New Year 2016

One truth of New Year as expats is that we can never predict where we will be spending it or who we will be celebrating it with.

Happy New Year!

Last year we celebrated in Borneo, the year before in Kazakhstan, each time with different people some of whom we have remained in contact with and some whom were in our lives only for a short period of time.

This year the New Year truly is a new start.  We had always intended to spend Christmas and New Year 2015 in the UK, the first for us since 2010.  My mother in law had not had Christmas with us since she ventured out to Kazakhstan in 2012 and was desperate to spend some time with the children and my sister and her fiancé had their wedding planned for the 29^th so we had every reason to be back ‘home’.  Just a few weeks before we left on holiday, however, we had a new posting confirmed so we spent the last two weeks before our flights arranging packers, selling the car and sorting out long term accommodation for the pets.  When we flew out on 8 December it was not for a holiday but our last leave taking of Malaysia. 

We are waiting for visas to come through for the next posting and it made more sense to wait with family in the UK than in our house in Malaysia as this will give the children a chance to reconnect with their family and friends here.  We are now sofa surfing between various family members while we wait for Mr EE to go out to the new country and start the application process for dependant passes. 

Christmas with Granny, the wedding of an Auntie and Uncle (and the chance to catch up with all the family members from Ireland and the Netherlands who attended) and time with god-parents, friends and their children have given Master and Miss EE a grounding they have been missing over the last 18 months.  Kazakhstan was so close to Europe that we were able to visit ‘home’ about twice a year.  Malaysia was both distant and expensive and this combined with other issues meant that they have really missed out on this sense of family. 

As we celebrated New Year 2016 (with my sister and new brother in law) we realised that 2016 really will be a new year in a way that very few people get to experience.  A new job, a new posting, a new school, a new home, a new language to learn and, more than anything else, new adventures. 

I hope that you had a good Christmas (if you celebrate it) and New Year 2016 and all the very best wishes for the year ahead.

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