Viewing 32 posts - 41 through 72 (of 72 total)
  • How many expats haven't gone home (yet)?
  • konabunny
    Free Member

    And most important: are you an expat or an immigrant?

    Christ, for once I both comprehend and agree with Edukator.

    In a weird way, I’m vaguely in a similar position to the OP’s OH as someone who retrained as a professional outside the UK, and my conclusion was that although I wouldn’t count out going to the UK or elsewhere later in my career, I much rather qualify and be a junior here than head home and get hazed with ridiculous working weeks and lower pay. I’d be much better off transferring back mid-career. In the meantime I’m an immigrant and I make my plans as if I will be here forever.

    And having a family overseas is no big deal – you can always move back once they’re in primary school to grow up with their family anyway.

    walleater
    Full Member

    Been in Vancouver since 2007. My wife can get a UK passport and wouldn’t mind living in the UK, but I’d only go back if over half the population was culled.

    Mackem
    Full Member

    ,,,been in the Basque country for 8 years now. It’s the longest I’ve lived in one place since I left home at 18. Starting to get itchy feet though and I wouldnt rule out UK.

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    JCL
    Free Member

    but I’d only go back if over half the population was culled.

    Likewise. Bad enough here.

    Kahurangi
    Full Member

    I think chewkw’s connvinced me to stay out of the NE 😉

    @paramillitaryblobby – YHM

    @mikew – I’ve also heard of taking 3 years to settle in and make friends rule of thumb. Sounds about right. Also, ChCh is very british at times anyway. Add in that maybe 50% of the House Office/Registrar jobs in ChCh are taken over by Brits, it’s hard to escape them sometimes 😉

    @perthmtb – I can’t see us never living and working in the UK again… Yet if we go back for training I’m sure we’d end up back in NZ at some point 🙂

    @Edukator – a test eh?
    Scotland. Of course
    Christchurch. Since I’ve been here and people ask “where are you from?” 🙂
    BBC is still better than NZ TV, which we haven’t been tempted ot investigate beyond NZ’s Best Home Baker. Which is a poor immitation of TGBBO.
    What’s Hola?
    I’m ashamed to say I don’t knwo the NZ national anthem 😮
    I drive a Jap import, just like everyone else. I’m not getting involved in the Holden vs GMC wars. I wear local clothes. My bike is Canadian but my dropper post is NZ designed.
    Not yet thanks!
    STW!
    Both, depends on the observers POV. Quite a few Paheka don’t like immigrants. They fail to see the irony.

    @bonjye – Thanks. That’s pretty much what we already thought but it’s goot to hear it affirmed. E has kept her options open byt doing varying jobs. She wanted to try and decide between Paeds & Gen Med. It looks like Gen Med is the way she wants to go and even by next August won’t have done too much to repclude joining a CMT programme.

    @jonah tonto – I can put you in touch with some recruitment agencies for sure but you’ll have to pay me a Union fee. email me for details 😉

    Hexham rocks. STFU.

    Thanks all for your input.

    mogrim
    Full Member

    Edukator – Member
    Which team do you support in the world cup? And do you feel gleeful when England is knocked out?

    Where is home?

    Is the BBC just foreign propaganda?

    In which edition of Hola can you recognise the most stars, the English one or your local one?

    Which national anthem do you feel most comfortable singing?

    Do you drive a locally built car, wear locally made clothes and ride locally made/branded bikes?

    Which language is used to discuss your children’s school reports?

    Where do you get flamed most for inadvertently saying something politically incorrect, STW or your local forum?

    And most important: are you an expat or an immigrant?

    Bit of both, and happy for it.

    I’m not stuck in some gated British community out on the coast, doing my best to avoid anything Spanish, but at the same time I’m definitely still English and support English athletes in sport… Tebbit’s cricket test was bollocks when he said it, and still is. You can be perfectly well integrated into a foreign culture, yet still maintain links to your parent country.

    Edukator
    Free Member

    You can be perfectly well integrated into a foreign culture, yet still maintain links to your parent country.

    True, Mogrim. I didn’t really have time when in business, but in 02 I gave up work and in 04 started posting on BM and here which provided a better insight into what was happening in the real-world UK than any newspaper or TV channel ever could. The Net has made communication and maintaining links a lot easier. I’ve met up with two English friends this year.

    That said, in 26 years the UK has changed, I’ve changed and lots of water has flowed under the bridge. Trips to the UK are quite a challenge, the place feels distinctly foreign. A trip to London is now exciting, especially with a French 15 year old in tow.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    So why can’t you go biking every weekend in the UK?

    ir_bandito
    Free Member

    Come back! We miss you!


    Where’s JT? by ir_bandito, on Flickr

    Kahurangi
    Full Member

    Now that’s emotional blackmail 🙂

    😥

    konabunny
    Free Member

    I’m not getting involved in the Holden vs GMC wars

    Holden is GM. Ford is the other one.

    repatriot
    Free Member

    Its a decision only you can make.
    From my own experience we decided to move back to the uk after 8 years in Perth, mainly because of family and maybe a bit of seven year itch but I knew even before we left that I would regret it.
    We had dual nationalities so knew we could go back in the future.
    We never really settled though the first few years where great we hated winter and sumer well what summer well until this year which is ironic!
    My wifes work was so pressurised she nearly had a break down several times and I just didn’t earn as much as I could in Oz. We really missed the Australian quality of life and the ocean and the lack of gates and styles on every ride 😉
    So we are now just about to go back for the second time and give it a another go.
    Its taken 2 years to make this decision and to find an area we want to live as we didn’t want to live in Perth
    again.
    Its a familiar story, everyone who has ever moved over seas has been through it, I think its a choice we have to make but there was a reason you left and its still there and Britain isn’t getting any better!

    NonStopNun
    Free Member

    Stay in NZ as I doubt that the NHS will last many more years as we know it .

    Mackem
    Full Member

    I do think you have to move for positive reasons. Not because “UK is crap” but because location X has xyz.

    NZCol
    Full Member

    A topic dear to my heart. Have been in NZ for 13 years, mainly because it was easy and a nice place to be. Since first child the pull of family has been strong, my wife is from the UK as well so beyond the friends and life aspect we have no ties to the place. Having been offered a job in the UK based in Edinburgh we’ve decided to sell up and move back for a while. Nothing ventured etc. yes it will be different but you can be miserable anywhere. Having my mum on the doorstep will be nice, siblings and old friends etc, I will miss my view and commute but we are keeping a house there for holidays ! Bring on decent curries.

    felt
    Free Member

    We moved back to the UK after nearly 7 years living in Queensland. Don’t earn quite as much in the UK but found it was becoming expensive to live in Australia anyway. All the family have settled straight back into life in the UK, it’s like we have never been away (apart from the kids having Australian accents!). Definitely don’t regret our time over there and made some great friends, but we are all glad to be back home in the UK.

    barnsleymitch
    Free Member

    We’re off to Oz for a month next winter, primarily for a holiday and to visit family, but also to look into the prospects of a permanent move. We had planned, about ten years ago, to emigrate, were well on the way with visas, etc, when Mrs Mitch got cold feet and decided it wasn’t right for her. At the time, I was devastated, but over the years I’ve become less driven in wanting to emigrate. However, since her brother moved to Melbourne a few years ago, my wife has gradually come round to the idea that it might provide a better future for us as a family. I’m excited by the thought of it, but am trying to be realistic. I know we’d be slightly better off financially, but I’m trying to figure out if we’d actually have a better quality of life, which I guess you’d only know by experiencing it first hand. I’d hate to reach retirement age and think ‘what if’. The other concern I have is regarding our youngest lad (he’s 8), who has a developmental delay / mild learning difficulties. Other than being statemented, which means he gets the extra support he needs in school, we’ve had sod all in the way of help or advice from local services. I’m not sure if things would be better or worse in Australia, and we’re struggling to gather any meaningful information about this. It kinda goes without saying that looking into this will be our primary objective while we’re over there.

    Kahurangi
    Full Member

    @NZCol – thanks. It’ll be interesting to see how you find it, as it would be similar circumstances that would bring us back to the UK eventually (for a while). I’d want to give my kids opportunities to get to know and play with their uncles, aunts and cousins, but definitely to experience life in other places, too. E live in the middle east, Australia and all over as a child before her family settled in Yorkshire and she’s keen to give our family the best experiences possible too 🙂

    @Mackem – I don’t think that (despite Politics, culture, food and the weather) the UK sucks, which is why we’d consider moving back.

    @konabunny – point taken 😆

    @barnsleymitch – best of luck with your search

    iolo
    Free Member

    I’m in Vienna but currently am back in Wales receiving treatment.
    If Austria had the health service of the uk it would be perfect.
    Every one knocks the nhs but there’s much worse out there. If you want good you have to pay a lot.

    Poopsies
    Free Member

    Also in NZ but in Auckland for my sins. My wife went home last year for a visit so my son and I took the chance to have a bit of a road trip. I have no real desire to go home until we do actually go home, but I am definitely not settled in Auckland. I get around a lot with work and am pretty convinced I’d be a lot happier in pretty much every other part of NZ other than Auckland (except maybe Hamilton). Have plans to try to move to Welly in the new year.

    If I could go back to the UK every year, for not much money and for a week or so just to say hi to people, I would. As it is, it’s too expensive and too far.

    I am worried about actually moving back permanently. We are going to have to do it for family reasons but I’m not convinced I’m going to settle back there. Having said that, I miss the Peak a shitload.

    Down in Chch next week, as it goes. Am planning to start bringing my bike when it gets lighter.

    Poopsies
    Free Member

    NZCol – the only place I can find in NZ for a decent curry is Great India in on Manners St…

    turboferret
    Full Member

    I’m not quite an ex-pat, but I’ve been abroad pretty much full-time for most of the past 10 years I’ve been with my current employer. Been in India for the past 3 1/2 years, will most likely by 5 before I move on. Will it be back to the UK, don’t know, will see what’s on the cards when the time comes…

    I do pop back occasionally, generally just for a couple of days while passing through either for work or holiday. I must say while I miss certain aspects of the UK, I’m not desperate to return any time soon.

    The fact that my (probably soon to be ex) wife no longer wants me to come back may however influence this to a certain extent 😕

    Cheers, Rich

    10
    Full Member

    I’m getting about ready to go home.

    Marmoset
    Free Member

    2 years into our stint in Perth (did someone mention drinks? 🙂 )and we’re applying for permament residency but still have this feeling that we may go back to the UK. It ultimately depends where you’re life is going to more comfortable/flexible IMHO – no point moving somewhere to make it harder on yourself. The main draw back to the UK would be family and friends, but if it works out over here then unpaid leave can be taken and big holidays to go with it.

    I do miss my UK riding buddies and mud though, I can understand the stuff and ride on it, pea gravel is the devils work, makes you feel all comfortable then suddenly dumps you!

    WildHunter2009
    Full Member

    Another one of the Perth contingent here, just over 2 years in. Currently really loving it here, weathers great, the riding seems to get better every month, i’m even getting the hang of the dreaded pea gravel. My girlfriend is a local which has really helped with meeting people. I go through phases of really missing home, currently all of my friends seem to be getting engaged and married and it does feel like your missing out being so far away.
    I think we will probably stay here for a few more years to build a sizeable nest egg then try the uk for a few years to see how she likes it.
    On a random note, how much fun are the new gungin trails!

    NZCol
    Full Member

    It is always interesting when one half is from somewhere and is ‘home’ versus neither of you being from the place you have moved too. That’s our issue. If one of us was from nz then we would have some family there. As it stands we don’t have anyone within about 12000 miles ! Life is life. The grass may be greener literally and figuratively but it is what you make it as well as your location.

    RoterStern
    Free Member

    I haven’t lived in the UK since the late 90’s. I have been here in Germany for 13 years and though I do sometimes miss some aspects of life in the UK I have no real inclination to move back. The other half is German and she bases her valuation of life in the UK with London life and so with a relatively large family she’s reluctant to move there. My main problem really is my parents missing out on seeing their grandkids (they have never seen our youngest in the flesh; only on Skype) and with my mother being not well enough to travel the logistics of traveling with a family of six makes it difficult for us.

    cchris2lou
    Full Member

    French expat here, been living in the UK since 1996.
    I would go back to France tomorrow if I could.

    konabunny
    Free Member

    I’m not quite an ex-pat, but I’ve been abroad pretty much full-time for most of the past 10 years I’ve been with my current employer. Been in India for the past 3 1/2 years, will most likely by 5 before I move on. Will it be back to the UK, don’t know, will see what’s on the cards when the time comes…

    I don’t get it – how are you not an expat?

    antigee
    Full Member

    barnsleymitch – Member

    We’re off to Oz for a month …….her brother moved to Melbourne a few years ago, my wife has gradually come round to the idea that it might provide a better future for us as a family. …. The other concern I have is regarding our youngest lad (he’s 8), who has a developmental delay / mild learning difficulties. Other than being statemented, which means he gets the extra support he needs in school, …I’m not sure if things would be better or worse in Australia, and we’re struggling to gather any meaningful information about this…”

    sadly think you will find the Oz system of dealing with kids with additional needs is even slower than the UK – having said that it is recognised that it is a problem and big reforms are being driven thru (google Gonski) and generally schools are much better resourced than in the UK – we moved to Melbourne a year ago and our primary age daughter has a medical condition which needs daily and emergency medication – went to school today to swop an out of date injection kit and the school nurse (yes school nurse!) asked me to check thru the file for any notes that didn’t make sense – pulled out and binned some stuff with UK contact numbers and then a detailed summary of how to do an injection – I said looks good but I would usually tell people just give the pack to a paramedic unless more than 30minutes away – she explained it had been written for class teacher for school camp as nearest hospital was an hour away in the UK I had to go on school trips

    Primary schools are well resourced but beware some developing way out suburbs = a lot more houses than resources primary schools big 600+ isn’t unusual and like anywhere very variable – Oz attitude tends to MTFU but not so much to kids

    antigee
    Full Member

    too late to edit but forgot to say an oddity (ex pat speak?) of Oz school system is that kids sort of start when parents think ok so a year class can have kids with quite a big age range so “dropping a year” possibly wouldn’t be a big deal

    alpin
    Free Member

    Agree re turboferrit…. Surely you’re an expat, not an immigrant.

    I’ve been in the Vaterland for the past 5,5 years. I live in Munich which is a very nice place to be… Much nicer than east London/Essex. I’ve no plans in the near future to return.I enjoy life here,I earn good money (self-employed), we have a nice flat (albeit about on par with London prices), the alps are close by, the summers are good, the winters are white.

    I’ve settled in well. Have only got one English speaking mate, but I speak Scherman well enough that I’m accepted by the natives.

    Certain things piss me off here, but equally so things pissed me off in the UK, too.

    It’s true that things change whilst you are away. Things are never quite as you remembered them, except the Wheatsheaf pub. My relationship with my old man has improved since leaving, yet my folks haven’t been over once in all the time I’ve been here.
    I don’t know whether I’ll stay here for all my years. In fact, I doubt I will.
    If I were to return to the UK I wouldn’t be heading back to the south east.

Viewing 32 posts - 41 through 72 (of 72 total)

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