A decision reached
With regards to the options regarding my immediate international future ( stay in the UK, or move back to Australia?), I did actually make a final decision: I'd've written about it earlier but it was getting late by the time I finished the last entry and I needed a little sleep before I had to prepare to get to the airport.
I've decided to stay in the UK for now, which means a mandatory minimum of another 2 years until I'm eligible to qualify for a UK passport. That is, if the government don't go and change the immigration rules again in the interim! *crosses fingers*
In all honesty, the options having another passport offered eventually won out over all other consideration. The time I spent in Melbourne reconnecting to everyone after so long an absence was a real surprise to me, to be honest: so many of you made allowances to come see me, or made time/altered existing plans so I could see you, that I'm really touched and thankful I have such a great group of friends as you all - no seriously, you're all the best! - and it made it far more tempting to permanently re-anchor those social bridges I'd rediscovered by staying in Australia for good. But having the option of a European passport was the clincher, and many of you also agreed that two years' further sacrifice was worth it, if only to expand any future options. That's not to say I can't get my British citizenship and immediately return to Australia: to be honest, that's more or less what I'm planning on! But it gives me more options should I want to return to the UK - or Europe - to live or work in the future, and that's what eventually did it for me: thank you all for your support, it's comforting to think that many of you would have done the same thing in my shoes.
It also gives me another two years to start certifying myself and making official all I've learned while I've been here, when I plan to return to Australia and start looking for a new job. Which is pretty likely unless something quite unexpected and beyond all temptation should reveal itself in the next two years to change my mind.
So, just as my natural accent was beginning to return and I wasn't immediately being treated like a tourist in my own country, I've been yanked back home to London. It's been great being back in Melbourne for an extended stay for a change, and as previously mentioned, I'll be back there very soon to see my sister get married. Not so long this time.....and not as long after that.
I've decided to stay in the UK for now, which means a mandatory minimum of another 2 years until I'm eligible to qualify for a UK passport. That is, if the government don't go and change the immigration rules again in the interim! *crosses fingers*
In all honesty, the options having another passport offered eventually won out over all other consideration. The time I spent in Melbourne reconnecting to everyone after so long an absence was a real surprise to me, to be honest: so many of you made allowances to come see me, or made time/altered existing plans so I could see you, that I'm really touched and thankful I have such a great group of friends as you all - no seriously, you're all the best! - and it made it far more tempting to permanently re-anchor those social bridges I'd rediscovered by staying in Australia for good. But having the option of a European passport was the clincher, and many of you also agreed that two years' further sacrifice was worth it, if only to expand any future options. That's not to say I can't get my British citizenship and immediately return to Australia: to be honest, that's more or less what I'm planning on! But it gives me more options should I want to return to the UK - or Europe - to live or work in the future, and that's what eventually did it for me: thank you all for your support, it's comforting to think that many of you would have done the same thing in my shoes.
It also gives me another two years to start certifying myself and making official all I've learned while I've been here, when I plan to return to Australia and start looking for a new job. Which is pretty likely unless something quite unexpected and beyond all temptation should reveal itself in the next two years to change my mind.
So, just as my natural accent was beginning to return and I wasn't immediately being treated like a tourist in my own country, I've been yanked back home to London. It's been great being back in Melbourne for an extended stay for a change, and as previously mentioned, I'll be back there very soon to see my sister get married. Not so long this time.....and not as long after that.