Question for Ex Pats

[Maroon Sailor]

Do you still refer to the UK as home even if you have no intention of returning to live ?

 

i.e. Would you be going ' home ' for Christmas ?

 

 

[Craig Gordons Gloves]

Do you still refer to the UK as home even if you have no intention of returning to live ?

 

i.e. Would you be going ' home ' for Christmas ?

 

I was having this exact chat with my wife last night. Me and her both still refer to it as home on most occassions, but now we've got kids that were born here, they refer to it as Scotland and as a result - so do we more and more frequently.

 

I'm coming home next week for the first time in 11 months, but here is now home as well - that probably makes no sense.

 

It was home for 31 years, i doubt that wil ever change - but the connection to Scotland diminishes i think.

[Gorgiewave]

Yes, I still call it home. If my family weren't there, maybe not.

 

Craig Gordon's Gloves: what kind of accent do your children have?

[Craig Gordons Gloves]

Yes, I still call it home. If my family weren't there, maybe not.

 

Craig Gordon's Gloves: what kind of accent do your children have?

 

They both have American accents, my oldest has speech issues so it's no surprise that he speaks like his therapist. My youngest had a very Scottish accent - he would say things like "Mulk" etc but then he started pre school and now he's proper american, my wife is "mommy" and he likes to ask for a glass of "warrer" - although remarkably - on the rare occassions that he hears me swear - his swearing is in a scottish accent. It's awful as i can't help but laugh when this wee voice says "****s sake" in a broad scottish accent. (i should point out, he only ever hears that if i'm watching Hearts - i don't teach them to swear) Myself and my wife both still have our South Lanarkshire/Borders accents, that won't change.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Yes. Norn Iron will always be home to me, even though I haven't lived there since September 1993.

[Sharpie]

I did for a long time, probably still do at times, but in all truthfulness I am totally at home here in Canada. Although after a few wines or whatever the wife and I at times talked about returning, but strictly the wine talking.

[TheMaganator]

I'm not an expat but I refer to my parents' house as 'home'. Haven't lived there in years.

 

I wonder if it'll remain that way until I have kids of my own?

 

Is home where the family is?

[Sten Guns]

Yes. Norn Iron will always be home to me, even though I haven't lived there since September 1993.

 

Long time!

 

What made you move, Geoff?

 

Work?

 

Would you / will you ever return to the UK? Or is it shite compared to Oz?

[Peebo]

Yes. I reckon I will probably end up back in Scotland, anyway.

[alwaysthereinspirit]

Do you still refer to the UK as home even if you have no intention of returning to live ?

 

i.e. Would you be going ' home ' for Christmas ?

As long as I have family there then its home. I've been here longer than I was "home"

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

 

 

Long time!

 

What made you move, Geoff?

 

Work?

 

Would you / will you ever return to the UK? Or is it shite compared to Oz?

I went to Heriot-Watt for Uni and kind of stayed!

 

Will I return? I would like to, yes, but after the kids are through school at the least.

[Sydney]

I think of Scotland as home, but as my kids just think of it as the place their grandparents live, we refer to it as just Scotland more and more.

 

They have Aussie accents.

[The White Cockade]

Lived away from Scotland since moving to South Africa in 1995,two years there, four in

England and then last twelve years or more on Isle of Man

The "bairn" was born in Maidstone and has an English accent :-(

but Edinburgh and Scotland will always be home

In the words of Chris Rea we will be driving home for Christmas (and sailing)

[shaun.lawson]

No.

[jambo1980]

At the moment, I see Canada as where I live, with Scotland still being home. I think that will always be the case, and I'd like to move back at some stage.

 

Although my daughter was born in Canada, I still think of her as Scottish. I think it will be really strange for me to hear her speaking with a Canadian accent. She's started saying a few words (she's 15 months) but there's obviously no accent at this stage. I think part of me still expects that she'll have a Scottish accent, even though I know that won't be the case.

[ianski77]

 

Yes. Norn Iron will always be home to me, even though I haven't lived there since September 1993.

 

I still count Norn Iron as home although have only been here full-time since 2009. Still check NI before Scotland on the bbc news website out of habit.

[J.T.F.Robertson]

Been here since late '71, although I did a fair bit of "yo-yo-ing" during the first few years, and always refer to Edinburgh as home.

Recently though, on the odd occasion, I have caught myself during one of my frequent trips back, referring to here as home.

 

Once I give myself a good slap on the heid, I'm okay again.

[Don Draper]

Scotland will always be home to me, I think. My situation is a wee bit different from some on this thread in that I was never coming here to settle (and having lived here, I've come to the conclusion that, mainly due to the 'unique' health system they have in the USA, I could probably never settle here anyway) - had an agreement with the wife that we would spend roughly the same amount of time in her country as we'd previously spent in Scotland (6 years) before going home. We've been here for 4 years...2 more to go. The funny thing is that the wee town we live in is fantastic, and we've met some great people...it's more the country as a whole that I find a bit, um, tiresome.

 

The only one of my kids that ever had a Scottish accent lost it a long time ago (he's 7 now), although I took him and his 4-year-old sister back to Edinburgh for a couple of weeks recently, and it was truly amazing how their Yank accents practically disappeared from being surrounded by Scots. So there's hope.

[Chad Sexington]

Occasionally find myself referring to Scotland as home but in all honesty I'm totally at home in Australia. I love it.

 

I love Scotland and miss family and friends but I wouldn't go back to live there.

[Tazio]

On a related note I've got a good mate who's Dutch but has been here for almost 30 years, so more than half of his life. We were taking about him going back to Rotterdam to visit his family and he was joking about the family taking the piss out of his accent and being rusty at speaking Dutch. I asked him if he dreamt in Dutch or English and found it kind of sad that he said English.

[Chester™]

On a related note I've got a good mate who's Dutch but has been here for almost 30 years, so more than half of his life. We were taking about him going back to Rotterdam to visit his family and he was joking about the family taking the piss out of his accent and being rusty at speaking Dutch. I asked him if he dreamt in Dutch or English and found it kind of sad that he said English.

 

On a similar, similar note, Mrs Chester says she's beginning to forget a number of Slovak words and phrases due to the length of time she's been here (13 years). A couple of friends she has here, from Slovakia/Czech Republic, say the same (and one has the broadest Scottish accent as well ). Fortunately, she's been out a lot with them and some of the parts of her language she had forgotten, seem to be coming back a bit.

 

She still always counts in Slovak and appears to dream in it as well, judging by her sleeptalk during the night.

 

Clearly Lawson isnt forgetting English quite yet.

[ArcticJambo]

My youngest had a very Scottish accent - he would say things like "Mulk" etc but then he started pre school and now he's proper american, my wife is "mommy" and he likes to ask for a glass of "warrer" - although remarkably - on the rare occassions that he hears me swear - his swearing is in a scottish accent. It's awful as i can't help but laugh when this wee voice says "****s sake" in a broad scottish accent. (i should point out, he only ever hears that if i'm watching Hearts - i don't teach them to swear)

 

Snap ... my just turned 3 yr old (turns 4 in Feb) was grassed up by his sister (to me) for saying this on a few occasion at daycare. He doesn't do it now I don't think, but hen she's in grade 1 now and can't supervise him anymore. He's going through a 'What the heck!' phase right now. Thanks son, at least you make daddy look half respectable now.

 

To answer the original question ... I'd like to think so but I feel more and more guilty when I do so. I'll always be Scottish at heart (and probably in my outlook) but in reality, I feel at home here ... that being Canada's Arctic (which is slightly different - I've never knowingly lived in southern Canada). I've been fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity. In a sense I owe it to Canadians to call it my home.

[Norm]

On a related note I've got a good mate who's Dutch but has been here for almost 30 years, so more than half of his life. We were taking about him going back to Rotterdam to visit his family and he was joking about the family taking the piss out of his accent and being rusty at speaking Dutch. I asked him if he dreamt in Dutch or English and found it kind of sad that he said English.

 

The missus has been here for 15 years and she still dreams in German but only if the dream is in Germany.

[Norm]

 

 

On a similar, similar note, Mrs Chester says she's beginning to forget a number of Slovak words and phrases due to the length of time she's been here (13 years). A couple of friends she has here, from Slovakia/Czech Republic, say the same (and one has the broadest Scottish accent as well ). Fortunately, she's been out a lot with them and some of the parts of her language she had forgotten, seem to be coming back a bit.

 

She still always counts in Slovak and appears to dream in it as well, judging by her sleeptalk during the night.

 

Clearly Lawson isnt forgetting English quite yet.

 

The missus forgets some German words now and again as well. The wee yin who's two speaks German and English but she already seems to know that only her mum and my in-laws understand German, although some words she'll only use German and others only English, even when we teach her the other word.

[Kendoll]

I'm not an expat but I refer to my parents' house as 'home'. Haven't lived there in years.

 

I wonder if it'll remain that way until I have kids of my own?

 

 

 

Is home where the family is?

 

Must say, and I'm sure many folk are the same, despite being out of the parents house for 10 years now, their "spare room" will forever be known as "my room", however much my dad argues and my mum agrees.

 

No one is welcome to stay in "my room"

[Chester™]

Must say, and I'm sure many folk are the same, despite being out of the parents house for 10 years now, their "spare room" will forever be known as "my room"

 

I do the same. And I live in my parents old house and its the spare room.

[GlasgoJambo]

Does Glasgow qualify me for expat status? The buses are different colours and it's a whole different language so it is.

[scott_jambo]

Occasionally find myself referring to Scotland as home but in all honesty I'm totally at home in Australia. I love it.

 

I love Scotland and miss family and friends but I wouldn't go back to live there.

 

You've been there for like 18 months.

[Chad Sexington]

 

 

You've been there for like 18 months.

 

2 years actually Scot.

 

Long enough to know I dont want to go back.

[Snake Plissken]

I always considered the house I lived in in Moray as "home" but that's being sold soon and my parents are separated so I don't feel like I have a "home" any more. I'm moving to Japan in March and should be there for two years, possibly four. I don't think I'll come back to the UK to live any time soon but I'll be back to visit at least every other year.

[Tams bird]

I'm surprised at the amount of people on here I never realised lived away from ' home '.

[Jimmy McNulty]

Emigrated to Canada September 1993. Refer to Canada as home now. I'll usually say I am going "back to see the folks" when heading back to Scotland. Don't use the word home. Just doesn't feel right after all this time.

[scott_jambo]

2 years actually Scot.

 

Long enough to know I dont want to go back.

 

Aye, but yer hame is still Scotland fir a wee while longer.

[Chad Sexington]

 

 

Aye, but yer hame is still Scotland fir a wee while longer.

 

Not if I can f****** help it.

 

Seriously though, being married to an Aussie for 11 years, being a frequent visitor- when I arrived 2 years ago it was my 5th time-, working here, schooling the bairn here and having all Mrs Sexington's family here...it just feels like home.

 

Ive been lucky to make really good friends as well so Ive got a great social life. When you add all that up you can see why I feel pretty settled even after a relatively short time.

[shaun.lawson]

Clearly Lawson isnt forgetting English quite yet.

 

 

The problem for me is simple. I spend all day long teaching in English and editing in English and bellyrumbling in English on here. I swear that since I arrived here almost 22 months ago, my English has actually improved.

 

On the plus side, this is getting me voiceover work and commentary work. On the downside, well - total immersion, it ain't.

 

Even with all that said though, I'm still having to work to avoid my English deteriorating at all. First, I went through this horrifying Joey Barton/Steve McClaren phase a few months after I arrived where I'd unintentionally started mimicking the accent. It's natural - but as soon as I noticed, it stopped, and has never resurfaced since.

 

Then more recently, while I've been editing, I've started churning out sentences with the wrong word order: the order which would apply in Spanish, in fact. It's so weird how our brains start changing when we're surrounded by a different language. I've got this issue under control now though, I hope.

 

But to answer the OP: yes, Uruguay is my home now. I realised that within 6 months of coming here - when I almost left due to stress and depression, but changed my mind because of an emotional attachment I already felt. In contrast, Britain felt like a foreign country: going back there felt like the most negative thing ever, and my attachment to Uruguay has only grown and grown and grown since.

 

Folk back in the UK were somewhat less than ecstatic when, last Christmas, I told them I'd effectively emigrated - but hey ho.

[NewYorkJambo]

I have lived in New York for five years and while I do occasionally say home meaning Scotland it is more a slip of the tongue and I'm actually surprised when I hear it come out my mouth. For me, New York is very much home and I find it hard to imagine a time when I ever return to the UK to live.

[Gards]

Have been overseas since 2005 (USA, Australia and now back in USA). Still call Scotland home, mainly I think because my folks are there but we have no real desire to ever move back to Edinburgh.

 

Not sure what it is but still proud to be Scottish, get goosebumps when I hear 'Caledonia' and when I land on the tarmac of Edinburgh airport I feel I've come home. But then after a couple of days of pissing rain that feeling soon disappears!

 

Could murder a sliced sausage roll though!

[graygo]

 

The problem for me is simple. I spend all day long teaching in English and editing in English and bellyrumbling in English on here. I swear that since I arrived here almost 22 months ago, my English has actually improved.

 

On the plus side, this is getting me voiceover work and commentary work. On the downside, well - total immersion, it ain't.

 

Even with all that said though, I'm still having to work to avoid my English deteriorating at all. First, I went through this horrifying Joey Barton/Steve McClaren phase a few months after I arrived where I'd unintentionally started mimicking the accent. It's natural - but as soon as I noticed, it stopped, and has never resurfaced since.

 

Then more recently, while I've been editing, I've started churning out sentences with the wrong word order: the order which would apply in Spanish, in fact. It's so weird how our brains start changing when we're surrounded by a different language. I've got this issue under control now though, I hope.

 

But to answer the OP: yes, Uruguay is my home now. I realised that within 6 months of coming here - when I almost left due to stress and depression, but changed my mind because of an emotional attachment I already felt. In contrast, Britain felt like a foreign country: going back there felt like the most negative thing ever, and my attachment to Uruguay has only grown and grown and grown since.

 

Folk back in the UK were somewhat less than ecstatic when, last Christmas, I told them I'd effectively emigrated - but hey ho.

 

Seriously?

 

We had a huge party in the Gorgie Suite

[shaun.lawson]

Seriously?

 

We had a huge party in the Gorgie Suite

 

:lol:

 

So nice to be appreciated.

[graygo]

:lol:

 

So nice to be appreciated.

 

[Rab]

I've had this conversation with a number of other ex-pats and the answer to the question is defined by how they define home. People who no longer have roots (parents, siblings, friends) in Scotland, but have a spouse, kids and friends and 10 years or more in the other country will tend to say Scotland is no longer their home.

 

Most people fall on a scale below that, and that usually tells you what their answer is.

 

Personally, I feel a stronger connection to Scotland, always have, even before I left. I'll always call it home, even if I never go back. I think I'm in the minority tho.

[Kalamazoo Jambo]

Home is where the Hearts are.

[Sydney]

2 years actually Scot.

 

Long enough to know I dont want to go back.

 

It took me about 3 days to realise I didn't want to go back.

 

In my opinion, Australia is a better place to live and bring up kids in than Scotland.

 

The weather is a big part of it, but not everything. Certainly not everything if you live in Melbourne.

 

Melbourne has its culture, Sydney has its looks, the weather and the beaches.

[JamboInSouthsea]

It took me about 3 days to realise I didn't want to go back.

 

In my opinion, Australia is a better place to live and bring up kids in than Scotland.

 

The weather is a big part of it, but not everything. Certainly not everything if you live in Melbourne.

 

Melbourne has its culture, Sydney has its looks, the weather and the beaches.

 

Oddly enough the weather on the south coast of Engerland is what persuaded me to stay here initially but now have so many friends etc. I like where I am. Think it was Ian Brown (Stone Roses) who said 'It ain't where your from, it's where yer at'.

 

I usually tell people i'm going back to Scotland rather than say 'home' when I head back norff although some of my mates still ask if I am going home for xmas.

[ArcticJambo]

Oddly enough the weather on the south coast of Engerland is what persuaded me to stay here initially but now have so many friends etc. I like where I am. Think it was Ian Brown (Stone Roses) who said 'It ain't where your from, it's where yer at'.

 

I usually tell people i'm going back to Scotland rather than say 'home' when I head back norff although some of my mates still ask if I am going home for xmas.

 

Jesus .. I just realised you live on the south Coast. I thought you lived in Tahiti or somewhere just as exotic. Doh.

[Chad Sexington]

 

 

It took me about 3 days to realise I didn't want to go back.

 

In my opinion, Australia is a better place to live and bring up kids in than Scotland.

 

The weather is a big part of it, but not everything. Certainly not everything if you live in Melbourne.

 

Melbourne has its culture, Sydney has its looks, the weather and the beaches.

 

The weather is a massive factor in the quality of life stakes. It makes for much more of an outdoor lifestyle so its a great enviornment to bring up kids.

 

Watching my girl jumping into my mate's pool with her wee pals all through the summer or going on camping trips to the bush or going to the beach, Im constantly thankful that I made the move. I genuinely love this place.

 

I once lived in England for 5 years as well. I never once considered that as home.

 

 

[Sydney]

The weather is a massive factor in the quality of life stakes. It makes for much more of an outdoor lifestyle so its a great enviornment to bring up kids.

 

 

 

In the last two years, it has only rained once on a Saturday morning during the football season. Kids football, beside the harbour, always sunny, all the mums and dads out, bbq, much much better than getting the bus to Craigroyston or Inverleith Park or wherever in the freezing cold.

 

And yes, we don't have a pool, but going round to friends houses and seeing the kids playing outside or in the pools - great.

[I P Knightley]

Do you still refer to the UK as home even if you have no intention of returning to live ?

 

i.e. Would you be going ' home ' for Christmas ?

 

I've lived in London for 55% of my life; the previous 45% being in Scotland so, technically, an ex-pat.

 

I'm a Scot - until next year at least - but 'home' is London.

 

On the increasingly rare visits to family & friends 'up North', it's just that - a visit to see people who live in a different place. Most definitely not "home".

 

If I'm asked to apply for "Scottish citizenship" next year, I won't bother and I won't miss anything by not bothering.

[JamboInSouthsea]

Jesus .. I just realised you live on the south Coast. I thought you lived in Tahiti or somewhere just as exotic. Doh.

 

 

Maybe in the future..

[Jamboy81]

I call it 'Scotland' not home.... I feel home is in Oz now, now but will know for sure at Xmas time when I go back for first time since buggering off. The truth is, i never really liked Edinburgh that much.