Everyone who has lived abroad for some time would feel the same...it's hard work to make a 'home back home' when you feel so connected with your 'new and now old' home.
We have both spend most of our adult life in Australia. We have studied and worked there. We have spend all our professional life there. We have made friends there. We have found a new family there. And we had to be pretty resiliant and self sufficient to manage. At least sometimes...
Bottom line: we have created a home there! We have had our two girls there. And in case you are wondering: if you ask either of the girls where their home is and where they are from, they will both tell you: Bondi, Australia!
No question about it, we will always have a strong connection and bond to Australia and to Germany. The question is more where we want to live in the near future.
We thought we have to be close to family for some time, and yes, that is amazing. But the everyday life and routine is just so important too. And no doubt about that: that is definitely better in Australia.
Not just that, but we are really missing our friends. The kids seem to make a lot of new friends at Kita and school, but for us it's hard and feels almost impossible.
People here are nice and friendly, but would never think of you as a new addition to their circle of friends. At least usually... They don't mean it bad in any way. They just don't think of it.
Which makes it pretty lonely and isolated for us some times. And anyone who knows me would tell you: I love having friends around me! It's what I need to be truly happy!
Nevertheless we don't regret coming here. We really needed to do this as we would have regretted not taking this chance for sure! Even if it's just to find out that what we had was pretty damn good and we'd be silly to let it go.