Belinda Au

Helz is spot-on, Thinker. You have had many years here already and know that Australia - while wonderful - has its frustrations like any other place on this ball of dirt. Nowhere on earth is perfect. You can only make your decisions based on your own wants, needs and experience. What's right for one person is not necessarily what's right for another, or everybody else. Trust your instincts.

Yes I have to admit I never really understood just how oz is sold to you guys. My parents were ten pound poms and I was born here but always felt a pull to the uk. I also never understood why so many of the English run down their country. I love it!!! Maybe it's just a human thing to want more or better and thinking that lies elsewhere.... Each country is great. It's just what you prefer I guess....

Thanks Gbye! I did not know about English Heritage - what a great tip! I'm glad you say that the UK has a lot to offer. I think so too. I never did understand why what's on offer isn't marketed more (well more than I see anyway). Sun and beaches are brilliant - but they're not everything. Everywhere has something wonderful on offer.

There are some real shockers. We refer to it as "boom industry" which is quite sad. But usually with the ones who are drunk or drug-affected... it's almost as funny watching the reactions of police. What a job! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who has a cry (and I'm not going for another year yet!) but there's no problem coming back if I want to - it's lovely to have the option. I tell myself that when I get a bit emotional. One could do worse than having options, right?

back from shift.... well tonight's interviews were laugh-out-loud funny. unintentionally so! a good start to the week, Agatha. I noticed when I left for work earlier tonight, I walked along the street imagining I was leaving soon and felt really sad. This is when the decision to go is hard. But then I think of the UK (and it's definitely the countryside for me) and all that history and antiquing and that history and also that history!!! and I'm happy.

I work with a great bunch of girls on the shift... and you're right... sometimes it's heartbreaking and sometimes I just sit there and laugh my head off as I type! You're right though. I will miss this place like mad. Not all of it but certainly most of it. But I need to be home too. It's just nice to go because of that and not because you dislike a place. That's not the case for me and doesn't seem to be for you either. I'm glad.

Thanks Chortlepuss - LOL @ your sister! That's funny. It may well be going to the dogs in some places... many countries could say the same thing I guess. I love Sydney. Always will. But my sense of "home" is elsewhere.... anything else I manage on top of that is just a bonus as far as I'm concerned. Well, time to go the night job. Transcribing police interviews.... shudder!

Thanks for that, Agatha. Must be the usual media fear-mongering. That's the same everywhere it would seem. I do consider myself very lucky to live here. I suppose that's the hard part of the decision. I live right in the middle of a university town. Where I am, literally everything I need is across the street - very fortunate. I had been reading so many angry posts (not on here) from people who are so upset at the current government that I worried it was terrible everywhere. All governments everywhere (including here) have their self-interested and corrupt types, not to mention red tape that makes you want to hear your hair out!!! I love my Australia but have never had a sense that I "fit". That isn't the fault of any country - it can't be! Sometimes your sense of "home" is somewhere else and you need to go and meet it. Every place has its good and its frustrating aspects. I'm good at working around frustrating... no matter where I happen to be. I tell you though, the prospect of indulging my history and antiquing passions.... well it just has me TOO excited!

Hi Anna - Oh I have been to Britain a good 15 or 16 times so far - believe me, I've heard every penal colony joke ever invented!!! In my experience, the aussies and brits can torment each other mercilessly but generally it's all in good fun. It's funny because here, I'm teased because I don't have much of an "australian" accent!! Similar to you! Maybe it is just my age now... when I was younger, I would think nothing of leaving work and uprooting myself for another adventure. Not really sure what's changed and why deciding is more laboured. So much has happened in the last ten years that a well-considered risk seems more appealing than just a risk! I'm also financially better off here than I would be there, I know that. I won't deny I like being able to earn more here... but what price a sense of belonging, huh? I find it funny how australia appears to be portrayed over there - like a paradise to cure all ills!!! It is lovely here to be sure... but we have our problems too. 12 more months working and saving - that's not so long!

Thanks Katie / Quoll You're both right. Nothing really stopping me. Not married, don't have kids, all my choice. I've always had two passports so that's not an issue. I did temp work for all of my 20s and half my 30s so again, it was easy to leave and travel and then come back and work. I think since the illness (which culminated in a brain surgery about 8 months ago) I've gotten into a habit of dithering in my decision-making because there were just so many things I couldn't do because of it. I'd like to work another 12 months here - two jobs, which I am lucky to have, will allow me to save and give me some breathing space once I get there. I may even go over in 6 months to check a few things out given I have not been there in a while. Would save me any potential shocks I suppose! Always have the option of returning so there's not a lot of reasons to not give it a go, eh?

I really hope you find a way, Soul. I've been reading quite a few posts since joining today and it seems that a "sense of belonging" is so important to a lot of people. Where you get that doesn't matter, I think. I don't put much stock in "greatest country in the world" polls because it's all so subjective to each individual person. You fit where you fit... and that isn't necessarily where you were born. :hug:

Thanks for that, Thinker I've got 12mths to save $$$. I'm fortunate to have that opportunity. You are absolutely correct. I live in Sydney and it's very different now to what it was 10 years ago - good and not-so-good. It's not all rosey here either so I'm not leaving with the expectation of perfection in another country. It's a pull specifically back to Britain. I've lived in a number of other countries but I just feel the need to go back. It is strange to not feel a sense of "identity" in the country i was born in. I don't know why that is. I know it's been a while since I went back, but every time I did.... I just felt like aahhh... home. Not perfect by any stretch, but home. I do understand the need to feel like you belong. I'm the same way. Right now, I'm planning to go back. And personally, I've always preferred the colder weather (every time I went back to the UK, I'd do it in the winter!!) - also looking forward to again indulging in my near-obsessive passion for history!

Hello Everyone I have just joined the forum. I hope I'm allowed to stay as I'm not a "pom in oz" as it were! Born here but parents are British. I am 47. I have always returned to Britain for a short while for most years since I was 21. I have not been back for the last 8 as I had a long-term illness that prevented travel, among other things. I sometimes wonder if it can be in the genes, the "pull" to be somewhere else. Don't get me wrong. I love Australia. There are a million things to love about it but if I am to be perfectly honest, despite being born here, I never, ever felt like I "fit" here - like I belonged. I realise that's a pretty ambiguous thing to say and I wish I could explain it better but I cannot. It isn't a case of one country being better than the other - each has its considerable charms. The longer I am here, the more I just don't fit in and I notice I am increasingly unhappy because of it. Would I have returned on a permanent basis before the illness? I think I might have. I've read a lot of news articles of late (that might not be the best of ideas!) and it appears that Britain is no longer the Britain I remember. No place is perfect and I know everything changes but it seems from what I've read in news reports, that it is a very unhappy place now. I would be very interested to hear from people who have been back recently or who have just returned as media does have a habit of fear-mongering! I would not consider returning for another 12 months yet. I am fortunate that at the moment I'm working 2 jobs and have an opportunity to save for a return with some $$$ in hand and not have to worry at hitting the ground running, trying to find work as soon as I land. I suppose I joined because I'm interested to hear from people returning and their reasons for doing so. It's also not something I talk to anyone here about. I tried to and got shot down for being un-Australian!!!! I'm not. I just can't shake the sense I belong elsewhere. Any thoughts are very much appreciated. Thank you - Belinda