to-ing and fro-ing because of UK housing & business (long... as I am known for!!)
Nov 24th 2007, 11:43 pm
#16
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 367
Re: to-ing and fro-ing because of UK housing & business (long... as I am known for!!)
Nope, just me and the dog. Luckily, she (Suzy) has quite readily dealt with all the to-ing and fro-ing - I think if I had a wife she'd have probably killed me by now!
2000 was a very hectic year. I very quickly realized conditions at my workplace were different than stated at the interview 4 months earlier. Essentially a tranche of dept members were upping and leaving for another faculty and the department's future was in jeopardy. Among other things this meant I had no research opportunities and future prospects looked bleak. In March of that year, a great job opportunity came up in the States, I interviewed in about May, and was offered the job. So, planning to leave from March, concealing the fact I was interviewing, and knowing for the last 5 months of the year that I was leaving made for a very unsettling and stressful year. This time, at least I have managed to accept being here for now, which is why it's "20-50%" rather than "30%" (although admittedly, most of the past 15 months have been closer to the lower end than the top end of the range).
2000 was a very hectic year. I very quickly realized conditions at my workplace were different than stated at the interview 4 months earlier. Essentially a tranche of dept members were upping and leaving for another faculty and the department's future was in jeopardy. Among other things this meant I had no research opportunities and future prospects looked bleak. In March of that year, a great job opportunity came up in the States, I interviewed in about May, and was offered the job. So, planning to leave from March, concealing the fact I was interviewing, and knowing for the last 5 months of the year that I was leaving made for a very unsettling and stressful year. This time, at least I have managed to accept being here for now, which is why it's "20-50%" rather than "30%" (although admittedly, most of the past 15 months have been closer to the lower end than the top end of the range).
Ahhhh Suzy, I'm glad to hear she is fine with the moving. We have 4 pets to move. We came out here with our 2 cats and are going home with both of them plus 2 Chi-ters (Teacup Chihuahua Terriers)... I can't WAIT for the challenge of finding a renter who is confident enough to let us move into their house with 4 furry friends.
Having to conceal your plans must have been soooo stressful - my husband had to do the same before we immigrated and it was tough and demanded a white lie or 2 with his then employer which we were so unhappy about.
So maybe I am jumping ahead here but to me it sounds like you are more about 'when should I return?' rather than 'should I return?' but maybe you are still in that place where you just can't believe you are seriously considering crossing the Atlantic again. Hopefully this forum helps, you know, talking to others that are just as confused by this madness called immigration.
Hey I wanted to ask you.... I keep hearing about this 'immigration curse' and I just hope when we do return to the UK I (we) will feel like I am back home and not like an alien like some have described. Do you think it's more like that for people who have been away for an extended time? We have been away since mid 2004 so not too long. Do you consider yourself an Englishman? Do you feel like a foreigner in the UK after being away most your life?
Nov 24th 2007, 11:49 pm
#17
SUPER MODERATOR
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 88,023
Re: to-ing and fro-ing because of UK housing & business (long... as I am known for!!)
Ahhhh Suzy, I'm glad to hear she is fine with the moving. We have 4 pets to move. We came out here with our 2 cats and are going home with both of them plus 2 Chi-ters (Teacup Chihuahua Terriers)... I can't WAIT for the challenge of finding a renter who is confident enough to let us move into their house with 4 furry friends.
Having to conceal your plans must have been soooo stressful - my husband had to do the same before we immigrated and it was tough and demanded a white lie or 2 with his then employer which we were so unhappy about.
So maybe I am jumping ahead here but to me it sounds like you are more about 'when should I return?' rather than 'should I return?' but maybe you are still in that place where you just can't believe you are seriously considering crossing the Atlantic again. Hopefully this forum helps, you know, talking to others that are just as confused by this madness called immigration.
Hey I wanted to ask you.... I keep hearing about this 'immigration curse' and I just hope when we do return to the UK I (we) will feel like I am back home and not like an alien like some have described. Do you think it's more like that for people who have been away for an extended time? We have been away since mid 2004 so not too long. Do you consider yourself an Englishman? Do you feel like a foreigner in the UK after being away most your life?
Having to conceal your plans must have been soooo stressful - my husband had to do the same before we immigrated and it was tough and demanded a white lie or 2 with his then employer which we were so unhappy about.
So maybe I am jumping ahead here but to me it sounds like you are more about 'when should I return?' rather than 'should I return?' but maybe you are still in that place where you just can't believe you are seriously considering crossing the Atlantic again. Hopefully this forum helps, you know, talking to others that are just as confused by this madness called immigration.
Hey I wanted to ask you.... I keep hearing about this 'immigration curse' and I just hope when we do return to the UK I (we) will feel like I am back home and not like an alien like some have described. Do you think it's more like that for people who have been away for an extended time? We have been away since mid 2004 so not too long. Do you consider yourself an Englishman? Do you feel like a foreigner in the UK after being away most your life?
We moved here in June '96...although I am now a USC I consider my self British and always will. I can honestly say I never, ever feel like a foreigner/outsider when I go back to the UK. It still feels exactly the same as it did in '96...apart from a few new buildings here and there. It feels familiar, comfortable...what can I say it feels like home.
Nov 25th 2007, 9:36 am
#18
Ping-ponger
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,010
Re: to-ing and fro-ing because of UK housing & business (long... as I am known for!!)
Ahhhh Suzy,....
So maybe I am jumping ahead here but to me it sounds like you are more about 'when should I return?' rather than 'should I return?' but maybe you are still in that place where you just can't believe you are seriously considering crossing the Atlantic again. Hopefully this forum helps, you know, talking to others that are just as confused by this madness called immigration.
Hey I wanted to ask you.... I keep hearing about this 'immigration curse' and I just hope when we do return to the UK I (we) will feel like I am back home and not like an alien like some have described. Do you think it's more like that for people who have been away for an extended time? We have been away since mid 2004 so not too long. Do you consider yourself an Englishman? Do you feel like a foreigner in the UK after being away most your life?
So maybe I am jumping ahead here but to me it sounds like you are more about 'when should I return?' rather than 'should I return?' but maybe you are still in that place where you just can't believe you are seriously considering crossing the Atlantic again. Hopefully this forum helps, you know, talking to others that are just as confused by this madness called immigration.
Hey I wanted to ask you.... I keep hearing about this 'immigration curse' and I just hope when we do return to the UK I (we) will feel like I am back home and not like an alien like some have described. Do you think it's more like that for people who have been away for an extended time? We have been away since mid 2004 so not too long. Do you consider yourself an Englishman? Do you feel like a foreigner in the UK after being away most your life?
If you've only been away since 2004, I don't think you'll have the "feel like a foreigner" aspect of the expat curse, but I definitely think it's possible you could feel homesickness for the US, or really miss it, or (Heaven forbid!) even want to go back. I've seen way too many people here who were so sure about MBTTUK, and then regretted it.
And just to clarify, when I say I feel like a stranger in the UK, it's not a feeling of being unwelcome, but more feeling like I'm a combination of the American (even though I'm not a USC) and British cultures and experiences, and in conversations often feeling more of a foreigner than a Brit. I've felt the same way in the States too. The difference is, I guess, that it's easier to accept in the States, but in the UK it's sometimes a problem because this is supposed to be home.
