I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Yesterday at work, i made the fatal error of telling my work colleagues we are going home. I know, i know!! I shouldnt have done it. But we were discussing my daughters health with the baby etc. and it eventually just came out. Geez i could kick myself.
I spent the rest of my entire day trying to defend our decision to people who have no earthly clue about how i feel.

One said i was crazy as Australia is the best country on earth :curse: This from a bloke who has only ever left Aus once for a 4 week holiday in USA.

Another tried to make me feel guilty for getting Aus citizenship and now buggering off.

For the rest of the afternoon i had to endure idiotic sarcasm.

The next few months are gonna be fun!! :unsure:

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Hi Flea

Well cats out of the bag now so.....
Just hold a picture of UK in your head, all together with your family, on a nice walk somewhere or something & every time you get a ' its grey, its cold, are you mad' type comment, smile to yourself knowing you are v lucky indeed.

I had someone who'd never left NSW say to me about the UK when I said I was leaving ' wont you miss the colours here'...;)

I've been telling my chums here I'm off and they've all been so lovely. I'm going to cry like a big baby when I say bye.

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Hi Birdy

You are very lucky to have good people around you. I take full responsibility for stuffing this up and will have to swallow the bagging i will get form now on.
Sadly, i work with people who, for the most part, are quite unempathetic to anyones situation not just this kind of thing. I get the feeling they are taking my departure as a personal insult! Even though i have explained my daughter needs me and i need her.

Oh well..

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Some people eh!!

The thing is I quite admire the fact that Australians defend their country and say its the best. At least they do have some pride in where they live.

I will be saying that in the UK from now on!

If they are proper friends they will support you.....if not then they are not worth bothering with anyway. (imo)

LibbyX

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Very true Libby.

Just hold your head high Flea & dont let comments get to you. If your colleagues dont understand why you're heading back, ignore any flack :)

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Thanks girls.

I also admire people being proud of their country, but i dont admire them doing it at the cost of everyone elses. I have found many aussies have no comprehension of how offensive they are to other nationalities.
Thankfully the people i work with are not really personal friends of mine, although my one good friend here is also one of the "aussie is best the rest of you are crap" camp. I try not to talk too much about England :D

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

I've never ever come across such a patritic nation b4.
So different from most Brits. Think a stint here has made me so much prouder of UK and being from there. A very good thing to have taken from time here :)

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Isn't it interesting how we are considered "bloody pommy b.....ds who should b.gg.r off back home", but all the Aussies (i assume your colleagues are Aussies) have a go as soon as you decide that is exactly what you are doing!

Funny lot......

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

:rofl: I did a beauty this week, waiting for the car to be serviced other owners waffling on about camping, you know the same old spots where there is nothing really, certainly not anything special, just another bit of beach/scrub and a veeeery long drive to get to it.

I am just sitting there casually flicking though a magazine and after a speel of how you can spend a month :confused: at ayres rock, the dead beach town of 1770 is raised, half concentrating by now I chirp up " yeah we went there, long drive, bit disappointed really nowt there". OMG :eek: Woman goes nuts :rofl: totally crazed that someone would dare say such a thing:thumbsup: But its true, how many dead beach spots can a person do before going stark raving bonkers.

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

You're person after my own heart.:thumbsup:

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Thanks for all your comments. To cheer myself up i decided to do what every Aussie does on a wet day. Went shopping!! Retail therapy is good for the soul :thumbsup:

Jad i agree with you. Whilst i love the sunsets and sunrise in Aus and the gorgeous birdlife. I find the terraine and the scenery utterly boring.
Gum trees, gum trees and MORE gum trees. A rather grey shade of green instead of the lucious deep and varied greens of UK. I have 7 beaches within 10 mins drive of my place and i am bored with all of them! I think i went to the beach 4 times throughout the entire summer :o

One big things i will miss though, is the ferry rides on Sydney harbour. Probably my fave thing to do in Aus.

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Agree Flea. Even though where I reside is actually green and hilly and love the plants around...once away from this small area its back to same old same old sugar cane/gum trees...dry scrub. Give me UK countryside any day
:)
We should all have a meet in Uk one day - a lovely walk followed by a pub

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

I would love to do that Birdy. Maybe the pub will sell decent cider? :D

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

get used to it..

When you get back to England all you will here is "what did you come back to this dump for":rofl:

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Bloody Idiots Flea - ignorant and foolish so take no notice of them.

I think that while much of it stems from the traditional Aussie attitude and press brainwashing, the Brits themselves are mostly to blame as all we tend to do is slag off our own country. There are so many expats living in Oz who can't wait to tell the Aussies just what an awful dump they've left behind. It makes them feel better about their move.

Maybe we should all start being more outspoken in response to them and tell them that the UK is the best country in the world, see how they like that (but wear some body armour) :eek:

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

People have said that to me. They have this pre-conception that Oz is some kind of paradise!! I admit that when you watch home & away & neighbours it certainly looks fab but when your living it, it does become boring & it certainly isnt paradise!!

Reading the comments made to fleaflyfloflum do not surprise me at all. People in oz are a strange breed on times. They have never been anyway apart from theree & have never experienced other cultures. they are so set in their ways hence why i think they are so laid back

I wouldnt worry that you have told them hun, Bugger them! You wont be there much longer anyway. Just imagine the UK & all its got & that will take your mind off things. Thats what i did from the time i was left in Oz waiting to come home!!

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

A bit like us before we went - its the big Oz marketing machine in action and we believed it all :o

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

I remember speaking to you a while back Jade, I don't know if you remember me the one with the nephew who had a heart condition?

Where did you eventually settle are you enjoying it? Will you come back to the uk then?

We haven't even sold the house yet the thought of that scares me.


Is Oz really that boring when you move there?

Cheers for your reply

Carol

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Maybe I'm missing something, but these people are your work colleagues. What does your personal situation have to do with them?

Just focus on continuing to do a good job at work, and any time discussion of your personal life comes up, deflect it. Think of work as a place you work.

I'm guessing that maybe the work/personal life barrier is fuzzier in Oz than elsewhere. Bottom line is though that most countries have rules governing the workplace, that usually include the idea that your personal life is separate from from work issues.

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

You said on a previous thread that you weren't an Australian citizen:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=440998

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

That was my husband posting. I am a citizen he isnt. We share being a flea :D
But he hasnt been on for a couple of weeks. Maybe he should get his own name if it causes you a problem.

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

I thought he was kiwi, so wouldn't need to get his citzenship anyway?

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Thats correct Mercedes, whereas i am British as he also stated on another post in that thread, so i got my citizenship which enables me access to both NZ and Aus now.

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Well the world is your oyster you have Europe and Aus and NZ.:thumbup: Don't forget to tell that to you colleagues, you aren't just restricted to UK and you are looking forward to exploring Europe and how cheap the costs are blah blah blah. :D You can turn the table on their negativity you know and make them reeeeallly jealous :sneaky:

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

That's a very good point. I shall make sure i let them know the next time i get a dig.

I am a fully paid up member of the global village. They are not :thumbsup:

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

New Zealanders don't have full citizenship rights in Australia, unless they become Australian citizens.

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

It isn't only Aus. South Africans used to suffer from the same media brainwashing years ago. If you told them that S.A. was fine but there were other beautiful countries in the world, they'd take it as an insult. Many still do. The ones who have never set foot anywhere else that is!

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

OMG I'm working with a girl who is from SA and all she ever talks about all day, every day is how wonderful SA families are, what amazing cooks they are, how clever they all are, how brilliant they are at absolutely everything. Every conversation reverts back to South Africa. It's so irritating. Don't these people realise how up themselves they really are :confused:

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

How long has she lived in the UK? She's probably homesick.

I refuse to associate with many over here who are still living their past lives there, and go on and on about how wonderful it is, when some haven't been there for over 20 years!!! It WAS a great country which is becoming a third world hellhole as I type. :frown::frown: There are many stages to emigration and sometimes it takes people a little bit longer to get through them all.

I wish they'd take advantage of all the UK has to offer and especially cheap trips to the Continent to broaden their horizons and their minds. I'd give something to be in their shoes right this minute! Being able to be in Prague for the weekend for peanuts sounds heavenly to me!

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

And do you tell them....you dont know what you've got till it's gone....be proud your English, said with a :)

Re: I Think I've Made A Big Mistake
 

Sorry, i missed this post earlier. A couple of weeks ago i got a bit upset (had a bit of a cry) at work because my pregnant daughter in UK was quite sick, so i explained the situation. A colleague the other day then asked how she was so i told him and added that its very hard to be so far from your kids at times. He replied " so why dont you go back to be with them". So i stupidly just blurted out "I am!" Big mistake :huh: