Telling the Parents

This was a tough tough weekend. I knew that my mother would take this news particularly hard. 

I reassured them that New Zealand was not on another planet, that I intended to keep a credit card open so that I was always sure I had enough money to get back to the UK on a plane.

I actually found out that I can purchase a Skype phone number in the UK for £35 a year, and my parents can call it, at the usual UK rates, and connect to me in New Zealand. Pretty cool I thought. I can also call from New Zealand, to a UK landline, at 1. something pence a minute. I know that video conference call etc is what Skype is all about but as mum doesn’t use a computer, I want to make everything as easy for her as possible.

I think that this is a must, plus, we can also practice with it before I leave. It also means that I can get new business cards made before I leave with the new number on it, and not lose contact with any people.

Yes, it is a VERY long way away, and I cannot just nip back when I want to, but I have a number of other things to consider.

• I do not like what is happening to the UK education system. If I stayed I would have to quit the profession, and retrain, because I no longer enjoy my job any more. Changing schools will not fix that, with what the ConDems are doing to schools, cutting SEN funding, cutting outreach programmes, cutting budgets which effectively means schools have to run on skeleton staff and expect more and more from their teachers in return for less, in effect with the pay freeze in force. 
• I do not like the pillar box land that comes with squashed in housing in the UK
• I do not agree with the immigration plans as is, What is ‘British’? Who knows any more.
• I have been unhappy with living here for some time. But, several other plans were squashed as other countries closed their borders to immigrants. I see this as a chance at a new life, possibly the last one that I will get.
• I do not have children, which makes the whole thing easier.
• It opens up a whole new half of the world for holidays that were simply too faraway before now.
• recent sporting news means that this is the door closed, door open that I needed, right at the correct time.
• We only have one life, and life is finite.

I am sure there are a million other reasons, When I think of them, I will post them up too.