Was having a conversation with someone today, and the subject turned to 'reverse culture shock'.....anyone experienced that? Going back to the UK, after living abroad, and not slipping back into your old lifestyle...... was it the housing? The work culture? The social aspects? The accent and language lol.... be interested to hear peoples experiences

My wife found the weather a bit ofna shock. She got on a plane on a 40c day in Oz and arrived to a night with a hard frost. She has also found the dark / long winter nights a bit of a shock, but they are behind us now - 7am here and getting light.

Not so much with accents as we were surrounded by all kinds of accents in Australia, the dark nights in winter but then it has its bonuses (bonfire,halloween,Christmas) and then in return in the Summer its light very early in the morning (and its lovely to hear the birds etc) and then light until 10.30pm, we did not return to the same area so that was not the same and we always lead a good lifestyle anyway before we left so that did not bother us. Maybe housing was different for me but then again having the choice between having really olde worlde to new, instead of just new or nearly homes was a nice change. I found it's how you "go about" things, we just took things in our stride in Aus and we did the same here when we arrived in the UK. Work is really no difference for me as I worked with various nationalities in Aus and the same here...maybe its a bit more relaxed and I have more of a laugh here with work colleague's

It's the other way around with us - pretty much all the houses in our town in New York were built before 1880, while in England we were looking at bog standard new build with windows that fit, no holes in the walls, and no squirrels, rats and chipmunks living in the fabric of the house!

Weather is certainly better in England, you barely need a winter jacket here.

I'd forgotten how patronising the British upper and middle class can be. Although I'd probably just been unaware of it before I went to Canada.

I have never met any of the upper classes so cannot comment really as I like to actually know someone/thing before I can comment. I have friends who are what you might class as "middle class" whom have either worked hard to get to the standard of living you might call "middle class" and some who were born into a that class and I certainly would not call them patronising as they definitely would not be classed as my friends. Really I know people from most walks of life and I take them as I find them, maybe that's what we should all try to do, the world would be a better place without so many "labels" unfortunately I don't think that will happen any time soon.

Some folks just can't get enough of it doing it

I'd need to wear about three duvets 24/7.

Scouse was in Perth, Western Australia for 25 years. Always planned to come home, but now he's back he's not coping with the winters very well. We'll probably return to Oz once I've obtained British citizenship

I've not moved back yet but, on visits home, I'm continually shocked and disappointed by the level of filth and shabbiness which has become the norm in England. I left during the very strong Keep Britain Tidy campaign in the 70s which now has obviously been long forgotten. The amount of litter, dried gobblets of chewing gum and dog shit apparent on streets was something I didn't expect. Also the tolerance of inappropriately hung flags: hung out of windows, over door frames, multiples of flags adhering to house walls as well as detritus: toys, broken down cars, old sofas and mattresses flung out to rot in front gardens......what ever happened to pride in one's neighbourhood??
And don't get me started on public drunkenness.....

The US is a big country - we don't all live on the Canadian border! In the SE USA we have only had one cold week all winter.

[QUOTE=Jensmate;12185329]I've not moved back yet but, on visits home, I'm continually shocked and disappointed by the level of filth and shabbiness which has become the norm in England. I left during the very strong Keep Britain Tidy campaign in the 70s which now has obviously been long forgotten. The amount of litter, dried gobblets of chewing gum and dog shit apparent on streets was something I didn't expect. Also the tolerance of inappropriately hung flags: hung out of windows, over door frames, multiples of flags adhering to house walls as well as detritus: toys, broken down cars, old sofas and mattresses flung out to rot in front gardens......what ever happened to pride in one's neighbourhood??
And don't get me started on public drunkenness...


Saying all that you could be talking about anywhere in the US.... There are bad neighbourhoods in every area, even Sunny Ole Florida !!

Saying all that you could be talking about anywhere in the US.... There are bad neighbourhoods in every area, even Sunny Ole Florida !![/QUOTE]

I should have been clearer...I wasn't talking so much about bad neighborhoods but centers of major towns, e.g. Lewes in E Sussex since its touted to be quite the des. res. and beauty spot, Eastbourne and Brighton, all of which were really dirty.
Yes, I lived in Gainesville Fla. for 28 years...never saw that kind of thing in any major pedestrian precinct ( in the sticks, however....

If this is how you feel on your visits home then I would not move back, I am not sure where you visit it sounds horrendous but it certainly does not describe the areas where we live or our families.

Sorry to hear about your husband, he has tried living back in England and its not working for him, to be fair he seems to have felt like that for a while from some of your previous mentioning's. I would not bother waiting around for my British Citizenship, what's the point? if it was me I would "take" him back home to Perth as soon as I could. Good luck with everything I hope it all works out for you both