Repatriation

[Eralc]

I'm not sure living overseas is totally the right place for this, but I guess some people here will have experience of returning "home" after a period overseas. We return to the uk in 8 weeks time after 2 years in Sydney, and the closer it gets the more mixed my feelings become. I am really looking forward to getting back closer to the family, but equally am a bit worried that after 2 years with very few obligations to anyone and demands on our time that it might get a bit stifling. I'm also worried about how easy it will be to slot back into our old house and old life almost - I know I've changed a lot over the last2 years, and I know things won't be the same back home, and I am a bit worried that I will just feel out of place I guess. And at the same time, I'm worried that nothing will be different and living over here will just seem like a dream. We're also moving back to a small town after living in the city, and I think that might be hard to readjust to - much less going on! And ds(4) is very happy over here, and is already getting a bit upset about leaving his friends - I know he will be fine in the long run, but it doesn't help when I'm feeling a bit fragile!

It's such a mixed feeling - I really do love Sydney, and know that it's unlikely we will be coming back any time soon (on the grounds it's not the sort of place you can just pop back to!), but I'm also excited to be moving back as well.

If anyone has any top tips for how to make the move back and reintegration go as smoothly as possible, then I'd be really grateful.

Eralc
I was just about to post about a very similar thing! We are in Europe and will return to the UK in the next few months - its only just happened. Im really sad and I dont want to go! Everytime I think of it I want to cry ATM.

We have 3 DC, and it will be very hard to tell our eldest (6.5) who is happy in school here. It will be a huge change and disruption. I know the success of the move back, and our integration etc is down to me and my attitude to it/energy I put in. We have the complication of schools, and that its not really feasible to go back to our old house (we have had 2 DS while away). I know I am lucky that Ive had this opportunity and I have changed too. I just feel Im getting my life back together after having 2 prem babies close together.

So, I will watch the thread and hope that someone can share some pearls of wisdom to help us!

Good luck!

I did it in August. DD and are now living in NW England. I think she's found it the hardest TBH. She had never lived in England and had very few cultural anchors/references. Compared to Brit children she is quite naive in many ways, but sophisticated in others.
When DH and I told her she would be leaving Belgium, she cried and cried. Luckily I was able to fly back with her to see her new school and she was able to spend the day there. Is that possible for you?
She is as happy as Larry now on the whole, although did have a row with a girl who ripped the piss out of her for not knowing where Tenerife is.

I haven't done it as I am still expat after 14 years so I might be talking bollocks . But I think you should treat it a bit like an expatriation! Explore the surroundings (especially with your DS), visits schools and play areas, new parks...
You will have a month or so of setting up things: register to the GP, bank, tax... same as an expatriation, sending new address cards, visit families.

Don't expect to fall into place right where you left. Meet with your old friends but you can check if there is groups (MN local?...)/meetings going on around you to make new friends.

Expect to have a "homesickness" after a few months for the country you left, exactly the same as an expat. And be upset/annoyed by all the things which doesn't work properly in the UK and that you probably have never noticed before.

Your DS will be fine, but expect him to be unsettle and have to work to fit in. He will probably be in advance in some things and late in others compared to his peer. Make sure you comfort him and push his advantages. Is he going to school straight away or not until next sept?

From my own brief experience, especially if comign back from Oz (or US), it will feel like you are driving around toy-town.
But if you treat it like a new adventure, which is probably easier with a new home, you should be fine. Do be prepared for homesickness (I have had it for Scotland, Oxford as well as the US). But through yourself into new activities.
Your lives have moved on and so have your friends. For some it will be like you are the new girl at school, for others they will have moved on from you entirely, for others you might try but something will be missing (its a bit like going home during the vacation from Uni).

I'm sure it will be fine in the end.