Originally Posted by Eric Hitchmo

I suspect this'll dissapear from the front page of the RR forum in record time, but anyway...

Right, I'm done. This is my last post. <Sound of huge roar of cheering, shouts of "about time" accompanied by various profanities etc...>. I've been back home for 3 years now so I've done the whole ex-expat thing. I lived in Aus for 2 years. Nice holiday destination but a bit boring, backwards and generally over-rated. I can understand if you had no mates and a bit of a crap life in the UK then you'd prefer it because of the weather, but it wasn't for me. Missed not just my mates but everything I grew up with. You take it for granted and even get tired of it and yearn for a change, but after a while, I realised I wanted it back. I have better oportunities here and I think the much talked about, but rarely defined "lifestyle" is better here. (Gasps of horror). I've become a lot more patriotic since moving back. Not in a sort of flag-waving sense, I just think the UK is a better country than a lot of people seem to give it credit for.

Just had a really nice Sunday. Lovely weather, bike ride out through the lanes, then a drive into the country for Sunday lunch. Managed to avoid being mugged or stabbed (phew!), and had a great day, which I seem to have a lot of in the Uk since coming back. Then I read BE and there's yet another comedian who's trying to justify moving abroad or being where they are by whinging about the place. I've heard every reason under the sun why I've got it wrong and I can't actually be enjoying myself, because the UK is going downhill and here's a link to prove it. We've had everything from knife crime, through to the Jeremy Kyle show, and the wrong-shape wine glasses. It gets boring having the same arguments, and I'm sure it's boring for everyone reading it. If it's not one thing it's another. People are just looking to give themselves an excuse to move abroad, or convince themselves they've done the right thing by moving, and it gets old reading the same nonsense.

I got to know some Polish lads who do the security at the offices where I work. Turns out they're just here to earn a few quid, and they have the same interests (football etc), as me, and it *is* possible to get to know them. They aren't these sinister types who are here to destroy the country, that some people on here are convinced they are. Weird eh?

If you're abroad and homesick, you have my sympathies. I know what it's like and how hard it can be, and I hope it works out for you, either back here or where you are now. I really do. And if you've bought your ticket home - it's still nice here. Honest.

I'm off to enjoy the rest of the summer.

All the best.