firstly its late at nite so apology for spelling and typing but i wanted to try to answer soem of your questions. hopefully you can translate my words into soemthing meaningful.
we came because of work. my husband works in the oil and gas industry but from alternative energy sources. tehy produce electricity using methane gas from landfills site. they are also in to wind energy now. a friend started a company in american and offered us a job. i had alsways wanted to live overseas (althogu i thoguh more spain or greece or france) adn my husbands job in australia had got to the point where he hated it and was lookin for another one anyway. so we jumped at the chance and moved over. it has not being easy from the point that his compnay is small and tryign to make a name for themselves. so he works too hard too many hours and is away far too much but i think he really loves it and it is rewardign being part of something that you help build from the ground up and see the successes. it isnt easy from the family point of view but it is a great oppurtunity. i think though it may come to a point that we have to make a decision for us, we cant keep spenidng so much time apart. anyway that is getting side tracked.
yes my husband is australian we grew up in the same smallish country town and both of us coudlnt wait to get out of there. we still call it home though becaseu both our paretns live there adn soem siblings. his dad is not really telling us too much about how he is. he's home from hospital after havign his gallbladder removed and they found a cancerous lump. he is a very stubborn man who i dont believe will change a damn thing about his lifestyle but i will try. there is a wonderful lady in that small town who has been teaching the benefits of juicing and natural healing for more than 20 years. she has worked with many cancer patients with amazing success so i am hoping he will consider seeing her-fat chance but again will try. youve just got to know my father in law.
what do i miss about australia - well mostly the people. i miss those strong women who i ahve talked about. family and friends obviously. my mother and father mostly i feel i have robbed them of their grandchildren. but i also miss jsut teh people. we are a pretty happy lot and dont tend to take life to seriously. we make fun of absolutely everthing and naything adn everyone is your mate. i miss jokign with compelte strangers about silly stuff. everyone looks at me funny here! i also miss the envionmetn tremendously. we lived in paradise and had the ocean literlly at our back door. our weekends involved walking swimming bike riding all in absolute beauty. i use to go on this run every now and then wher i would see no one and be in compete bush setting with water adn rocks adn jsut felt liek i was really alive adn strong and invincible. so i miss that so very much. i also felt like i had more oppurtunites in australia. i worked in the commuinty sector and althoguh untrained i was starting to get jobs that i felt i made a difference. i was looking into going back to shcool. but that will still be there for me when we go home.
you asked me what i liek about america and at teh momet this is hard becaseu i am homesick and generally in america sucks frame of mind - imnot alwasy liek this. but if i had to think about what i would miss when we leave it will be soem of the people we have met. not so much in houston but in the last town we lived in we made soem wonderful friends. particulary two amazing neighbours who made my transition here so easy. and she has become a very good friend. i will miss the oppurtunity to travel it is much more expensive in asutralia. i owuldve said a month ago i will miss eating out but i dont do that as much anymore. again it is really expensive to eat out in asutralia. other little things convienence wise - having evertyging you need 5 minutes away.
mmm i alwasy get nervous when asked about the differenced betweene amercia and australia becasue really i can only talk about my experiences. firstly where we lived in australia was pretty much heaven on earth. we were surrounded by beautuful forest and the ocean in front of us, most of the community was very progressive thinking and active when it came to envioronmental issues politices spirtiualoty soical justcie on and on. so my australia is completey differnet to someone who lived in small rural town who was not enviornmentally aware who voted completey different and couldnt gie a rats arse about soical justice. like my expericence in amercia. first i lived in a small town norht of chicago very mid west ideas and suburbia. now i live in houston oil capital where they drive big cars and i live in a ridiculously rich area where the most contact i have is with the hired help. but as i have said australians are more easy going, there are other differenced in the way we look after our envionment the way we cosume. i also think there is so much pressure in amercia to do well. my kids are not taught to think for themsleves in shcool just how to pass the next exam and get high grades. im going to stop now becasue i dont want to say too much. there are lots and lots of differences adn maybe your english frineds have spoken to you about them. its just too hard to write about and not feel like i am going to offend someone. but i am very greatful to be living here and to have seen soem of the amazing places we have seen. it is all part of my lifes journey adn i am trying to take in all that i can learn.
i havent opened any of the letters yet --but that is a good thing.