Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

Chance'd be a fine thing :D
Actually we agreed not until the kids are out of HS.......that's about 5-10 more for good behavior. Then we two play "hop-the pond", as it were.

Thats the problem isn't it? You try to go somewhere normal and actually "American" here and you're the only f%$&ing foreigner for miles and miles.

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

Well, I don't remember ever saying "How much annual leave do you get in your job?" back in the 70s/80s, before I left the UK (I've always called it "holiday").

Then I read an article by Kate Walsh in the Sunday Times 29 Aug 2010, about a campaign to save what they call "plain English", including running a poll on the annual leave vs. holiday terminology:

http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/

- the original article doesn't seem to be available any more (part of the Times Online becoming pay-per-use, I guess).

Just found the poll: http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/press-...r-holiday.html

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

You are making me think now, I'm sure we did call it annual leave when I started in libraries in 1984, then in teaching we had fixed breaks but I'm sure it was still referred to as leave, for example someone might be off work on sick leave, campassionate leave or annual leave. If someone was 'on holiday' it would mean they were actually going somewhere else.

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

It was called "annual leave" when I briefly worked for Cambridgeshire County Council in 1989.

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

I just noticed I referred to 'campassionate leave', to clarify this was NOT a special PC Brigade leave for 'drama queens'.

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

Hey you guys, thank you all for your help and advice. I went home for a week. And it felt so....normal. I am back now (back to dealing with everything). Maybe that short trip around my friends and family was too short. Still in a confused place. But leaning towards going home.

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

Hey, he's back!

Well good luck with whatever you end up doing, I'd try and see if you could stick it out for 6 months - that way if you do go back its not purely an emotional response to the situation.

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

Its crazy, i always read posts about people going home and not feeling like they belong anymore. Im sure it has a big part to do with my emotional state. But last week in the UK for the first time in a long time, being back around everything "familiar" just felt right. Its crazy that in the almost 7 years i have been in the US i have never struggled with homesickness. Now its all i think about. Crazy!

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

I had a similar experience over the last few days... I have lived in Seattle for 30 years but grew up in NE New Jersey. I left when I was 18. I have been back for visits over the years but not in a few years now since my parents have died.

I visited an elderly cousin of my Dad's in Hackettstown (I had never been there) and thought that it seemed a nice area. In fact, I was seeing that part of New Jersey in a new light and wondered why I had ever felt such a strong need to get away. When I drove through my old neighborhood and town it all seemed so familiar - I was hard to believe I hadn't lived there in so long.

A few hours later, I was driving around Clifton looking for the house my father grew up in and found houses had been re-numbered so I asked a man getting out of his car if he knew when it had occurred. His response suddenly brought it all home to me why I left...

I'm not saying that you can generalize anything about an area based on one response. However, I think it is important to remember why one left in the first place. I liken it to 'gut reactions' or 'first impressions'. Sometimes you just know that you do or don't fit somewhere.

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

Can anyone tell me if abandoning your green card and returning home can cause any potential problems down the road if you decide to return as a holidaymaker? I'm in a similar situation and would hate to fly over to NYC for a shopping weekend 20 years from now and find myself detained!

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

have a look at this thread http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=696804

Re: Is going home a mistake?
 

You can formally renounce your 'green card' and then there is no question about your intentions (and then of course you can visit under the same rules as other visitors).