When I started this blog I thought it would be a good idea to share about my experiences as a repat, what it is like to make the transition back to my own country after living abroad. I didn't realise just how difficult that transition would be. Not only did simply make a change from one country to another, but we were moving from a stable situation where we were doing fairly well and lookinging forward to start exploring the country we had been living in for 2 years, into a totally unstable, scary, crippling, disfunctional, dark and distorted situation which we would feel the impact of for many months to come. I thought it would be great to share about my experiences, but they were so out of the ordinary and so depressing. I thought it would be a great release, but it turned out that I was so crippled with fear and saddness that even the simplest of activities took more effort than I could muster up. I could not even find the motivation to enjoy any of my numerous hobbies.
So that is why this blog never really took off. That and, I'm really not a writer and I can never put things in just such a way to really describe my feelings or a situation in the right way.
So I will lay this blog to rest, for the random few of you who check in every so often to see if there is anything new. For you and for those who stumble across this blog looking for the experiences of an expat or a repat, I would like to refer you to my friend at Potential and Expectations. Though her situation is a bit different (married to a British husband, has two wee girls, lived in England, and lived abroad much longer than me), I can truely relate to much of what she says. The fears, struggles, and worries, the suprise and the differences, homesickness, learning new systems or trying to remember what was tucked away for so long. And she says it so eloquently.
So with this, I will take my leave of this blog.
Saturday 24 May 2008
Monday 3 March 2008
Why most Americans don't travel outside the US
Josh started a new job 5 weeks ago. After one year of employment he will get one (1) week of holiday. After 3 years of employment he will get two weeks of holiday. After 10 years, three weeks. Whoop-dee-doo. He does not even get any personal days. He has to find someone to cover his shift if he needs a day off. Even then they ask if he can be on call.
Tuesday 12 February 2008
Six-Month Slump
For the last few weeks I have REALLY been missing Scotland. I think of it every day and when I see pictures I sigh. I was wondering if it was the weather. It has been a very dreek winter, just like Scotland, only MUCH colder. Last week we had a thick haar, only not haar because it didn't roll in off the sea. :)
Last week I was thinking about 'the six-month slump' that most expats get. When relocating to another country, as stressful as it is, it is still very exciting. A new place, a new culture, new food, new styles, new accent (or language). Everything is new and for a while it is fun. But I think they say that at about six months it is not as much fun anymore and expats start to miss home, or just something FAMILIAR.
I hit it really hard at about 4 months, naturally because that was Christmas. I was just tired of constantly having to learn new, basic things, like 'can I get tinned pumpkin anywhere in this country!?' Work was overworking me, we didn't have many friends and the friends we did have were away for the holidays, family was far away, our Christmas decorations were sparse, the sun (when it decided to show it's face) was only up for about 5 hours a day (and it still sat very low in the south). It was a depressing time.
So when I was thinking of all this last week, it hit me that we have now been back in the States for six months. I wondered if many repats felt this. Of course I missed Scotland when we first moved over (even before we moved!) and our situation was a tough one, but I began to realise that we were back here permanently. I didn't think of Scotland daily.
Now I have to remind myself of the things I didn't like while we were there: the taxes, high cost of living, my work, dreek winters (hmmm), our small fridge and miniature kitchen ;).
Of course there are good things about being back here. I don't want it to sound like I am unhappy. This is all just part of the experience.
Last week I was thinking about 'the six-month slump' that most expats get. When relocating to another country, as stressful as it is, it is still very exciting. A new place, a new culture, new food, new styles, new accent (or language). Everything is new and for a while it is fun. But I think they say that at about six months it is not as much fun anymore and expats start to miss home, or just something FAMILIAR.
I hit it really hard at about 4 months, naturally because that was Christmas. I was just tired of constantly having to learn new, basic things, like 'can I get tinned pumpkin anywhere in this country!?' Work was overworking me, we didn't have many friends and the friends we did have were away for the holidays, family was far away, our Christmas decorations were sparse, the sun (when it decided to show it's face) was only up for about 5 hours a day (and it still sat very low in the south). It was a depressing time.
So when I was thinking of all this last week, it hit me that we have now been back in the States for six months. I wondered if many repats felt this. Of course I missed Scotland when we first moved over (even before we moved!) and our situation was a tough one, but I began to realise that we were back here permanently. I didn't think of Scotland daily.
Now I have to remind myself of the things I didn't like while we were there: the taxes, high cost of living, my work, dreek winters (hmmm), our small fridge and miniature kitchen ;).
Of course there are good things about being back here. I don't want it to sound like I am unhappy. This is all just part of the experience.
Wednesday 6 February 2008
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