Big decision time

Lindsey & Dave finally set the date for moving back home. When I mentioned it to Clive, he said that we should also set the date for going to Australia. This statement left me in a bit of the shock and lots of confusion as I didn’t think he was keen to move there. He says he was prompted by my homesickness and unhappiness about Cat growing up away from the rest of my family. I don’t really know my grandparents as we lived on the other side of Russia from them and I really don’t want my mum, dad and sister to be total strangers to Cat.

So last few days instead of trying to weight up pros and cons of staying in UK and going back to Oz , I was dumbly playing the images of the possible Australian life in my head. I’m usually very good at making decisions, but this one scares me as it will affect so many other people. And I’m also terrified of having to examine my feelings as deep-down I know how much I miss my family and how comfortable & relaxed I feel in Australia.

While Clive says that he’ll be happy with any decision I make, if we move to Oz he’ll be even further away from his Cape Town family and will have to start his life again in the new place. On the other hand there will be plenty of people happy to see me (and my new family) back in Melbourne, who will warmly welcome him.

It will be sad to leave Julia (I long ago started thinking of her as part of my family, as another sister) behind in UK and there are plenty of other old & new friends currently living in London, who I’ll miss. But for many of them London is a temporary location and eventually they’ll move away. With Polina and Jack moving back to Melbourne at the beginning of 2008 and my mum saying that they’ll consider coming back as well there is a strong possibility that the main members of my family will be in one location again (I miss our huge family dinners and BBQs).

The other main considerations are jobs and accommodation. I like my job here – I got bored with the everyday tasks, but there are plenty of new possibilities and the people are great. I have no idea about the current state of IT job market in Oz/Melbourne. And as Jack pointed out the real estate prices went up even higher, but using my flat as guarantee and any money saved in UK we probably still can buy a much nicer place than we would be able to afford in London. And at first we can always be very comfortable in my flat (Who wants to relive the old times and have a New Year Celebration there again? ;-) Though I have to inform you that Ross (the neighbour who always complained and once called police) sold his flat and moved away).

I’ll miss London museums, theatres, Barbican (my favourite place in London!), the history on every street corner, the proximity to Europe. But I doubt I’ll be able to do much travelling/socializing with a small child and Melbourne has enough cultural activities to keep me entertained. I’m also under impression that Australia is baby friendlier. And while London has all the benefits of big city living, I love Australian outdoors and miss bushwalking, the fresh air, the open spaces.

My mum & Clive mentioned few times that Cat will need a sibling soon. I always wanted to have a large family, but don’t want to go through pregnancy and childbirth in London again. While both were easy and almost perfect, I felt very lonely without close everyday support of my family. I think it would be so much nicer to experience pregnancy in Australia where I can share my thoughts and feelings with my mum and friends, who have kids.

These are just some of my thoughts and (as you can probably see) it looks like I want to be back. I’ll have to talk to Clive a bit more before making the final decision. If I decide that it is time to move to Australia we’ll have to wait until the end of Clive’s 2-year mortgage period (May 2008) and will probably come back at the end of my current visa (10 August 2008).

Anyone has any opinions? Anything to say? Please comment or send me email.