Guest ladyk2011 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 We left the UK in 2001, moved to the US stayed there until 2010 then moved to Sydney. Lasted 9 months there! (Technically, just 6 months, but 3 months to figure out how to move)... Then on to Singapore where we are now, and planning on moving back to the UK at the end of the year! I was never really homesick until Australia. A few things happened, I realised that all of the things that I liked in Oz were the English things, so we'd be eating English food watching English tv... (Culturally Oz was a lot more UK-focussed). The kids didn't like school, I was unimpressed by the vast majority of their teachers/attitudes/what they were learning, how they were learning. I'll never forget being outside my daughter's year 3 class and hearing the teacher shout at a boy that he was 'stupid', she yelled it a couple of times!! I was in the corridor helping another boy with reading... I did like the sport there and how it was fully integrated into the school day, much more so than in the US, where they would never have a day off to do athletics or swimming. My husband hated his job, small market there, tiny really. So, nowhere to move to. He got an offer to move here, so we did, I started work after a couple of months too. The plan was to stay for 2 years, in fact it'll be about 18 months. I'm moving back to get the kids in school, our eldest is coming up to the end of primary school so I want her to get the max amount of time that she can in the UK system before the move to high school. I left my hometown in 1991 for good reasons! We're not moving back there, but we're moving close enough to visit on a weekly basis. I'm the only one in the family who's actually English, so I know that it's a huge switch for them. We just went back to check out the area where we were thinking of moving too. It was cold, and wet, but that didn't really matter. I like the grey skies and I definitely needed a break from being roasted alive everyday in Singapore. What amazed me was how friendly and polite people were ( we weren't in London)! The kids loved seeing their cousins, aunts and uncles, grand-parents. We caught up with old friends, really old friends of mine from school, the kind that it doesn't matter if you last saw years ago, because you just pick up where you left off. My husband has old friends there too from uni and work. The main difference, and the reason why I know it'll be fine is that my outlook has changed. It was really good to see the UK from an outsiders perspective, and compare it to the US, Oz, even Singapore and know that it's not 2nd best for my family. I feel lucky that I'm able to make the choices that I have, very happy that my husband supports me 100% (in Oz he said that it was up to me where we lived, he would be happy anywhere with me and the kids), and glad that my kids are going to know how an extended family works, and have the opportunity of a British education! I know that nothings forever, but I want them to have a base to come back to. They'll probably never leave the town that we've chosen to move to (because of the schools)... I'm going to look on this next move like all of the others, i.e open-minded, what can we do here, how do things work here, where are the shops, where's the rugby and swimming clubs. But it'll be so much easier, because I actually know how things work there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landv Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 How old are your kids? Good luck with the move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alice2 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Good luck with the move Ladyk2011. I totally agree with you about the grey skies. When we lived in Asia many years ago, it was the cold that we missed most apart from the family. [One thing I do missed about Asia tho' is the food and the fact that an afternoon snack was not limited to chocolates or crisps. ] All the things you have described about the UK are probably the things we will miss most. But we have decided to give Oz a try and give the kids a different perspective of life and culture. Have fun on your new adventure. I like your approach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Good luck to you I can relate to what your husband thinks of the market over here (or perhaps my interpretation of it). It's the smallness of it that is one of the factor that means I wn't be here for ever. There's just not enough to get professionally excited about, so whilst life is easy, my work life is a bit, well, dull. I appreciate that sort of thing isn't important for the majority of people, and good luck to them. In a way I wish it wasn't important to me, but it is Really hope it all works out for you. It will be a big change after all that time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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