Bob

You've kinda just described my lovely bit of the burbs...minus the manual transmission

EnglishTeaDuck

lol...Cat Whisperer, had to laugh, as most of what you listed are things I see the other way round - I moved from a nice area to a town here I wouldn't want to walk through at night - lived in a typical Americans view of a 'quaint English town' over there so this town seems so shabby, I know that sounds harsh but it kind of depresses me, I do like Providence and Boston, so another point for moving into town...:0)

I would LOVE to put my washing out. I would love to have a garden again to put it in....lol...and I would take the rain over the fact that it snows til April here!

I think it will help a lot when I get a decent job, as at the moment I am a LOT worse off materially speaking than I had ever been in England. At the moment we literally are struggling to buy food, which is also a pain because I have diabetes and working out a healthy diet for that on no money is a pain in the ARRRRSE. (Has to be spelt the English wayto be effective, that does!)

Blimey, don't I moan......

I think basically all of this stuff I've talked about has piled up too much and I'm now trying to dig myself out, it feels, with a very small teaspoon...lol
The advice someone gave on hereto tackle some of the tangible problems first is a good idea, that would help me take some steps to feel like I have some choices etc.

I know what you mean about English friends coming - I already have booked a day out with my best friend when I get there. In times of stress, back in England, we would always go shopping in Lush and then to Starbucks and moan over a mocha latte, so we are going to do that! Shes ready.....lol

Thanks again for all the replies.

Ruth x

CelticRover

All the best for you.

FLexpat

I just found this thread. Do you have any news to share? Did you talk to your husband yet? Are you feeling any better?

You can't leave us hanging now....

EnglishTeaDuck

Hi

I just re read this thread, wow, so long ago now, but for the person who asked for an update, last September, here goes...lol

Firstly, yes, I am still here, still homesick and will beat the next person who mentions 'healthcare' to me with a wet fish. But thats beside the point.....!

As it turned out, we didn't move at all in February - we saw apartments in our building advertised online for $125 less than we were paying, so we went to the leasing office and pointed this out and negotiated a reduction in our rent. So, I went with it - with our finances (I am still unemployed, a year now) we had to take the rent offered really, when they reduced it.

I am still convinced that our best bet is to move into Providence eventually - I continue to work on this. I saw a job advertised at the weekend for an art store which would be great for me, so trying for that one, which would be on the East side which is near where my husband works.

Personally, I have been doing more with my art - I draw cartoons, amopng other stuff, and a friend in England has asked me to do some paid work for her drawing some cartoon strips and publicity stuff for her Animal Rescue. I also plan to work on some things for the next annual arts festival we have here.

I'm thinking of volunteering for the local Art Museum too, which is always very involved in those events.

I found out about a local food co-op which provides food for a huge reduction in return for a couple of hours of community service a month and my art museum thing can count as that.

I also have a new friend recently, a girl who is from this town, but she actually spent years living in the Philippines and is homesick for there! She also lived in Florida for a while, and, being a bit 'travelled' relates a bit more to some of how I feel. So, thats been good because I had very close group of friends in England and thats something I missed.

So, to sum it up, honestly if I think about it I would still go home tomorrow! I would rather live there than here, whichever way I look at it. BUT I am in a better place than when I write the original post, and I feel a more 'moving forward' place.

Thanks for all the support and especially the laughs on this forum

Ruth x

cindyabs

I think it's an excellent thing to look into the volunteering at the Art Museum. One of the mandatory classes that I attended at the Unemployment office ( I lost my job 6 months ago) quoted a statistic that I found interesting. 80 percent of the available jobs out there are not advertised and that networking is the way to get a foot in the door. Volunteering is certainly the way to do that!

Life imitates art, yes? Life is not stagnant and doing what you can with what you have is a way to move forward.

Good luck!

Juswus

glad you are feeling more positive than you were before. good luck