S.Susan

Second week finished , the best thing for the second week is we signed the contract for our own rented house . Hurray ! Another week, we should be able to move in.
For this week , I have learned 1) always bring a cardigan with you. No matter where you go and how hot is outside , always bring a cardigan with you . Because as soon as you go inside of a mall or restaurant , it will be freezing cold

2) don't order a ice tea with little ice. I ordered a ice tea and told the stuff I don't like too much ice . However I m wrong . It's not about I like it or not , it is about I need it or not . Soon after 5 minutes , that's once called ice tea is turning into a warm tea...ever since that , I stop order the drinking without ice ..

3) don't feel dodgy if your estate agent ask you to meet up in a coffee shop. Seriously I didnt feel comfortable at all after my agent told me . I thought meeting in the coffee shop to give the deposit is just wrong. Later I checked with my local friend she said it is totally normal. What can I say , they probably just love coffee!

Second week is a bit harder for me , since husband is at work , i m on my own and children are getting enough with living in a hotel and no toys no friends, they cry every other day and saying they want to Go back. Frankly , I also miss England , miss our home in Sunbury . Miss my local MS, Miss have a walk to the river to feed the ducks. Actually I secretly had a little cry the other day when hubby turned on the radio magic FM. I never thought I will be this homesick, because firstly I m not English and secondly I have done international move before. However I have ignored the fact that 15 years is a really long time in my life and I was in my comfort zone. Anyway I m sure I will be ok after all and especially hubby promised me he will get me English TV somehow . I really miss BBC!

Thanks for listening to my rambles and have a great week guys.

MorsePacific

Keep your chin up! Are there any things you can do that will make you feel a little more at home without having to be there?

I've moved seven times in the last three years so upheaval is sadly a common occurrence for me. For whatever reason, I find that watching Friends - even just having it on in the background - is like a comfort blanket. I think it's because it's now so familiar to me and I know the episodes back to front, and it's always been on the TV in every house I've lived in.

Either way, I find that whenever I move, going through a few seasons of that help settle me down! A modern day comfort blanket

Try using TuneIn radio on your smartphone to play a UK station throughout the day just for a touch of 'home' in strange surroundings

Moo52

Hi Susan I didn't want to read and run, we moved to CT almost 12 months ago with our 6 and 11yr old we were luck we had already found a rental and moved starlight in.
I remember for the first few weeks it was really hard, and everyone we spoke to kept saying "Oh you will love it here" I wanted to scream at them "I loved it where I was" where everything was familiar where I knew where to get the shopping I wanted and it was all easy...
The first few weeks are really tough trying to sort out house, car (good luck with the DMV we sat for 5 hours with 2 kids- we all look back on that day with fond memories) schools, insurance, doctors etc but stick with it, we have found people really friendly I our first friends came form hanging out at the park and getting the kids joined up to soccer, swimming etc.
This site is also great for getting advice and help.
So good luck, be kind to yourself, it will take time, lean on your husband and let him know how you are feeling, it will get easier and get some online English TV programmes a bit of Poldark will make you feel better xxxx

petitefrancaise

staying in a hotel just waiting to move when you have young kiddoes just sucks...

I let the kids do all kinds of stuff they'd never done before... swim before breakfast, choose whatever they want to eat in the restaurant, turn into a laugh.

Go to see a movie? Do you have any movie theatres near you that also serve food? Reclining seats? I still think this is a hoot! We all take blankets or at least big scarves to keep warm. A teddy bear once.

Find fun things to do in your new place. I live in Texas (bloody hot) and the ice skating rink is a nice cool change.

Go shopping with the kids and let them choose stuff for their bedrooms.

Be kind to yourself, it's a big change and you''ve got to manage the kids too.

WEBlue

Yeah, it's SO hard to be the non-working parent trying to manage one's own homesickness as well as the children's. And no doubt about it, living in a hotel with kids in a foreign country is the total pits, meanwhile trying to sort out all the million details of the new life.

I echo Petitefrancaise--do take it easy on yourself!! Give yourself a break when things go wrong. Hug your kids when they're homesick & when they're not (that WILL fade away, but not for a while....). Try to plan fun things for all of you amid the madness. Get enough sleep. Slowly but surely it will all come together.

S.Susan

Thanks a lot . I will definitely try the radio . I need to sit down and have a moment for myself and then figour out what makes me feel better.

S.Susan

You are right. I need to let my husband know. at the moment , I feel I don't have any support from him. He leaves me for everything ! I seriously need to chat to him about it. Otherwise It will get worse and worse, I will be mad.

S.Susan

Thank you . Be kind to myself . That's what I need. I m so busy and I don't even care about what do I feel sometimes. I need to slow down and look after myself first otherwise it's not good for my children either.

S.Susan

Thanks for your kind words. My daughter cried and said to me the other day :mummy, we don't even have home now !

Oh my god , that breaks my heart . I know soon we will have house and soon she will get new friends. However that still hurts .

I m sure we will get through . I m sure , but not yet ....

Chesten

We're five months in and you have described me/ us exactly. It gets better but I do sometimes still get days like that. Moving into our family home and getting my licence/ car both helped. I sympathise with you and send virtual hugs. It's the being at home part that's the killer.

I got a VPN to watch iplayer, more four etc PDQ (I note from another thread there may be easier ways for live tv).

Routine is a great comfort and you don't have that in a hotel. That must be so tough on you guys.

Exploring your new neighbourhood once you're moved might help: discovering parks, playgrounds, shops, restaurants and figuring out your "new normal" is fun for the most part (unless you compare unfavourabley to home and feed the homesickness).

When do the kids start school? Can you find a group/ hobby for you? It's easier said than done I know and making friends is the bit I'm struggling with although I'm ok with it taking time. We joined a gym and just having the bubba in child watch for an hour while I workout and shower sometimes shifts the blues.

I've read back and my reply is somewhat flat. Didn't mean it to be. It will get easier and I'm sure there are lots of adventures ahead. We've just completed our first road trip and it was great. Some cracking memories. Planning it was fun and I reckon getting the balance right with family time is critical. Hang in there.

Lanyu

Just a thought

Your husband may have given you all the stuff to do to keep you busy so that you wouldn't be so homesick keeping your brain active. Our situation was in reverse my wife was working and I did all the (admin) sorting everything out. I was glad I had plenty to do even with our daughter aswell I would have had several breakdowns otherwise.

Ecto17

We have been here 4.5 weeks and still in temp accommodation so l honestly feel your pain about routine as l have a young son and as off the weekend we are now down to one car for a couple of weeks!!! 😳 The apartment we are in is beautiful but there is only so long you can keep kids happy when they aren't in a home and l remind myself that l will look back on this time fondly one day as it was the start of our adventure.
We have recently started going to the library that has story times most days. I also go food shopping every couple of days (don't buy much) but it fills the time and l start working out which stores are good and which to avoid and generally l end up chatting with someone.
I do an hour of school work each day with my little one which gives us a little bit of a routine and hopefully is beneficial to him.
Try joining your local ymca near your new house as that apparently will have loads on for you and the kids.
I have noticed (in my v brief time here) that lots of people here move about quite a lot and therefore there are plenty of people in a similar situation to us.
Please don't underestimate how big a move this is and just because everyone is excited for you and we are lucky to have this chance, that doesn't mean it is any less daunting or emotional.
I have another carless day and 10 hours to fill so wish me luck!!! 😀

Chesten

+1 for YMCA. It's my gym. We did swimming lessons for both boys earlier in the summer, their child watch is fun for the kids and they do other activities too.

malch

That must have been heart wrenching. But keep in mind kids are highly resilient and adaptable. Your daughter will likely adjust more quickly and completely than you will :-)

Pulaski

Look for new fun things to do, try not to obsess about things you used to do.

I always fear that people who surround themselves by British TV and British foods/snacks are just building up long-term home sickness issues.