Mummy in the foothills

When dh sees pictures of us on holiday at Mums he always comments about the smiling and laughing, he says I don't do enough of that here. I think he should see my with my friends here we cry laughing too, I see far too little of them and it's taken 15 years of being friends to get to this point. It used to take me a week or less with work mates in UK. I miss laughing daily.

Jon77

Personally I see the NZ low key style Christmas as brilliant, Christmas is totally over done in the UK, but there again I am just a grinch when it comes to Christmas, bahh hum bug and all that

I love Christmas in Australia when I was there, so much more relaxing than the UK. Everything you seem to do for Christmas in the UK you do because you feel you have to, or it is tradition. You will cook for 20 people, you will eat turkey and sprouts, you will watch rubbish on TV. Ok we all have a choice of what we do, but in the UK it seems like enforced fun to me, sat with a ***** paper hat on watching the queen on TV whilst your relatives are snoring and farting on the sofa and the rain hammers down outside, then just as you have finished clearing up from Christmas lunch you start on the tea.

Give me a new world Xmas any day !!!

tdib

Disagree completely about Christmas in Australia Jon. To me Xmas in Aus is just another backyard BBQ on a hot day - same as most other weekends. If it wasn't for my son I don't think I'd bother with it at all.

Each to their own though....

Jon77

Christman in Australia meant to me a trip to the Fish Markets to purchase things we didn't usually have, oysters, big prawns, balmain bugs, squid, the works ! We would just throw a seafood platter together, VERY simply cook it and let everyone dig in and help themselves as and when they wanted it.

I really miss that top quality seafood.

tdib

That does sound a cut above the typical 800 beef snags,fatty chops,carbonized onions and salad-on-paper-plates I am more used to...

An don't forget a trailer-load of cartons of "piss" and a pavlova

Jon77

It doesn't matter where you live big celebrations are whatever you make of them. We deliberatly reserved special christmas only things that we didn't have any other time of the year when we were in Australia, made the day that little bit more special.

sallysimmons

Now that sounds like fun to me!

Jon77

Excellent, you can have my relations for Christmas this year

sallysimmons

Nice try but I suspect it's only endearing when it's your own relatives farting, and not someone else's.

dontheturner

Well Well Well Jon77! I think you have your name mixed up a bit with ''Scrooge'' - Christmas is for you to moan, do the crossword , or whatever floats your boat. But one thing is for sure, at 80 years of age, I cannot wait to get out of Thailand, get back to good old Shropshire, with my little Thai lovely, and get invited round to someone's for Christmas dinner!

and Kentish Lass, Mummy, and others who know me -Still flogging bits off, and just got good news, my Daughter in Shropshire, got her early retirement set for October. - so all will be good! - Roll on March, dontheturner

charleygirl

Aw Don thats awesome march will be here before you know it....flogging your stuff then, good job.

JustBecause

Oh dear, all this talk about Oz christmas vs Uk christmas...I am trying to get back to the Uk for christmas this year but so far nothing's really happening. I don't think I can stand another Ozzie christmas as my son will be 2.5yrs old & will be just the right age to get excited about it, but without family here & the general lack of festiveness it will be so awful.

I want to go back & have my second child at home as I won't be able to stand the guilt of having another baby here & family at home missing out, esp as I am an only child so the only one producing grandchildren for my parents (after a long wait!). If we can't get back this year we will rent a place with a granny flat & have my parents over for a year or so while we have the second child & hopefully all go back before the first child is due to start school.

Btw Kentish people I am also a Kentish Maid, or Maid of Kent! I grew up in Canterbury & my parents are now in fab Whitstable. You can't go wrong with a nice bit of Kentish scenery: lovely countryside, orchards & hop fields, oast houses!, small villages to have a pub lunch in

manc1

I have been trying to get back to England for the past 2yrs. The problem is selling the house. The first time we put it on the market the interest rates had just gone up for the 10th time and people who were struggling with their mortgages started dropping their prices drastically. Then due to the world financial crisis, people were holding off from buying property.

We have got the house back on the market now, but there dont appear to be many genuine buyers around at present. We dont have any deadline to be back in the UK, so we dont intend to give away a chunk of the equity we have in the house, just so we can move back. It is very frustrating though.

charleygirl

Shame about the house manc, and good luck to everyone wanting to get home.
do you know if there are a lot of people leaving Aus? Just curious?

manc1

Hi charleygirl, I dont have the up to date figures on people leaving oz, but below are some figures from 2yrs ago. I heard the other day that these figures have increased considerably, but I have been unable to find the stats. If anyone can update the figures, feel free.

http://www.workpermit.com/news/2008-...7a0044a5733885