keep those blinkers on deluded people.

moneypenny20

Well you'll definitely need the British one to get back into Britain and not sure of the US rules but you may have to leave the US with your US one. Most countries get a bit huffy if you have their passport but don't use it.

Nu-Shooz

Ah, a wannabe expat

gaga

I am over paying through the nose for everything'
Surely this was one of the reasons why you left UK in the first place ? Things definitely haven't improved in the 2 years you were away.

I have to disagree about this one..in the 10 years i have been in Oz the prices have quadrupled and have overtaken the UK.

Sorry havent worked out that fancy quote box..how do u do that??

Grayling

Don't ya just love 'em.

Can't hack it in the UK so think everyone is as useless as they are

moneypenny20

Not really a gang, just a group of people who have been there, done that and have seen many people making comments like yours, only to see them eating those same words a few years later when they've decided that actually, Britain is where they want to live.

Please understand that there are many many people who happen to love the UK, even to the point of wanting to live there. I don't live there but I still consider it a wonderful country. Only downside is the current management, but the same can be said anywhere else in the world at the moment.

J.J

At the bottom right of the message you want to quote is a little blue box with 'quote' in it. Just click that box and a new message field pops up with the original message in it . then just type your message below the Quote message.
You can also edit the quoted message e.g. delete or add directly in the quoted message.
Give it a try, nothing will break.

J.J

I think the elation / deflation is just natural emotion on taking such a gigantic step. We have similar feelings with pending moving from US back to UK.
There is no sense of failure in moving back, it is a positive choice, just as moving abroad was.
Good luck to you on your move and resettlement.