 |  | | | Going and Coming | There are 29 messages in this section. |
James Milligan. Posted 26 Jul 2002.
In 1953, at age of 5, I left my home town of Peterhead with my parents for Australia. I remember imagining Australia to be an empty wasteland, with wooden shacks sparsely strewn here and there. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was quite civilized! Compared to the North East, there were a lot of wooden buildings. After a few years I joined a pipe band and twice marched through the streets of Melbourne on ANZAC Day.
In 1961 my father died suddenly and unexpectedly. A few months after he died, my mother and I were on a ship bound for the homeland. The pipe band was there playing 'Ye're no' Awa Tae Bide Awa', especially for us. I've never been back to Australia, though I'd love to go for a visit.
In 1983, I left Scotland again. This time for the Middle East, to do charity work for the church. In conversation with the then director of our organisation, it came to light that he had been trying to drive his wife to hospital for the delivery of their son through one of those ANZAC Day parades in which I marched!
I met my Finnish wife in Jordan and we married there - she in Finnish national costume, and I in mine! A local piper played at our wedding, also attended by local and foreign friends, as well as a few family members & friends from home.
We've been in Egypt since 1985 but plan to settle in Scotland next year, with our 3 sons.
I get a thrill every time I return to Scotland. The greenery. Wind and rain. Sea air. Scurries! Not to mention butteries and mealy puddins! Not together, though. | | |
|  | Chris White. Posted 30 Jul 2002.
I have left twice, this time though for good. I will miss my friends and the sense of comfort, however I will not miss the climate, the anti-English sentiment displayed by far too many, the stupid Rangers - Celtic crap and the fact that it is in the UK.
I am proud to say that I am Scottish and ensure that people know it, however unfortunately there is also a mild embarassment involved.
Good luck Scotland - I wish you well.
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| | Cee. Posted 7 Aug 2002.
I was born here in Scotland and since 11 September I have been called a Paki 10 times - and I'm Indian.......anyway I love Glasgow with all my heart, I got to go and when I travel the world my story will be a sad ending at the end, bye.
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| | Alex Currie. Posted 10 Aug 2002.
Hi Chris, I couldn't agree with you more, and I am sure that most people would also agree.
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| | Tom MacDonald-Williams. Posted 31 Jul 2002.
I left Elgin some 25 years ago and when I left it was an adventure. My auntie who went to live in England in WW2 told me that the older you got the worse the homesickness would become. How right she was.
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| | David. Posted 3 Aug 2002.
Tom its only a click of the mouse to find yourself in Scotland. Then you are into the forum with Scottish people online like me wanting a blether. Never feel lonely in the forum. What are the + and - in leaving Scotland?
Dave.
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| | Stewart Quinn. Posted 7 Aug 2002.
Scotland is a myth more than a reality, for me.
I was around nine when I left for England, Holland, USA and Australia.
My father is an engineer who built offshore drilling platforms. We moved all over the world. He used to compare other places to Scotland.
I think of Scotland the legend.
I spent a year in Edinburgh, when I was nineteen. It was the best time of my life. I felt... home!
Now, I live in Australia with my Oz wife. I really want to come home to Scotland.
Australia has a lot in common with the southern Californians, and it's not the expensive shopping malls.
I hope to see her soon.
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| | David. Posted 29 Sep 2002.
Hi Alex,
Nice hearing from you and I am sure your garden looks lovely. I look forward to our wee chats in the forum. I am no gardener Alex my wife comes up with all the ideas. She pulls up a chair, sips a coffee and to us hard working males the rest is history; must cut down that bush, mow the lawn, weed the borders!!! Just last Saturday I had spent 2 hrs cleaning the car, hoping to get away for a run in the country as the weather was nice when I heard a cry from the distance!!!! Are you going to fix the leaking kitchen and garage roofs. 7 days later I am still at it. As I type this wee note to you, (it's 2am Alex) my wife will be dreaming up jobs for tomorrow. Do you think us males will ever have it easy?? Answers on a postcard to, knackered, ZZZzzzland.
Bye for now Alex, (hope to hear from you soon) Davie.
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| | Alex Currie. Posted 1 Oct 2002.
Hi Dave:
Being a long time widower, I can sympathise with your woes as far as your wife planning all the work that you have to do around the house, that is one of the burdens of married life, and will always be a bone of contention between married partners. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I don't have that problem, nor would I make an attempt to solve it, it is just a fact of married life, so I'm afraid you will just have to grin and bear it until some genius comes up with a solution, or should I say a compromise. In the meantime, enjoy what you've got and keep on trooping, one consolation, with the winter coming on most of the garden jobs will disappear so that just leaves the repairs in the house, which I hope won't be too many. Give my regards to your dear wife, and tell her that I hope she lets up on you for the sake of harmony, and peace in the household, we poor men certainly don't have it easy. Yours in sympathy, unity, Alex.
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| | David. Posted 25 Nov 2002.
Hi Alex,
I have not heard from you for a wee while. Hope you are keeping well and looking forward to hearing from you.
Davie.
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| | Dave. Posted 3 Sep 2002.
Hi Alex, how are you? I did not mean to offend you but it was in your previous message on the last two lines you said (yes you were proud to be a Scot!! But prouder of the fact that you moved to a better country than Scotland will ever be.) I think there might be a wee slag in there somewhere. We all have choices to make in our lives and Canada is your home now and I am sure you love staying there. Scotland is my home and I have no wish to leave it. Once again I say to you Alex I did not mean to offend you I was merely forming an opinion. Looking forward to hearing from you in the forum Alex. P.S. Have you any stories to tell about starting out in a new country. What were the ups and downs, (love to hear them).
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| | David. Posted 24 Aug 2002.
You left in the 50's Alex. Different times. Scotland is now a modern forward country with people to match. So I disagree on some of your points. Yes you love your new home it may suit you to stay there, yes the weather may be better than over here. That is your choice, but please do not slag the old country. Scotland is and always will be a proud place to live in.
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| | David. Posted 31 Oct 2002.
Hi to you Alex,
Answering your question about my love for the country. What my wife and I love is the open fields and the greenery of the countryside. Just last summer on holiday we stayed on a villa overlooking a private fishing loch with all of the place to ourselves. That was one of the most relaxing holidays we ever had and hope to return there sometime soon. The picture sized window in the lounge and the loch only 2 meters away we had constantly changing views all day. Anywhere away from the city and traffic would suit me Alex. That's the garage repaired now and I have spent the last week redecorating the lounge for Xmas. Xmas !!! Surely it's not nearly that time again Alex??. Do you think Christmas has the same feeling as it had maybe 50 or so years ago. We get Xmas adverts on the telly before Halloween, do you Alex?? I was working in Greenock today from 8am until 4pm under a cloud of mist all day freezing cold when my wife telephoned me are you enjoying the sunshine??
She was right enough, as I travelled home past Inverkip the skies opened into lovely sunshine. It's amazing a few miles can change the climate so much. Hope to hear from you soon.
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| | Alex. Posted 23 Sep 2002.
Hi Dave
Glad to hear that you are having some nice weather and that your garden is thriving. Here in Toronto we are just coming to the end of what has been a very good summer with record breaking high temperatures and just enough rain, mostly during the night, to keep the garden from being a complete disaster. I am not or ever have been a gardener, in fact if you were to see my garden you would be appalled!!!! I am quite conrent to keep the lawn mowed and leave it at that, and I am also old enough and lazy enough that it doesn't bother me too much, sometimes I have a slightly guilty feeling but when I think of the work involved it soon goes away. I hope your nice weather continues for a while, but knowing the area pretty well, and being a Scot, I wouldn't bet any money on it, but we can hope.
Your question about rationing during the Second World War intrigues me cause I honestly don't remember very much about the rationing or any ill effects from it, maybe it's just one of those things that you put out of your mind because it is too unpleasant to recall, as far as the part about growing our own food, with my family that never entered the picture, which may account for the fact that I just don't like gardening, and another reason is that we didn't have much space to garden as we lived in a tenement building where most of the space was taken up with the clothes lines, a necessity in those times.
It's nice chatting with you, so if you feel like writing at anytime I will always be glad to respond.
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| | Alex. Posted 12 Sep 2002.
Hi David:
I still don't agree with you that I was slagging Scotland in my email, in fact, like yourself, I was only expressing an opinion. Since 1950, when I left Scotland, I have been back there at least ten times, the last time about eight years ago, and I have yet to see anything in Scotland that would cause me to change my opinion as to the choice I made in 1950. We all make choices and live with them, I am quite sure that you are very happy with your choice and rightly so, that's the way it should be. As to your question regarding the hardships of settling in a new country, I honestly can't think of any, maybe my memory isn't as good as it once was but, I am being quite honest when I say the transition was very smooth and the only memories I do have are missing good friends and close relatives, a very natural feeling for any emigrant. Keep happy, yours Aye, Alex.
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| | Alex Currie. Posted 22 Oct 2002.
Hi Dave,
Replying to your letter with a few comments. This time of the year is about the only time when the weather in Canada is almost the same as the weather in Scotland, the only difference, we usually have a lot more sunshine in October and into the first part of November. I hope you enjoyed your short holiday, I assume it was a long weekend you had, we just celebrated out thanksgiving weekend about a week ago, so now the next holiday will be Christmas and all the presents and too much good food (it's no wonder I can't lose weight) but I wouldn't miss it for the world. I am curious when you say, you like to get out for a ride in the country, just what do you consider the country? When I lived in Paisley, or should I say, when I visited Paisley, our idea of a ride in the country was a jaunt to Ayr or Largs or some of the other coastal places. I will be interested to know what you consider the country, maybe you lean more towards the highlands, you can let me know in your next email. Tell your wife that I appreciate her good wishes and return my good wishes to her. Hope to hear from you soonest. Alex.
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| | David. Posted 12 Aug 2002.
Reading messages to the forum from abroad, from ex pats, I seem to get the feeling from them all that they love and miss Scotland. Scotland is steeped in history going back thousands of years to the present day. With these famous people William Wallace, Rabbie Burns etc. (we have monuments for them all) we Scots are a proud nation and love our country. So why not come back for a visit. (you will enjoy it!) Welcome back to you all, Davie.
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| | David. Posted 18 Oct 2002.
Hi Alex,
My wife Helen sends her regards to you and wishes you well. WE have just stopped work for an autumn break today. We had our first frost on wed. and it has been cold in the mornings but lovely sunshine all day up to now. If it's nice tomorrow I hope to go for a run in the country. Last night as the sun was setting over the hills above Largs the colours were so beautiful a sort of rustic brown and tan. It stopped us on our tracks for a mo or two. hope the weather has been good to you over there Alex. Bye for now. Davie.
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| | David. Posted 22 Sep 2002.
Hi Alex,
How are you my friend? Canada must be beautiful at this time of year heading into the fall. We are having something of an Indian summer over here with very little rainfall and more sunshine than usual for this time of year. (My garden is a picture at the moment) We had rain and winds from Jan. to July so gardening was put to the side. Now two months later and still in good sunshine the plants are better than they have ever been. Do you have a garden you care for Alex??
Gardening pre and post war. How did you grow your own food?? What were you allowed to grow? How did you manage on the rations!? What did you miss the most (fresh eggs etc)? How has gardening changed over the last 50 years or so, was it pleasure or necessity? What was it like to live on a croft circa 1950??
Davie.
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| | Ann Young. Posted 30 Aug 2002.
Just to let you know I agree with everything you say about Scotland. It is a wonderful place, too bad about the people in the service industry. I wouldn't visit it a second time.
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| | Ann Young. Posted 2 Sep 2002.
I have done a fair bit of travelling in my life, including living in the USA for a number of years. Unlike the person who stayed in his chosen country I was lured back to this dismal, unenterprising country. I remember a teacher explaining the meaning of "resting on your laurels" trust me it suits Scots down to the ground.
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| | Alex Currie. Posted 15 Aug 2002.
Hi David, your comment that all ex pats love Scotland and miss it very much is very misleading. Most people I knew left Scotland because they couldn't have a decent standard of living there, so they moved to try and get something more than they had in Scotland, and in most cases they did find a better life and the things that they missed were the friends they had there. After being in Canada for fifty two years, I can honestly say that I never had any illusions about the life I probably would have had in Scotland, my love is for the country that gave me a very good life, it's easy to love a country from a distance and forget why you left in the first place, yes I am proud to be a Scot, but prouder of the fact that I moved to a far better country than Scotland will ever be.
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| | Alex Currie. Posted 27 Aug 2002.
Hi David, I don't know where you got the idea that I was slagging Scotland (by the way, a new term to me). Nowhere in my letter did I say anything derogatory about Scotland, I will always be proud of the fact that I was born in Scotland, and would be the first person to come to the defense of Scotland at any time. I only stated that I have had a very good life in Canada and I am sure I made the right decision when I left Scotland in 1950, you would have to have been in my position to understand the whole situation, and let me say once again, I will always be proud to have been born in Scotland and I resent being accused of, as you say slagging it.
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| | David from Dumbarton. Posted 30 Oct 2002.
Moved to Australia, too hot.
Moved to New Zealand too hot.
After 30 years returned to Dumbarton, cold is great.
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| | Teresa Thompson. Posted 7 Oct 2002.
Hi Stewart, I regularly log onto www.bbc.co.uk but just found the forum here on the Scottish site - its fab!! I have been in Sydney for just over a year with my family and I am looking to develop a web site scotinoz.com and would love to hear from fellow Scots as to its content. Any other scottish contact or info in Australia would be greatly welcomed!! Just read a 'few' posts here and have thoroughly enjoyed it!!
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| | David. Posted 25 Oct 2002.
Hi Teresa, how are you? Have you recently emigrated to Aus?? Nice hearing from you in the forum and I wish you well. Being a Scot it's nice to chat to someone from Aus as I wish I had moved there over 29 years ago when I first got married. Don't get me wrong I love Scotland but not the weather. Rain, rain and guess what?? yes rain. Hope to chat to you again, Davie.
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| | James Millar. Posted 12 Aug 2002.
I couldn't agree with you more Tom, I have been away from Scotland for several years now and I sometimes feel I am counting the days till I come home for a visit! When I lived in Scotland I don't think I ever thought I would feel this way about her and I regret not seeing more of the country while I lived there.
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| | Maurice Mallon. Posted 13 Nov 2002.
A very emotional subject as can be seen from the previous notes.
I left Scotland with Jessica in 1969 as newly weds to seek a better economic life in Canada in 1969. We have been successful in Canada, both having enjoyed opportunity, careers and have 2 wonderful twin sons and a beautiful grandaughter.
Now lets discuss our feelings towards Scotland. We both abhor our school experience in the 50's. The belt, abusive teachers, Nuns etc. I loved my apprenticeship at the Royal Naval Torpedo Factory and my work at John Brown Engineering in Clydebank. Also my 7 years of nightschool to get my Higher National Certificate from Stow College of Engineering. The Stow teachers were absolutely outstanding.
We live in Canada, we are Canadians and proud of that. My son is a Captain in the Canadian Army Reserves and a Sales Mgr. in IBM Canada. He is a complete Canadian patriot. That being said, Jessica, I and my 2 sons are of Scottish heritage and we don't let anyone ever forget it. We travel to Scotland at least every 2 years. We have an extensive family in Scotland of Jessica's many sisters and their daughters who are being married almost every year. When we visit we stay in Clydebank with Jessica's sister Sadie and I'm always made an honourary member (free golf) at Clydebank golf course where Dick my brother in law is a member.
Scotland has changed dramatically from when I left in 1969. Our Scots family are doing just fine and my nieces and their husbands are enjoying success and prosperity in the post shipyard economy of western Scotland. We are Scots and now Canadians. Our family and especially my sons are proud of our heritage.
God Bless Scotland
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| | Frances Ciccone. Posted 20 Aug 2002.
I left Scotland in 1972, I have lived in the USA since, I have a wonderful family. Have not been back since 1983 but the longing to go home never leaves me. There's no place like home.
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