You know it's easy to say...
'lucky cow, wish I had an opportunity like that, you wouldn't hear me moaning, it can't be THAT bad, you've got the sunshine, your family are healthy, why are you complaining so much'
go on I know that's what some of you are thinking
'how hard can it be to open a bank account and rent a house and buy a car? We've all done it, moved that is....had the trauma's of something getting broken, the chain falling through, it raining on removal day, an outstanding bill we forgot to pay, something we left behind, the kids playing up, having to settle them into a new school, coupled with your Partner starting a new job'
Well let me tell you it's very hard.....
There isn't a manual on moving to the other side of the world...there was endless help from family and friends in the UK prior to us leaving, you remember how stressful it was...but there was NOBODY here when we arrived...there are many of you that have done it and you have all been fantastic....seriously the advice I've had in a moment of crisis has been amazing, the phone calls, emails and tweets have kept me going....but even then each move abroad for each family is different, some of you are packed up and shipped out to a new home and life but your companies, some of you have done it all by yourselves, some of you have done it numerous times and there's nothing that you coould have told me that would have made it any easier.....
'So what's your biggest problem then, Suzanne?'
Well we're all speaking the same language...sometimes, but I really struggle with the accents, especially over the phone and it seems to be the way here that if you say you don't understand, they just raise their voice, which doesn't actually help....explaining that you're English and don't understand how things work here, isn't really helping either....the response of 'well you did these things in the UK didn't you?' doesn't actually mean anything, because unless you understand how things are done in the UK you can't understand how very, very different they are done here.
'So what can we do to help you?'
To be honest, nothing, you're not here, you don't have a clue any more than I do about how you sort things out, your impression of the country is one of sunshine, crime and violence, you don't really know it's still a 3rd world country, the poverty, yet the friendliness of the people, the racism directed at the English and the Domestic staff, (still called servants by many) the slow pace of the country and no you can't compare it to a sleepy English market town or Sunday afternoon drivers...you have to live here to understand....
So come and visit, see this fantastic lifestyle we have, keep me company for two weeks, let me drive you around the Safari parks and the nature reserves and take you shopping in this safe and beautiful country....but you won't see the troubles, the fear we felt on arrival, experience the loneliness because we'll be together, having a laugh and a fun time.....
