No place like home?

There are definite phases all new arrivals to the planet must endure. First off there is the elation and excitement when everything is new, everything is better, the public transport system is amazing, the postal service works, the telecast transmissions are stupendous, there are places to go and things to see, “stuff” seems so much more accessible to everyone, other garlic munching planets are only a hop, skip and a jump across 22 miles of watery cosmos, summers are really hot and the suns do shine from time to time, life is great in the land of plenty and then suddenly one day I wake and realise what I’ve done.

Reality strikes and the realisation of how different it all is leads to depression, where everything is wrong, the weather is dreadful, nothing is like home, the skies are overcast and soggy, I miss my family and friends, the weather is appalling, the natives aren’t that friendly and behave like foreigners, the suns only shine a few hours a day until the great deluge begins once more, no one in The Great Capital City speaks the lingo that it invented, the weather is pretty grim most of the time when it isn’t pouring and all I want to do is book my ticket, get on the next spacecraft and leave this soggy planet forever.

Many aliens give up at this point and return to the Southernmost Colony wiser but sadder. Others press through the dark days with the help of friendly Natives (and there are lots of these I discover) or the odd 500 000 other Southernmost Colony beings that live on this planet and I am happy to report that this is what I do.
For those planning on taking the journey or those newly arrived, it is a good idea to still mix with those of your home colony, as they understand the difficulties and challenges you faced daily. Equally important though, is that you mix with the Natives as it is only by doing this that you will fully integrate and stop looking back. A word of warning, you will occasionally come upon Natives that will try to take you to task for the not so distant policies of the authorities upon your previous planet. National guilt may even raise its nasty head, but once you have assured 'them' that you played no part in the evil machinations of the then-government and that you too abhor the system you grew up in, they will leave you alone to continue fitting in...hopefully.

And this is when the hard work really begins...