Hutch

At the end of the day, nobody can hold a gun to your head and say "YOU WILL LIKE AUSTRALIA. YOU WILL LIVE HERE HAPPILY". It either works for you, or it doesn't and I applaud everyone on this list for making the decision to move and the even harder one of deciding to return. But please don't slight those that do like Oz - they're not mad because they like it here - for the same reasons it doesn't work for *you* - it does work for *them*. Viva la difference.

HiddenPaw

Yes, and the exact same can be said for those who like living in the UK. Just because it's not the place for you doesn't mean that anyone else who does choose to live there is stuck in some disney-esque fantasy land, as you have suggested so many times, with no grip on reality. We don't all see the UK through the same shit-smeared spectacles as you. .

Cheetah7

I just hope I get the chance to live there and try it Hutch.

dobbo

Hi Diane have sent you an email
juliet

Hutch

Interesting what you say, though it has nothing whatsoever to do with anything I've ever said - but then I'm used to you misrepresenting plainly stated opinion. All I pointed out is that some of the things people mention on this site (snowy walks to the pub in wellies to sit in front of roaring fires etc) are Disney-like and have very little bearing on 'real life' in the UK. And whilst I understand the homesickness that leads to such feelings (having lived abroad extensively), the sort of Mary Poppins experience as evidenced in post #96 are bonkers.Tell you what, I'll take my 'shit-smeared spectacles' off, if you remove your rose-tinted telescope from your arse. Deal?

Hutch

You will Sam.

jad n rich

OMG

Most of the stuff written on this forum seems far less than romantic, writings about marriage breakups, families being split on 2 sides of the world, financial troubles that see people go back years, descripitons of raw empty feelings of loss or just the realisation that really their 'dream life' just evolved into the day to day life in another country with all the same problems at home. Romantic

There are far better forums than this one for a dose of Mills and Boon or the Barbara Cartlands

barkingRockateer

I have just read this post and think it is the same for us. I am not sure what I want but my husband doesnt stop harping on about how much he hates Australia and wants to return to the UK. He seems to forget he wasnt that enamoured with it when he was there. I have been back twice since 2003 to work for short stints and it isnt getting any better. Maybe its the job I do (Psych Nurse) but England isnt England anymore and we have to be so PC its painful. The political situation and religious unrest did it for me. I appreciate that Australia has "issues" and that terrorists are everywhere but maybe its watered down here as its such a big country with less people. I still think of the seasons and do the pink tinted thing, I still talk on msn to my old mates almost daily and we still have a house there as my OH refused to sell "just in case". I would like to buy here and put down some roots as two of my adult kids love it and are at Uni saying they would never go back. At the moment I count my blessings and try to enjoy my life. I have made some good mates here and am getting used to limbo land.

Ozwells

Exactly Hutch, and that is what makes the world go around! Thank god for difference of opinion eh! I don't 'dis' Australia, I think it is a beautiful country, with plenty to offer, but unfortunately it just doesn't do it for me. I'm pleased for people who have made the move and love it here, I wish I did, would be a lot cheaper to stay than go!! Good for you that it has worked, I wish you all the best with your life here. It's just nice for those of us that don't feel settled to have somewhere where we can air our views and people second it, rather than thinking we are some strange species because we want to go back to the UK! This forum makes you feel that you are not alone!

scoobydoo

I think that most people who have come from the UK, have "lived" in the uk, which means paying taxes, bills,housing costs,petrol etcetc. This is not disney like, rather 'real life'. Yes I have been to disney land on holiday, but this bears no real resemblance to real life either. I dont feel homesick as you describe it either. Personally, I did the whole visa application myself and that was hard work, so I dont see life through rose tinted disney specs, I dont have any. I just have to get on with the harsh facts faced before me, which are that for me, the cost of living here is much higher than the UK. I dont want to work for the next 20 years of my life in a job I hate, in a country I dont like living in, and paying a interest on a mortgage which is leaving me with no quality of life. Where does rose tinted spectacles come into that. Yes I do like the life in the UK, but having been here only six months, I am still aware of the real life people live in the UK, as I have done for over 40 years.

I think its great for those who like it here, I dont bear any grudges at all. If you have a good life and enjoy it, why should people criticise you for it. No one on this thread wants to critisise you, however you have to bear in mind that this is a forum for people wanting to return home - I just wondered what your motives where to add to this thread in the first place?

HiddenPaw

It has a lot to do with what you have said. You have openly ridiculed the memories, aspirations and perceptions of those living in, or wanting to return to, the UK, and yet here you are asking the people on this forum to respect you and your decision to live in Australia. It doesn't really add up!!

Your anti-UK sentiments IMO rank amongst the bitterest I have read on the Oz forum, and whilst you are more than entitled to your opinion about this "godforsaken country" as you describe it, why come on the "Moving to the UK" forum and tell people their thoughts of the UK are unrealistic and have no bearing on real life? How do you know what's "real" for us? We all live different lives, we all have different aspirations and needs.

User Name

... after some thought? *ducks for cover*

shelly1

Hi we've been back in the UK 5 months I've loved everyday of being back, some of the days have been harder than others but i wouldn't have wanted it any other way because we've had to fight for what we've got its made us appreciate it all the more
I have realised that i would rather be back home than anywhere else in the world.
yes the UK has problems so does every other country on the planet.
There's one good thing that came out of us moving to another country its made us realise what we had in the first place wasn't so bad.
So anyone embarking on a move back to the UK its not really as bad as some people would like you to believe.

Angelap

well said Shelley1.I think that of course there are "aspects "that drew us to our chosen destinations to work,try something else or have a midlife "whatever",and I truly think that many people that do it have have
1. Too cushy a life in UK,that it seems like a good idea at the time and you kind of wander into it ,or
2) A bit of a risk,that when the papers come and planes booked & jobs resigned you wonder in part if its a good idea??!!
3) OR have such a crap carry-on in UK that it seems a bit of an escape route
Whatever the motivations,only you and your family just KNOW when youve outgrown it and its time to move back,it just has to be a team decision.
Im pleased I found this site its such a good read-
UK is a great country & its good to be positive about it!

BadgeIsBack

have to admit, think you'll find that he was talking about migrants since the Second World war and not necessarily convicts 150-200 years ago. Many British people who migrated in the 60s and 70s do seem to have done quite well here.

By saying that people focus on the bad things, well everyone is guilty of that, aren't they?