Having an Australian partner has meant that I got to hear an Australian perspective on living in The UK. I know myself living away from your country of birth, can present challenges – from things like not understanding the “lingo”, to dealing with a climate to which your system has yet to adapt. For me as an English person living with an Australian in The UK, it meant accepting that the house felt continually subtropical, as the heating blasted away.
Thinking of you in The Bahamas, as you recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Dorien
Ironically returning home for a visit, in the middle of Winter, I found the houses all rather hot. In my experience the central heating does tend to be turned up to BLAST FURNACE in the middle of Winter, more frequently than I realised, when I resided there.
Australians houses seem to be more readily equipped with cooling systems and fans, than central heating and houses can incline to be chilly in Winter.
House temperature was always a source of contention
Even a thermostat set to a particular temperature was not always helpful. I resorted to screwing a thermometer to the wall, to keep an eye on the temperature.
I could not help but notice the mass exodus of Australians from The UK, as we headed into Winter.
Most days here I do not even notice it is Winter, until I spot my poor offspring huddled beneath blankets.
I reacted with shock, that the temperature hit 35 degrees Celsius in The UK last Summer, which is hot even for Australia. I also note that my mother has installed a cooling unit, so perhaps things have changed.
Generally if you intend to brave a British Winter, it is best to be prepared. I remember occasions when we were advised to travel with a shovel and blankets, lest we became stuck in the snow.
I recall ice needing to be scraped from the windscreen here in Australia on one occasion and becoming positively homesick.
Ah ice scraper and heated rear window, I miss you…
Gif from Giphy.com https://giphy.com/
My friends in the UK make the best of the hot weather which to us, South Africans is warm. Their UK cold I will not be able to bear. 🌺🌸
I would love to visit South Africa one day. I hear the climate is pretty similar to here. I don’t really deal with the Summer very well here. I must admit that I used to spend much of the Winter sick with colds in the U.K. It has been twenty years since I last experienced a full English Winter. I actually wonder how I would go too.
Climate is similar and the people warm and welcoming
🌺🌸
Welcome. Thank you for your comment.😁