One year

Over the weekend Adam and I celebrated our one year anniversary of moving to England. I can’t believe how incredibly fast the last 12 months has gone. I can still vividly remember walking into the arrivals hall at Birmingham Airport on October 29, 2016, exhausted after almost 30 hours of travel, and meeting Adam’s family for the very first time…

Moving to a foreign country, even one where the culture, customs and language are similar, is daunting. You’re out of your comfort zone and for me, I felt a bit child-like for the first few months I was in Worcestershire – I was meek, but everyday I saw, heard or learnt something new. With that knowledge came confidence and slowly but surely I felt like I morphed back into ‘me’.

I was and am still amazed by the beauty that surrounds me here in England. It’s not often a place listed as having ‘amazing natural sights’, yet everywhere I go I find there are stunning landscapes, villages so quaint they border on twee and locals happy to chat to a talkative, inquisitive Australian.

I’ve been welcomed wholeheartedly by Adam’s family and now we’re engaged, theytruly feel like my own. There are ‘in-jokes’, I know how everyone takes their tea and I’ve got no hesitation in popping over to visit relatives with or without Adam.  I’ve also made some wonderful friends and I love the fact I now regularly run into people I know while running errands around town.

Moving to a temperate climate was always going to be a challenge for a girl who grew up on the Queensland coast, but I’ve been quite amazed at how quickly I’ve managed to adapt to northern hemisphere living. When Adam and I first moved to England I was regularly wearing a heavy, padded coat with a lioness like faux-fur trimmed hood. These days I regard a 17 degrees as a ‘quite warm’ and have gotten used to the regular drizzle.

I still very much sound like an Australian but my skin has paled and my hair darkened.  I now own an olive green, waxed cotton jacket, complete with elbow patches and corduroy trim but I’ll still take Vegemite over Marmite on my toast.

Personally I think I’ve grown as a person too. I’ve learnt to be more spontaneous, allowed myself to be more creative, lived a little more slowly and realised that you don’t need a lot of possessions or clothing to be happy.

On a soppy note, I think I’ve fallen even more in love with Adam since we arrived in England. The initial decision to leave Australia, followed by the logistics of moving abroad, setting up home in a new place, finding work and just getting by week-to-week has cemented the fact that together we’re a formidable team. Being able to see him with his family, learn more about his history, meet his friends and get engaged in his childhood home town has also been amazingly special.

Moving to the U.K. has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and although I’m still very much Australian, I can’t help but feel I am now just a tiny bit English too.  The next 12 months feels like it’s full of any number of possibilities. I’ll be sharing more about what the future holds soon, but until then…

Have a wonderful week. x