We had been living in Brussels for 14 months and rather liked it. We didn't speak the language but I had managed to make a few friends in the local expat community and with the parliaments generous living allowance we didn't have any financial problems for once.
However DHs secondment was coming to an end and we would have to head back to the UK in a few months time. This meant back to the daily 4 hour commute for DH and back to buying value food and worrying about going into the overdraft. We didn't really fancy this.
DH started to look around for alternatives to heading back to the UK. He tried for a job in Manchester and looked at things in Paris. None of which I was that keen on. So he spotted a job in Wellington, New Zealand. Well we had both decided long ago that if we were going to live abroad permanently it would be Canada or New Zealand - so I told him to go for it. Thinking that he was unlikely to get and I needn't think about it seriously till then. Well two days before Christmas 2009 and we get the email - he has the job.
"Bugger" is the first thing that goes through my mind. Now I really had to think about what i wanted. DH wanted to go for it, and I could understand where he was coming from. New Zealand is meant to be one of the best places to raise children, has an excellent education system, fantastic open spaces and a good standard of living. However it doesn't have my family in it. I am very close to my family and I have often said that what i really want is to live in the same town as my parents and brother and sister (my DH surprisingly is not that keen on this idea!). Well if we were in New Zealand this wasn't going to happen. My grandparents were getting older - what would we do when they went - how would we afford to travel home? I began to panic and told DH we couldn't go.
He accepted this but I could see he was disappointed. This led to many sleepless nights and several animated discussions. One of which DD1 overheard and repeated to my mother over the phone. You have to be so careful what you say in front of a four year old.
In the end I decided that we should go for it. This was as a result of many conversations but mainly down to my Grandad and Nan. They repeatedly said we should go for it and that we shouldn't waste any opportunities we get in life. Well this was one hell of an opportunity we were being given.
Neither of us had ever been to New Zealand or even south of the equator but we decided that we would make the move to the other side of the world. So this blog is about us, that's me, my DH (husband), DD1 (daughter no.1) and DD2 (daughter no.2) relocating and making a life for ourselves in Wellington New Zealand.
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