Fun Weekends and Tough Re-entries

December 06, 2018

Fun Weekends and Tough Re-entries

Over the weekend, Max and I had the great pleasure of heading back to Hong Kong for a long weekend. There were two main reasons: catching up with good friends and SHOPPING for Christmas !!

These little expat adventures are pure gold. Only if you’ve lived in what is called a ‘hardship location’, can you relate to the pure joy of visiting a country where things just work. The joy of simple and efficient immigration, clean airports, punctual and clean public transport, simple food choices, and, of course, Christmas decorations everywhere at this time of year, is something very special!! I dare you to be surrounded by Christmas decorations as ‘not’ smile - it’s impossible.

We made the most of our very short visit with lots of good food, wine and company. The shopping trip was successful and the pork, ham, leg of lamb, smoked salmon and steaks made it back frozen solid 🤪. Along with all the silly must-have items to make Christmas fun. This is not to say that I cannot get these things in India, but the quality and price points differ hugely.

It was such a fun weekend that I didn’t take one photo of us with our friends - we were too busy being in the moment!! However, no photos were actually needed as those wonderful memories are now permanent photos in our minds.

The realty on Sunday was that we needed to return to India and landing at 1am and navigating immigration with a very tired Max made for a serious reality check. Re-entry to your adopted country is not always easy and especially if the place you return to is just substantially different to your home or your last posting.

For us it’s the constant queues and checking of paperwork, shitty roads with endless speed bumps, constant honking of horns, not being able to do the simplest of things ourselves, dirt, dirt and more dirt, and that strong and unique smell of India. Convenience, is again, something we will have to wait to experience on holidays in 2019.

Max and I managed to get home and get to bed by about 2.30, and then the reality of Monday came around very quickly with Max on the bus at 7am. We pushed through Monday and then the re-entry blues hit me with a vengeance on Tuesday!

That feeling of ‘why are we actually here’ hits hard and it’s not easy to get over. I will break in to tears at the drop of a hat and seriously don’t want to leave the house, because outside the front door is a true reminder of not being in Hong Kong or Australia. Expat depression is a serious issue and you need to be quite careful and self aware of what impact loneliness has on you. Don’t worry, I’m not depressed, my sadness usually shows itself quite simply by my choice of movie - a tragic rom-com, a few tears and then I’m all good.

So I bunkered down for the day, knowing that I wouldn’t allow it to consume me. Just one day to be sad, and then pull yourself together and get on with it. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, we love our crazy life but sometimes the simple conveniences in Australia and Hong Kong make some days tough.

However, I have found a few things that help me get over the ‘re-entry is a bitch’ mood.

Take a day to be sad. As I said above, it’s ok to watch silly films and have a cry. And definitely let the children see that you’re sad and explain why. Hopefully, they will then tell you when they feel the same.

The next day reconnect with people in your expat location and prepare a social outing. They’ve al been through it too, so sharing is caring.

Get out and about - exercise is always a good one to clear the mind and put things in perspective.

Accept that the sadness actually just means that you are lucky because you have connections in fabulous places. I now can’t imagine not having friends in fabulous places to visit - it’s the best!

Re-entry really can be tough but it’s really just like returning to work after a fabulous holiday. You get over it and move forward - eventually 😊

Some photos below of wonderful Hong Kong.