sjz

We had to leave the UK when we did because my wife (English) had got beyond a sensible conversation - every sentence started, concluded or had somewhere in the middle the words - ‘…this f__king country…’. Clearly Jennifer has made her own right decision to come to Aus. I think she has just got what everyone has when they get out of a country they didn’t like – a sense of relief.

However, I didn’t know they were now handing out rose tinted gasses at the airports here. In Australia I thought we called the Ibis the ‘seagull of the bush’, personally I think a Koala is only slightly more interesting than a sloth and looking for cheaper groceries is only the start of the journey.

I’m no expert on conflict resolution but I think most people on this thread have been comparing different countries whereas Jennifer was comparing what we’d expect to see in cities of different sizes and she expresses some desire to live in the English country side one day. On that basis I find it unusual she picked Sydney to live over one of the smaller ones. She's just moved form England’s largest city to Australia’s largest city. I’ve found Sydney to have all the disadvantages of a big city (cost, crime, traffic, pollution etc) and none of the advantages of a big city (as compared with London, NY, Tokyo etc.).

Great banter for a Friday afternoon. Best of luck and make the most of your time in Syders.

Nicky & Dave

That probably echoes most conversations Dave and I have managed to have over the past 2 years about living in f_king Australia!

windsong

I don't swear but I have had the same thoughts about living in the F***ing USA!

ldyinlv

lol..windsong...ditto.

Beedubya

Well I am dittoing with Nicky!!

Beedubya

I apologise for thinking you were a troll Jennifer.

You see most of us on this part of BE (Moving Back To The UK) have been away from home for a long time, many years for some (20, 30 in some cased 50+). We all are making huge sacrifices to go home, leaving kids behind, grandkids, some couples splitting up because one person can't hack it living in another country, some people have lost everything because of medical bills or others are in ill health or their loved one is, but we all are having to make this momentous decision....you see what I am saying?

And then you came on here yesterday blowing up the country we all long to return to, and tell us about how you left because you couldn't stand this, that or the other, now it turns out you and your husband are just here for a year, seems he is not happy with Sydney anyway.....and you would like to move back to the countryside of England but just not London itself........

You are not really a migrant to Australia and all that means, you and your husband are just having a break...............

Please read many posts on this section carefully before posting.......it might open your eyes a little wider to other peoples feelings........

JustBecause

Ditto again....hee hee

windsong

Very well put, Bee

Jennifer Fletcher

Okay! Thank you

It never occurred to me what it must feel like being in the position you described! I guess uprooting after 30 years of adult life anywhere is gonna be hard. I wonder if it still feels like an adventure as it feels when you first set out and even though you are going back home.

Is there a thread on 'What do you miss most about UK? That would be cool. I was very homesick last night - especially for my family and being in the snow.

I know I'm not really a migrant to Australia but I'd like to be I'm working really hard at the moment in this company and I really want it to feel like I've built something up, not just have to start all over again from scratch when I get back to UK.

Beedubya

Jennifer, yes it is an adventure but it's really scary too, a lot of us are going back with very little and having to start all over again in our 50's - it's a bit daunting to say the least.

See how you say you were really homesick last night, missing your family at Christmas and the snow?

Well magnify that 10 times, maybe 100 times.

That is how you will feel if you make your home here and are not REALLY happy, you will get caught up in the whole business of mortgages, kids, jobs, etc. and before you know it 10 or 20 years will have gone past.......

That's how it happens...........

sallysimmons

Absolutely - to me it feels like even more of an adventure because when I left, I was young and clueless and just drifted into a new life. This time I am actively dreaming and planning. I know exactly the kind of life I want to create when I get back and exactly how to make it happen. Whenever I think about cooking dinner for my oldest friends, or going to visit them just for the evening, or taking my mum out for dinner or a day trip, I get genuinely excited. I often have a hard time dropping off to sleep because I'm thinking about the house we will buy and how we will decorate it. I spend hours making plans and looking at real estate websites, evaluating this or that area. It's all enlivened up my life no end and it really is very exciting. I don't think of it as 'going back' so much as the next move forward in my life.

I am in a bit of a different situation than lots of people though in that I have my own business which I will continue to run from the UK, so I don't have to worry about finding a job. I think that probably makes it a much scarier and more daunting prospect, although everyone who goes back seems to do fine.

windsong

Bee, I second everything you just said. Wholeheartedly!

windsong

Sally, I love your enthusiasm - and congrats on being able to run your business from the UK.

sallysimmons

Thanks! Let's hope it works and people still buy. But nothing ventured nothing gained ... I've always enjoyed change which is why I moved in the first place. I get very antsy when things are just continuing the same. I remember when I was leaving the UK, an older friend of mine told me that her husband had some words of advice for me. He said 'tell her if she's bored here, she will be bored wherever she goes. You always take yourself with you." My friend said 'but I think he's wrong,"

Well, all these years later, I see that he was right. But he was also wrong just as my friend said. Yes, I am bored again and ready for a change - but staying in the the UK would not have been the answer. I would never have known what could have been and I would have missed all the wonderful experiences I've had. But after 21 years, I'm finally bored and ready to move on to the next adventure. Bring it on!

windsong

Love your attitude of adventure, Sally. I needed to be reminded of that. I've been getting quite morose this evening - memories flooding back and tunnel vision setting in. I need to remember I am going home to a "new" life not returning to the one I left behind which, aside from my university days, was not too swift at times. I had a good education and lived in a beautiful house but my parents argued all the time and eventually divorced. I need to remember that I am not going back to that.