Where's Home?
 

Having given up on the 'is the Euro British?' thread (currently with 536 opinions) I wondered if we could divide ourselves into those who think of 'home' as the UK and those who think of it as Spain. Perhaps one's point of view regarding the EU or the Euro or that UKIP nutter is based on where we hang our hat?
:popcorn:

Re: Where's Home?
 

Home for me is where my house and my stuff is:) I always spoke of my parents house as "home" until they died.

PS why is this thread in the Plaza? Are you expecting it to get argumentative!

Re: Where's Home?
 

Home for me is where I live, where my "stuff" is and my children. at the moment home is in the UK, but hopefully it will be back in Spain soon, cos thats where I feel happiest. Ultimately, and whether I like it or not I'm British. I was born and bred in the UK, my first language is English and theres not a thing I can do about it. I'm not sure its important enough to worry about tho

Jo xxx

Re: Where's Home?
 

As the old saying goes "Home is where you hang your hat":thumbup:

Re: Where's Home?
 

home is right where I am - with my family :D

my late parents house in the UK will be sold this week - someone asked me if I felt sad that my 'home' was going

I thought for a moment or two - the 'someone' clearly expected me to be sad...

I actually lived in it for less than 1/5 of my life, so that really wasnt 'home' ......

Re: Where's Home?
 

I refer to both as home.

I will be going 'home' to see my parents for Christmas but will be coming back 'home' to Málaga for new year.

Re: Where's Home?
 

Home to me has always been the UK, despite having lived for eight years in Spain.

Whilst I enjoyed my time in Spain,it was never meant to be permanent and we are now back in the UK during a dark and cold December awaitibng the completion of the sale of our Spanish house, hopefully in January.

We enjoyed our time in Spain, but it was always somewhere we were living for a while, to me especially it was never home.

Re: Where's Home?
 

I left Norfolk with my parents when I was 13 and have been in Spain, more or less, ever since. So, besides the passport and a large library of English books I'm slowly working my way through, I'd say that Spain was my home and my 'European opinions' would be based on this.
If I were to leave, I wouldn't go to the UK.

Re: Where's Home?
 

It's quite a strange question and hard to answer. I don't know when it started, possibly around ten years ago, but whenever I left Spain for a holiday or a business trip, I regarded travelling back as coming home.

Even though I lived in Spain before that, the UK was still home. It no longer is and it worries me.

Re: Where's Home?
 

I have a "home" in England, and I have a "home" in Spain. The most difficult time for me is always the day before going to one or the other, because although I'm happy I will be going to one, I know that I will be missing the one I leave.

I'm Spanish in both, but when I live in the UK I do speak and think in English (except numbers!), so it does take me several days to get used to the different style of living and the language. This happens every time I go to the other one, be it in Spain or in England.

Re: Where's Home?
 

Spain is home because this is where we chose to live and where we feel at home. I always remember as an expat in East Africa so many colleagues always mentioned they were going 'home' on leave. We always said we were going to Holland and UK on leave and would return home in a months time.

Re: Where's Home?
 

Thinking in another language is a killer, it's horrible and creeps up on you and you can't stop it. I revert back to the alphabet I first leaned but it becomes irrelevant.

Dreams are a nightmare, I dream in more than one language and sometimes I wake up terrified. I get mixed up, totally, and unfortunately I've got three languages to choose from.

It doesn't make me clever, it confuses the f'ucking life out of me.

Re: Where's Home?
 

I've only lived in 3 different towns in my life (so far!) - 2 in the UK and 1 here.

I never liked the town I grew up in, couldn't wait to get away from the place, and it's worse now, so that wouldn't feel like home although all my family still live there. My parents moved house after I had left home, so going back to their house didn't feel like going home either.

I moved to a different town when I got married, mainly for reasons connected with my ex-husband's work, and stayed there after we divorced. It was really just a place to return to sleep as I spent more than 12 hours a day working or commuting and another 7 at least sleeping, Monday to Friday at least, so I felt no great emotional attachment there either.

Then I moved to Spain and I do like the town we live in (warts and all) so this does feel the most like home. When we first bought our house we only came over for holidays and I cried every time I had to leave, I never did that when I was leaving the UK, not even when we left for good.

Re: Where's Home?
 

As Lynn R suggests, I think how many 'homes' - ie places you've lived - is relevant. I've lived in 15 flats/houses in my life, and I'm sure I'm nowhere near as well travelled as some. My home is where my 9yo and I live and although I don't think I will ever regard Spain as my 'gut', 'heritage', 'cultural' home, it - my Spanish home - is definitely home.

On which: brief chat with a teacher at school in Malaga this morning. (She's Irish, not sure if N or S). Her: Gosh it's cold isn't it. Me: Yes, but nowhere near as cold as at home. Her: Yes, I know! ..... ... I walk off towards the car. How did she know the temperature at our house up in the wild and woolly hills, I pondered? Then I twigged. She's thinking Home=UK:lol:

Re: Where's Home?
 

For me Spain is somewhere I like living but not home , Blighty is home.

Re: Where's Home?
 

Are they both 'home' or simply houses that you own?

I'm not sure anyone can have more than one home - comments?

My home is here in Spain with my family.

Re: Where's Home?
 

When I was 21, I went for a few months to South Africa. There (and forgive the generalization), the Whites were in split into two tribes - the 'English' who talked of Britain as 'home' (even those whose grandparents had been born in South Africa) and the 'Africaners' who had no interest in Holland but saw themselves as 'Africaners'. Odd, but there you have it.
Here in Spain, few of us can claim grandparents in Jávea or Marbella, but it seems to me that we residents are also divided by those who hark for Britain and those who don't. What we still don't have - yet - is an identity.

Re: Where's Home?
 

In answer to the question "Where is Homer?"

Is this what you mean?

http://twitpic.com/1a1pc3



Oops sorry, I read the post wrong, it is not about Homer Simpson after all, but I found him anyway....:rofl:

Re: Where's Home?
 

Not too sure on that one. I left home where I was born and brought up in Yorkshire at 18, 40 years ago to join up. I was away 18 months when my mother passed away and what I called home then no longer existed. Having completed 22 yrs in the forces and moving house at least every 3 years in addition to going away overseas for various postings attachments I never really thought of anywhere as true home. Having left the forces we then moved to the north east my daughter refers to here as home as I think does my wife me not sure as to be honest I would always say back home for me is Yorkshire. I suppose there is home where your heart is and home as in where you are living at the time and some have stronger draws to either one. Also I think the amount of travel/homes one has had also has a bearing on it.

Re: Where's Home?
 

I've always felt at home wherever I've lived in Spain, yet every Xmas I'm drawn back to my roots in Blighty, so I guess that must still be my true home.

Re: Where's Home?
 

Same here

Re: Where's Home?
 

For me home is Spain!

We've just for family reasons been back to England twice in the last two months.... but that is how I think of it as back to England.

We owned and lived in a house there for thirty years before selling up and moving here, we enjoyed those years, but the house town and area have no pull for us now and we were both happy to come back to our home here in Spain.

We are and always will be English but that is just an accident of birth, our hearts belong in Spain and we love our lives here....warts and all, our wish is to remain here to the end of our days.

Re: Where's Home?
 

I know who I am :D

I'm British

my home is in Spain

Re: Where's Home?
 

home has always been where the BH was, until she came to Spain to work, but now we are together then we call this home, but it will take a little time for that to bed in.

this is all about how people feel as to their origins - are you British or not??

I think home is where the heart is, but Home is where we come from. Many expats will prattle on about the former, but in the end when due to death or ill health they will return to the latter.

Remember -
you can take the girl out of Essex but cannot take Essex out of the girl.

Re: Where's Home?
 

Im English not British ,big difference in my view ,many immigrants in the UK my hold a British passport but they are not English by any stretch.

Re: Where's Home?
 

Oh yes, so am I and got the scratches here for insisting I am English (my nationality) as the term "British" is given to those who pass a simple test and get gived a cerstifficut by the Mayor.
And they never return their "home" passport, and when they die are shipped "home" for burial.

But we are on a British Expats community site.....................

Re: Where's Home?
 

Wish you would write in it :rofl:

Re: Where's Home?
 

I was born in Scotland but don't feel that much at home there now. I am only there for short spells not sure how I would feel spending longer, I always want home to Spain.

Re: Where's Home?
 

:confused:

Re: Where's Home?
 

Home is England. No doubt. Spain is somewhere I live right now. I was in England for 52 years of my life, and it gave me all I have now. So that's home, and always will be, wherever I live.

Re: Where's Home?
 

Last time I was in England - I didn't know the coins. Standing there with my hand full of shrapnel while a foreign-born gentleman picked through my collection looking for three pounds fifty. 'No, that's a five pee', he said when I tried to join in...
'You're not English?', he asked...

Re: Where's Home?
 

Been there, got the t-shirt.
I try to pass it off as old age and dodgy eyesight

Re: Where's Home?
 

I own a flat in Manor Park, east London. Not that it bothers me much, but it's a totally Asian area. I bought it 30 years ago, when it was 'different'.

I can't regard it as home, I would be the only white man for miles around if I returned.

I'm not making a racial point, that would be silly, but I'm stating the bare truth.

I suppose I'll stay in Torrevieja, If I can ask people to cover their ears - it's a shithole, but it's less of a shithole than Manor Park.

Re: Where's Home?
 

Why would you stay there then ?

Re: Where's Home?
 

Commercial reasons.

Re: Where's Home?
 

I've been like that on my two visits to England in two months, hadn't a clue what the coins were.....and why is it they don't seem to use fifty pound notes?
It's so inconvenient when you change euros and they give you nothing but twenties!

Re: Where's Home?
 

£50's are available, but when I have asked in the bank for them they havent got any.
Believe they are the common currency for drug dealers as are the higher denomination €'s

Re: Where's Home?
 

Fair enough.