Originally Posted by vikingsail

MissBetty I follow your story and you are an inspiration at least to me. I posted this link in a separate thread a while ago. It is something I watch when I am feeling down as a great uplifter - along the lines of Dunrovings mindfulness..

https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?...&v=nj2ofrX7jAk

Originally Posted by jemima55

MissBetty, when it came to moving back (from the US), although it was the thing I most wanted to do, I got tearful. I put it down to a dislike of all the disruption associated with upping sticks, and maybe my mind and body were longing for the settled life I had been living.
Regarding mindfulness, and the way your thoughts go round and round, a therapist explained it to me like this. Picture your thoughts as a gaggle of chattering monkeys. (It's a Buddhist idea, apparently). When they seem to be getting too repetitive and disobedient tell those monkeys to shut up! Oddly, they turn tail and b***er off elsewhere.
It's helped me as I am inclined to obsess over things.
Like you I worried about all the "What ifs?" of coming back, but then realised I might be preparing myself for problems that might never occur.
So, monkeys, that's all I've got to say for today!

Originally Posted by MissBetty

Lol! It can be, its never dull that's for sure! I'm actually keeping a bit of a journal atm so maybe I'll turn it into a book one day?!!!

I've just come back from a job. Was met outside the house by a drunk man with one eye and one arm () who said he's just moved here to be with his girlfriend and she was inside on the floor, drunk and he couldn't get her up. I dutifully followed him into the house to be confronted with this HUGE black lady who was up, running around and quite angry that he'd called for an ambulance. She ran at me screaming at me to "f*** off!" so I high tailed it out of there - trying very hard not to laugh!!! Seriously - you couldn't make this stuff up ha ha ha!

Yes its hard to make friends here and when people I really like leave it makes me feel so sad! Still its nearly my turn

Originally Posted by perthhomeschool

Oh my, you certainly do have a book in you! I think it is natural to have the wobblies. I have them and we are not going for a few years yet. Someone used the analogy of the fear on your wedding day

Still, it is really hard to lose the few friends one has managed to make. It makes you wonder whether you would have had more friends around you had you stayed home, right?

I do hope it gets better for you as time gets closer. Will you be going home to your Mum in Brighton?

Originally Posted by MissBetty

Yes, when I finally realised that 'Next Christmas' he wouldn't be giving me his heart and we wouldn't be running around in the snow together wearing matching jumpers from Marks & Spencer I was crushed. I'm over it now though .............just lol!

Btw I love your signature, 'The Soldier' is one of my favourite poems!

Originally Posted by MissBetty

That was awesome, thanks so much (even cried a little bit, oh dear, here I go again lol!)

One of the things I love about BE is how a lot of people, myself included, have a greater appreciation for their own country now after living overseas. As I've reiterated I DON'T hate Australia but I really love my own country so much more now!

I'm trying not to look at my return home through rose tinted glasses but I genuinely feel I do have a better quality of life in the UK. I have a small flat there, not a McMansion like I had here, and I earn double here what I do in the UK but these things mean nothing to me at the end of the day. Its true that I don't have anyone to consider but myself and even though I'm kind of 'downsizing' my life I know its for the best. Here yes, I earn the big bucks, but I feel so trapped and miserable. In the UK I wouldn't earn as much but, as a freelance medic, I get to do all sorts of different medic work - offshore, medical repatriation, front line bank work, cruise liners, first aid teaching, film and tv - I'd never get to do that here. Am I scared? You bet I am! I know it will take time to build up contacts and get a foot in the door but I love what I do and I'm hopeful that employers will give me a chance!

I couldn't give a toss that I live near one of the most fabulous beaches in Qld - there were 3 massive crocs down there this week right on the shoreline FFS! I saw them as I was driving on the beach in my troop carrier last week, they were massive and they just made me shudder - ugh!!!! I don't care about the sandy beach and the coconut trees, I'd rather be on the seafront at Brighton eating hot doughnuts with my Mum!

Most of my friends think I am mad to go back but they haven't actually LIVED overseas so they don't understand. I shrug it off though, like I've said previously, people think if they move to another country all their problems will magically disappear but life just isn't that simple!

When I am back in the UK I feel like I belong, when I am home I feel like a different person to the person I am here. I feel more alive and just happier in general, sometimes here I just feel invisible - no one is interested in me or anything I have to say or offer, if I do have a bad day I keep it all bottled up if I can for fear of the 'whinging pom' label!!!

Its been a great experience to live here but I can't wait to go now. I will never ever take my family, my friends or my country for granted ever again trust me!

Good luck with your plans and can I just say how much I enjoyed reading your 'Xmas Visit' post? It was so well written, loved it!

Originally Posted by vikingsail

Thanks, and your post really resonates with me, and I'm sure with a lot of others. Substitute where I am, my job and I could be saying the same words. I could not care less that I am surrounded by beaches and activities that people save up and fly too from all over the world. Thats not being selfish - just the realization they are no longer for me. I know where I feel at one.

I too love my job and wish I could blink and take it to the UK. It would be so nice to not have to suffer the indignity of being asked if I am a US citizen - its happened in every job I have had in the last 16 years here at some point and this latest job is no different!

Good news this week I received news of a Skype type interview -so for those who have given up hope on that (including me) if you persevere as I have been doing then perhaps, just perhaps there is a God somewhere and maybe it works Now I have to ace the interview ...small steps, small steps

Originally Posted by lf1

Miss Betty, I admire you and the job you do and you should write that book. I was thinking about something you could do to fill in your time. Now this might not be your thing, but researching your family history is very time consuming and very interesting and a lot of it can be done on line. I worked on a couple of branches mine a few years ago and was amazed at how much I discovered and the time just seemed to fly by.

By researching, I have reconnected with distant relatives that I haven't seen since I was a child and also got my Dad's service records from WWII, which were then interpreted by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. They wrote a "potted history" of his life in the Army and in the Middle East.
That was very special to me as he died when I was a very young child and now I have another piece of his life to treasure.

Once I am a bit more settled here, I hope to research another branch. Maybe I'll find that I am descended from nobility and there is a Highland Estate that is waiting for me to claim it.

Originally Posted by vikingsail

Thanks, and your post really resonates with me, and I'm sure with a lot of others. Substitute where I am, my job and I could be saying the same words. I could not care less that I am surrounded by beaches and activities that people save up and fly too from all over the world. Thats not being selfish - just the realization they are no longer for me. I know where I feel at one.

I too love my job and wish I could blink and take it to the UK. It would be so nice to not have to suffer the indignity of being asked if I am a US citizen - its happened in every job I have had in the last 16 years here at some point and this latest job is no different!

Good news this week I received news of a Skype type interview -so for those who have given up hope on that (including me) if you persevere as I have been doing then perhaps, just perhaps there is a God somewhere and maybe it works Now I have to ace the interview ...small steps, small steps

Originally Posted by Sugarmooma

A quick reminder ......February is a short month. That might help with the waiting

Good luck to you

Originally Posted by MissBetty

Well since my last 2 jobs with crazy drunk ladies tonight I went out to a man with a sudden onset of chest pain, never had it before and turns out he was having a massive heart attack. Got some back up and rushed him in but he went down hill so fast and he died, despite our best efforts, 5 mins after arriving at hospital.

Now I know we can all say that his number was up and many other cliches but here's the thing - he was only a couple of years older than me. Makes you think, doesn't it?????

Ok well my eyes are hanging out of my head so I'm going to try and grab a couple of hours sleep. Nite all!

Originally Posted by vikingsail

Curytops & MissBetty thank you for the wishes. Does anyone have extra tips for video style interviewing. I have researched the do's and don't s a little on this forum but am interested in specific positive/ negative do's and do nots when interviewing.