Breaking the news to family about immigration...

[PieterleRoux]

Almost 3 months in Australia... Brisbane is a great!!!

 

However... The weather in Brisbane has been oversold 😀 This place gets quite cold in the winter. Definitely colder than Durban

[ChrisH]

On 6/14/2022 at 7:37 AM, PieterleRoux said:

The weather in Brisbane has been oversold

 

This is absolutely not the norm, according to some news sources its the coldest its been here in a 100 years.  This was definitely the coldest its been since we got here 5 years ago!

 

Source

[PieterleRoux]

Seems like 2022 has been rough on the weather front... We were cut off with the latest floods (College Crossings under water for over 2 weeks) so had to do detour to get kids to school (5min that took 1h15min). Everyone just kept commenting that this is not normal. 

 

We have a few boxes still on the way (sentimental stuff and most of our winter clothes) and are kicking ourselves for not packing some of that in our check in luggage. But it is looking better today, so will see 😀

[PieterleRoux]

So we've been in Australia now for just over 8 months. Been quite the journey, but really enjoying every moment of it. 

 

Thought to give a quick update on family and friends and how the news about the move is actually played out more than a year later.

 

Although we expected some resistance from specific family members, we did not anticipate the way some reacted. We've lost contact with some "close" family a year ago now (the main family which motivated me in starting this thread). It's not been easy to just lose this family, and I really wish we could have remained civil. They would have been so proud to see how good the kids are doing and the amazing opportunities they have.

 

Each family will have different dynamics. I really don't wish this over anyone else, but should you find yourself in a similar situation, my advise would be to just keep your head level and look forward. I've charged my old phone on a few occasions to see if there is not perhaps a WhatsApp message reaching out to us, but to no avail. Answer as honest as possible without going into the details when the kids ask about said family member/s. They will eventually start to ask less and less about them. 

 

Looking back at this amazing journey so far, I would do it again without any hesitation. I would however make sure that some family members understand that they have no influence in our choices and that this move is happening. I/we might have tried to be too diplomatic in the way we addressed this with the difficult family. Hindsight is always 20/20 but we should have not wasted soo much effort on them trying to share our reasoning and motivations for the move. 

 

But for most of the other family and friends... We've managed to get into a nice routine and way's of staying in touch. Technology makes this a whole lot easier  

[ChrisH]

Good to hear from you!  Glad its going well, Brisbane is really good over December!

 

It's amazing how selfish some people can be, lets face it that is what this is. 

How dare you make a decision that would put your own family first and set your kids up for a better future.  It really is laughable when people think they will force you to reconsider by ghosting you.

 

[PieterleRoux]

Precisely.

 

But on a positive note. Brisbane is awesome and we've been thoroughly enjoying ourselves so far. Although it is surprisingly cold over the winter, actually missed the Pretoria winters 🙂

 

Looking forward to December. Already have a few things planned and booked. Quite a lot happening in Brissie so will be nice and busy.

[ChrisH]

On 11/25/2022 at 3:06 PM, PieterleRoux said:

Although it is surprisingly cold over the winter

 

This was the coldest winter in a long time, some days even broke records held for 100 years.  When we came over 5 years ago it was in the middle of winter and it was much hotter than Pretoria at that point.  

 

Hopefully this cold and wet trend ends soon!

[PieterleRoux]

So we are coming up on our 1 year anniversary in Australia... Reading through this thread, just reminded me on how much has happened in the last year and a half of the process...

 

WhatsApp and FaceTime calls with family, really helps to stay in touch, but....

 

Only for family that want to... Sad to report that we have no contact with close family on my wife's side, the actual members for which I started this thread. It get's easier as time passes, but really wasn't what we were hoping for. The kids had a lot of questions in the beginning why said family no longer has contact. Missing them etc. This has also happened less and less to the point where it has now been quite a while since they asked about the family. I think this also makes it easier to work through. 

 

This was the part of the journey I did not (and still don't) enjoy... That being said, would not trade contact with this part of the family for what we have hear. 

 

Brisbane was nice from the moment we arrived, but we are really starting to develop a deep love for our new home 

[RussellJ]

Congratulations! Time flies!

Yes it requires effort from both sides to stay in touch and keep friendships/relationships going.

Glad you are loving where you are!

Re. family, everyone is welcome into the garden of your life. When they make their choice to join, I'm sure you will happily welcome them in with open arms.
Until then, tend to your garden without worry.

[PieterleRoux]

And just like that we've celebrated 2 years in Australia...

 

What an amazing time this has been, really enjoyed every step of the way. Won't say it was always easy, but definitely not as hard as we thought it would be. We focused a lot on our mindset and approach to this process and I think this has played a huge role in settling in. 

 

Still no contact from the family members who was the motivation for the start of this read. The kids no longer ask about them. I still tend to think about them ever so often and have gone through a period where I really missed them. It would have been nice if it did not turn out this way. Bu it was their choice and we are making the best of ours.