Life in the UK - 6 months on.

We moved to the UK in June 2021. Originally from the UK, we left in January 2011, 11 years ago for 4 years in South Africa and 7 years in Dubai.

We kept our house in the UK and rented it out, recovering it from tenants in December 2019. In 2016 we bought a flat in South Wales for somewhere to stay when we visited and I started spending more time in the UK, as the kids left home and school. 

Covid caused us to change our plans for our move to the UK. The plan had been for me to travel back and forth to Dubai or joining Peter on his travels, to have house/pet sitters until 2023. I relocated the cat and dog here in January 2020, made my first trip to Dubai in March 2020, then had a swift return to the UK as covid broke and borders closed.

By the time Peter visited the UK in September 2020, we made the decision to leave in June 2021 and for Peter to retire, 2 years early. 

Although we've returned to the same house we lived in before starting our expat journey, it is without kids, we have new neighbours, making new friends and keeping in touch with old ones. We can now spend more time with the ever growing family.

We haven't just moved back though, in many ways we've relocated, moved to a country that has changed in regards to the way things are done and whilst we've bought property, been landlords, kept UK sims, kept bank accounts, paid bills etc, the way in which things are done now are very different.

Also we've been used to doing things the Dubai way. From customer service, to buying and selling things as well us setting up utilities, paying bills. It's all done very differently. In Dubai, everything is paid up front, from house rent, buying a car, insurances, deposits for utilities and everything is linked to an ID card. 

Whilst we've been abroad we've continued to pay for everything up front in the UK, now we are back all the companies want us to have everything on direct debit. It's been easy to set things up as we've maintained a credit history and bank accounts here, plus we haven't required a visa to move here and have been able to buy a sim card in a local shop and not have to register it.

Here are some other things we find are different:

The UK is mostly self service, you pay for bags and no one packs them for you like they do in South Africa and Dubai.

The internet is consistent and you can make video calls freely through apps. Video calls were blocked in Dubai and internet was slow and limited in South Africa.

The TV freeview channels are great in the UK but it is expensive to watch the sport and movies. They were free on the basic TV package in Dubai. But British TV is driving me mad. The shows commissioned are very good for dramas and I do enjoy the soaps and quiz shows, however the amount of reality shows and shows with ordinary folk and minor celebs cooking, sewing, making pots, singing, dancing etc are driving me up the wall. Its lazy TV same format just a different topic. 

It is safer to drive on the roads in the UK, using your phone is illegal, seat belts are worn, no tail gating like you had in Dubai. Night time driving in Dubai was safer with everywhere lit up. In South Africa there was always the fear of being hijacked and driving at night was dangerous, mainly due to pot holes and animals wandering. Mind you I did a lot of damage to my car in the UK last year, when I hit a badger late at night. Car parking spaces are bigger in Dubai. South Africa had car guards who helped you park.

The weather is better in South Africa, not too hot, not too wet and not too cold. Dubai is too hot half the year and the UK is well...... you know.

Houses in Dubai are more expensive, houses in South Africa give you more for your money in terms of space but you have to pay for security. Houses in the UK are insulated, have small rooms, but easy to heat in the winter.

The post works in the UK and is delivered through your door. In Dubai you had to have a PO Box Number as there was no street delivery and in South Africa you'd be lucky if it didn't get stolen.

I don't have a preference in regards to where I live, although I did prefer South Africa to Dubai in regards to lifestyle and the weather. I'm just happy to be in one place for as long as we choose to be, our own home, no company in charge of visas, no flights to visit family (other than a son in Northern Ireland and one in Australia). 

We said once we returned to the UK, we'd decide if we were to stay in our family home or move somewhere else near by. We're having a new kitchen fitted and have plans for an extension in the spring as well as starting decorating. I don't see us moving for a good few years, if at all, as long as we can both manage the stairs as we get older.

Week 3 2022 One Daily Positive and Project 365

I had my first time in a small space with mostly strangers in a village hall for a party and not wearing a mask. First time I've done something like this in a long time. We did attend a wedding in June but it was socially distanced and masks were worn in the church and an outdoor garden reception. The wedding disco was held a few months later, but in a large and well ventilated hotel and most people enjoyed the summer sun on the terrace outdoors. 

I've not been feeling well all week since eating a donut last Friday and birthday cake on Saturday. I never had stomach issues before with wheat, only migraines, but I've had a bloated belly and indigestion. I won't be doing that again.

Kitchen installation in its 3rd week, but to be fair we've stripped it right back, had new electrics and lights, plumbing and plastering done. The back wall is finished and the base units are all fixed in place.

15 Saturday Neighbours 2 year olds birthday party in a village hall, lovely afternoon and I got to meet some new people. I decorated and iced cakes and biscuits and helped set up and tidy away.

16 Sunday We took Child 1 out for a Sunday lunch and purchased the wall tiles for the kitchen.

Presents from child 1 for us, her brothers and niblings.

17 Monday Early start for my job interview, they telephoned within an hour of me leaving to offer me the post, subject to DBS check and references. Will start sometime mid February. I walked home via the coffee shop. Nothing happened all afternoon other than watching the TV. Negative LFT.

18 Tuesday I spent the morning with the DBS check and submitted my self assessment tax return, then took Bob for a walk up the hills with a friend and her dog and sat outside for a coffee.

19 Wednesday I walked to the laundrette with my trolley, very impressed. Washed, dried in an hour and al for £6. Did some blogging, paid some bills, made some birthday cards and wrote letters. Negative LFT.

Everyone loves the colour, however this is just the protective film and we keep wishing we'd gone with this colour now.

20 Thursday Off to Gloucester to meet DIL and grandchild for some lunch and shopping.

21 Friday Another trip to the laundrette with the towels for the past 2 weeks, rest of the day spent pretty much the same as Wednesday. Chips and wine in the evening with friend and then kept awake late into the night after a 999 call to report criminal damage at a property opposite.

I've rediscovered my love for toasted sandwiches

On the blog this week:

Everybody has good neighbours? Don't they? Well we do.

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`Week 2 One Daily Positive Project 365 - New Kitchen and issues.

A few things have irritated me this week. I'm easily irritated, but I'm no where near as stressed as I used to be, mainly because I'm irritated by things in the UK and I'm in the UK to be able to deal with things easily.

When we ordered the kitchen the appliances were chosen for us based on availability, it now appears the order wasn't placed until this week and guess what? Up to 12 weeks for delivery. So we've changed the cooker hood, hob and oven for ones that are available within the next few weeks and we'll keep our current fridge/freezer in the conservatory for 4-6 weeks until the integrated ones arrive. Thankfully our builder is one of our oldest friends so we're fairly relaxed about it all.

We also got our deposit back from the tenant who absconded in October. The rental agents really needed chasing up and I'm still battling with property management at the flat for the leak in another flat to be fixed as it's affecting our flat and we can't sell it until it's resolved and we can make repairs at the other owners cost.

I sold the washing machine this week. What's the best price? Does it work? Send photos of the inside of the drum and the drawer. It's 2 years old, hardly used, was £350 and I sold it for £80. I would rather donate goods than go through this palaver again.

I had a horrible encounter with a horrible man who wanted to sit next to me on a bench and when I said no, he said I was being silly, but I had no choice but to move me and the dog to another place, I said he was very selfish expecting me to move, he didn't care. People like him are the reason why we're still wearing masks and socially distancing.

8 Saturday Peter caught the train to London to meet up with an ex colleague who is over to settle his kids into Uni, I did some food shopping, tidied up a little, walked the dog and paid some bills. I drove to Worcester to my shift at the vaccine centre as it's a late finish and I didn't fancy the walk home from the station in the dark on my own.

9 Sunday Working 10-4, I caught the train in and Peter collected me and we stopped off for a late Sunday lunch on the way home. Evening spent completing application forms and submitting timesheets. 

10 Monday Peter and Simon got on with the kitchen, the floor tiles have been laid. I did some tidying up and popped out for a food shop to cook on the camping stove and pop in the slow cooker. Went for a walk with the dog, the neighbour and her two children with the hope of getting the older one to sleep. mission accomplished.

Washing up in the bath.

11 Tuesday Bob and I walked into town and had a coffee, Bob decided he wanted to walk to town via the Malvern Hills. Afternoon spent on the laptop and I got offered an interview at the school for next week.

12 Wednesday Early start to Monmouth to put the washing machine on in the flat and check on the work Peter has done in the bathroom. Dropped curtains with mum, called into see grandchild and dropped birthday gifts with a friend, had a socially distanced cup of tea, home late.

Mould growing back after we removed the plaster board, dried the wall out and replastered.

13 Thursday Boy next door turned 2, I called in with his birthday present and used their oven to bake fairy cakes for his party on Saturday. We had a Chinese for tea.

Making cake toppers.

14 Friday Kitchen cabinets arrived, the back wall has been installed minus the fridge and freezer, the rest will be put in next week, for now everything is being stored in the lounge. Used the neighbours oven to bake more gingerbread, cut out dinosaur icing shapes and then friend/neighbour joined us for our first weekly chip and wine night of 2022.

Housing units for fridge and freezer, I won't be able to reach the top shelves.

On the blog this week:

Reinventing my identity 

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