British Expats

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-   Australia (https://britishexpats.com/forum/australia-54/)
-   -   Australians by ancesty (https://britishexpats.com/forum/australia-54/australians-ancesty-377300/)

Vash the Stampede Jun 3rd 2006 4:56 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by ELLJAY
Thanks....

can i ask a personal question?

Lj

Go right ahead. :)

Wife Beater Jun 3rd 2006 4:57 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
Nope. :)

How many other countries do you know of in which two underage teenage mothers (and a third who is barely legal at the ripe old age of 16) would be rewarded by the government with a collective social services benefit of £30,000 a year and a 3-bedroom council house?

Click here, here and here for details.

What the flip has that got to do with cultural diversity or lack of it? :confused:

Vash the Stampede Jun 3rd 2006 4:58 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by Wife Beater
I just read what Vash wrote and thought exactly the same thing.

Where in the UK do you reside Vash? The top of Ben Nevis or similar? :rolleyes:

The Midlands. :)

ELLJAY Jun 3rd 2006 5:00 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
Go right ahead. :)

I've always been scared to talk to you before cos you seem ...err...scary :scared:

but i've been fishing now - i'm nice an chilled :cool:

It's 6am! when do you sleep?

No soz...that's not my question :rolleyes:

Real question.....Where do you prefer living...and why?

Thanx

L-j

Vash the Stampede Jun 3rd 2006 5:01 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by Wife Beater
What the flip has that got to do with cultural diversity or lack of it? :confused:

Sorry, that was a post for another thread on another forum; I accidently copy/pasted it into the wrong window. :p

But it does make fascinating reading. :)

MikeStanton Jun 3rd 2006 6:50 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
Not such a bad idea! Considering the British propensity for state-sponsored nannying... :cool:

This from a native of Oz - a country where even a certificate is required to break wind.

If UK is a nanny state, Oz is run like a kindergarten.

Vash the Stampede Jun 3rd 2006 7:09 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by ELLJAY
I've always been scared to talk to you before cos you seem ...err...scary :scared:

but i've been fishing now - i'm nice an chilled :cool:

It's 6am! when do you sleep?

No soz...that's not my question :rolleyes:

I generally get to bed between 10:30 and 11. I usually wake up every morning between 4 and 5, with chronic back pain from my arthritis. The usual routine is to attach my TENS machine for an hour or so, and crawl back to bed in an attempt to catch a little more sleep before work.


Real question.....Where do you prefer living...and why?

Thanx

L-j
Australia, without a doubt - though I must say that in the two and a half years since I came to the UK, I have really come to appreciate this country. I'd be happy to remain here for the forseeable future, but I would have to go home at some stage. I am half English, but the UK will never feel like home to me. :)

As to the reason why I would prefer to live Down Under... well, the easy answer is the obvious one: because it's home. I do miss my friends and family from time to time (haven't been back since I came to the UK) but I could still live happily in the UK with a visit Down Under every two years or so to catch up with everyone.

I'm not the sort of person who can't live without his friends and relations; we're very independent in my family, though our emotional ties are strong.

My little sister is currently in Japan, my twin brother is in Taiwan, my younger brother lives in Victoria and my mother lives in South Australia - yet we keep in contact via email and the occasional phone call, so the distances don't really matter to us. :)

The things that matter most to me are the things which tend make Australia attractive to so many ex-pats: wide open spaces; a slower pace of living, a massive country to explore; a small population with plenty of room to grow; a culturally diverse population (25% of Australians are immigrants or the children of immigrants); a diverse environment (offering arid, temperate; arctic and tropical regions); affordable property; an egalitarian society with a "have a go" attitude, a fascinating array of unique flora and fauna; a "firm but fair" immigration policy, a strong economy, and all the usual benefits of a 1st World nation.

I like the fact that Australia is a young country, still in the process of making its own history. There aren't too many places left in the world where you can watch a nation growing up and finding its place on the global stage, but Australia is one of them.

There are probably other things, but these are the ones which spring immediately to mind.

Now, I can't deny that the UK has many advantages over Australia, and there are things that I will miss once I'm gone (see here) but at the end of the day, it can never replace Australia in my heart. :cool:

jad n rich Jun 3rd 2006 7:10 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
Sorry, that was a post for another thread on another forum; I accidently copy/pasted it into the wrong window. :p

But it does make fascinating reading. :)

But your on here 23.59 / 7 HOw can you have time to stick source all over another forum too :confused:

I think you just need to get out more :D

Vash the Stampede Jun 3rd 2006 7:15 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by jad n rich
But your on here 23.59 / 7 HOw can you have time to stick source all over another forum too :confused:

It all comes down to an efficient use of time. :)


I think you just need to get out more :D
I work 9.5 hours a day, 5 days a week - and 4 hours on 1 Saturday every 4 weeks. Thankfully, I only have to drive 10 minutes to work.

I'd love to get out more, but right now I'm saving money for a 3-week holiday in August. No prizes for guessing my destination... ;)

jad n rich Jun 3rd 2006 7:30 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
It all comes down to an efficient use of time. :)



I work 9.5 hours a day, 5 days a week - and 4 hours on 1 Saturday every 4 weeks. Thankfully, I only have to drive 10 minutes to work.

I'd love to get out more, but right now I'm saving money for a 3-week holiday in August. No prizes for guessing my destination... ;)

And may I be the first to wish you and the bride a lovely holiday, and may the bride enjoy australia as much as you enjoy the UK :D :D

phoenixinoz Jun 3rd 2006 7:34 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
The things that matter most to me are the things which tend make Australia attractive to so many ex-pats: wide open spaces; a slower pace of living, a massive country to explore; a small population with plenty of room to grow; a culturally diverse population (25% of Australians are immigrants or the children of immigrants); a diverse environment (offering arid, temperate; arctic and tropical regions); affordable property; an egalitarian society with a "have a go" attitude, a fascinating array of unique flora and fauna; a "firm but fair" immigration policy, a strong economy, and all the usual benefits of a 1st World nation.

I like the fact that Australia is a young country, still in the process of making its own history. There aren't too many places left in the world where you can watch a nation growing up and finding its place on the global stage, but Australia is one of them.

Great post Vash.

Aus is in your blood ....and I can see why;)

touchingcloth Jun 3rd 2006 7:44 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
Yes, that was one thing which surprised me about the UK; lots of immigrants, but a surprising lack of cultural diversity. It's something I miss, having grown accustomed to it back home. :)

Mate..you have to compare like for like. If you wish to compare the cultural diversity of Sydney or Melbourne...then you need to compare it to London....and you'd find that London is THE MOST culturally diverse city in the world.

If I were to compare Canberra to ALL British cities of the same size , then using your methodology I could deduce that "Australia is not as culturally diverse as the UK"


With all due respect, I think you should explore the UK a little more. Scratch beneath the surface and you'll find out that Britain is not 90% english origin, 5% west indian, and 5% indian/pakistani.

MikeStanton Jun 3rd 2006 7:54 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 
Strewth, mate. That nearly made me get back on the 'Roo special and head Down Under, except...



Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
The things that matter most to me are the things which tend make Australia attractive to so many ex-pats: wide open spaces; a slower pace of living, a massive country to explore;

Wide open spaces. Yup, a few days in a 4x4 travelling from one bit of nothingness to another lack of anything, punctuated by cookioe-cutter one-horse towns will cure that little bug. Slow? For sure. Coma's a better word zzzzzzzz.



a small population with plenty of room to grow;
Perhaps not so much. Oz has a very fragile ecosystem and not a whole bunch of water.



affordable property;
The same rules apply in Oz as everywhere else, ie it's only cheap cos nobody wants to live there! Try Sydney house prices on a Sydney wage. Sydney has one of the highest price-to-wage multiples in the world.



an egalitarian society with a "have a go" attitude,
Oh, please! This cliche belongs with Ozzie battler, mateship and all that tosh. Oz was a far more egalitarian society 45 years ago. Now, it has a huge split between have and have-nots. What does the Oz press say? is this the end of Oz egalitarianism? and

this
. And it goes deeper fear and silence in Oz (copy of New Statesman article)



a "firm but fair" immigration policy,
Good one; I last saw this in the United Nations' Joke Book.



I like the fact that Australia is a young country, still in the process of making its own history.
I'm going out on a limb here, but don't the Aborigines have a history that stretches back some 40,000+ years? Still, given Oz is more like the 51st state of the US of A, I guess the Mid-West model that Oz has adopted is a good fit.

Hutch Jun 3rd 2006 8:12 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 
I had the misfortune of spending a bit of time in the West Midlands, Vash. Wolverhampton to be precise. I lasted 9 months before I managed to get an inter-college transfer to Middlesex Uni. Ponders End (a complete shit-hole in north London) seemed positively civilised after that. :eek:

Tiggs+Graz Jun 3rd 2006 8:41 pm

Re: Australians by ancesty
 

Originally Posted by touchingcloth
you'll find out that Britain is not 90% english origin, 5% west indian, and 5% indian/pakistani.

So if this is NOT the case then what is?!
It would be more helpful to the discussion if you posted actual figures (with a source).

Thanks


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