Hello Mick
Well it looks like a wealth of advice has been added here for your wife's only to be expected home sickness, in truth, tell your wife, we Brits also feel homesickness, when we get back from Philippines.
I feel it all the time, my poor Gina gets this most years, and this is her 5th year in UK living and working, I anticipated that my girl would be home sick in the first few weeks, its a massive change of surroundings and culture, its the small things that we do not think of that contribute to bouts of chronic home sickness.
For example, the deafly silence of some villages and towns in UK, when people have shot off to work, I was just thinking today, when i was out in rural Suffolk, just how quiet some of these villages are, you rarely see anyone, its not like CDO, where your wife comes from, no jeepneys, no trikes, or noisy buses, plying around the streets, no vendors, selling everything known to man, its the noise and hustle and bustle of Philippine life that gives the impression that UK is a boring place to live, where no one talks to anyone else.
And if we do happen to see our neighbor, we quickly pretend that we dont see them, and look the other way, not so in the Philippines, people stop to chat, pass the time of day, and go off and do things together, hence your wife being in a barkada, or group of freinds, will greatly enhance her well being and let her settle in gradually.
I made a point as funds allowed at the time, to booking my Gina flight home at Christmas, and insisted she went back and spent the time with her family, just so she had the first 3 months here in UK, she read quite alot, and yes its true, she did not enjoy those first 3 months very much, most of the time she was waiting for me to come home from work, I felt for her then, but over time, the home sickness dissapears gradually, as your wife integrates into society.
There is I am afraid no quick fix for this, telling her to go to the library, the town, this and that only goes so far, but in the end, time is the deciding factor, I have seen and heard of many stories where some Filipinas, just never adapt to life in the UK, some go back, having talked about chronic isolation, no life, boring, quiet, nothing to do, and many Filipinas complain of this.
Sometimes, no matter what we do, its never enough, showing attention, and comfort and support is the best thing you can do, promising that you will do something at the weekend, or take them out for a trip, retail shopping at the local mall, can often help, as someone has rather amusingly added, a trip to department stores that sell well known labels help, but not all Filipinas are turned on by designer shopping.
So its really a matter of what does your girl like to do, talking to her family in Philippines on a regular basis helps, you can pick up one of those 3 network, skype phones, and its unlimited calling on skype, anywhere in UK, these sometimes bring the family closer, plus as you have said, yahoo chatting helps as well, but ultimately, time as I said is the deciding factor.
Your doing your best at present, and we wish you well with it.
