MrsDagboy

Someone wondered if they should call you meatman on Sunday but we thought it might not have been such a good nickname :scared:

MikeStanton

I must start by saying these are my personal views. Others no doubt have different views.

I emigrated to Oz in '89. My reason for emigrating was because I wanted to try a different lifestyle; I had no strong reasons for leaving UK. I chose Oz because I thought it was not that different from UK and was attracted by the weather, beaches and laid-back lifestyle.

Even though I arrived during one of the longest, wettest autumns on record I stayed (obviouisly weather wasn't a big factor!).

After ~2 years I got over the homesickness and became a citizen. And for ~5 years+ all in the garden was rosy..almost. I'm a strong believer that 'when in Rome etc', however, some things really began to grate.

What follows is a generalisation - there are exceptions! : the parochial, Oz is wonderful, attitude began to annoy me. In work, politics and play. But, this is against Oz's insecurities - eg adverts that featured "fully imported" cars - as if made in Oz meant a 'second-rate' product. I've often described Oz as like a troublesome teenager. It brooks little or no criticism. In the workplace, it is always somebody else's fault. The pathetic rivalry with UK. The Oz way of not encouraging debate, discussion - just enjoy the lifestyle, mate! The relative sameness of the cities. In my experience, and here's an irony, Aussies could easily win a whinging contest.

Also, having a daughter, made me realise what a sexist place Oz is - the macho bullsh** that is prevalent in the Oz culture.

I would love to say that the final straw was the way white Aussies treat the indigenous people. However, I was just as pathetic as most Aussies - go on a march/sign a book and then push it to the back of my mind - out of sight and out of mind. It's only over the past 9 months that I've looked at it much more closely and realised how bad it is.

I think getting older - or getting used to the Oz way of life - was a factor. The material things mattered less and less.

This was against a background of having a lovely 5 bdr house+pool, 5 mins from the beach in Sydney. Also, I ran a small consultancy and was making $$$. So, material stuff very good, But the stuff that increasingly mattered to me (and my wife) became worse.

In 2000, I went to work in Europe - splitting my time between UK and France, Belgium, Luxembourg. Wow! It made me realise that there really is a big world out there. More subtle and sophisticated. That there are people who feel pretty confident about who they are (sometimes overly so!). So, when we returned to Oz is 2003, we decided to give it all up and return to UK.

I certainly don't regret going to Oz at all. It was good to try a different lifestyle and it made us realise what UK has to offer and what we took for granted. That doesn't mean we will stay here - we like the idea of living in mainland Europe...one day!

Megalania

Job opening in Braunau, Austria



Let us know the price of kopfsalat.

Bix

Oi DUPman - what you bin sayin whilst I slumbered.
I keep telling you I am Cornish not English.
We aint in England we are attached to it. Actually we are not at all attached to it so I should say joined to it.

I am a Celt through and through born and bred in the heartland of the clay industry of mid Cornwall. In fact have very rarely ventured beyond it's borders which is why so many people are shocked about my OZ plans.

Trouble is there are less and less of us true thoroughbreds left due to the influx of foreigners. Well, you know the saying, if you can't beat em join em so thought I would become an emmit meself.

There are quite large pockets of us around the world from when we exported our mining talents and I should feel at home in OZ cos look below. The pastymen unite

AUSTRALIA

The Australian Federation of Cornish Associations
Mr C Dunkerley, 21 Cliff Road, Epping, NSW 2121

ACT Cornish Association
Alan Sellwood 23 Cowan Street, Downer , ACT 2602

Ballarat Cornish Association
Mrs Laurel Hewish, 4 Edlyn Street, Wendouree, Victoria 3355

Cornish Association of Bendigo and District
Mrs L Lloyd, PO Box 121, Eaglehawk, 3556, Victoria

Cornish Association of NSW
Mr C Dunkerley, 21 Cliff Road, Epping, New South Wales 2121

Cornish Association of Queensland
Mr M Huckins, 9 Tabor Street, Westlake, QLD 4074

Cornish Association of Victoria
Mrs Margaret Owens, 397 Scoresby Road, Ferntree Gully, Victoria 3156

Cornish Association of Western Australia
Mrs Wendy Thomas, 64 Wimbledon Street, Beckenham, Western Australia 6107

Geelong Cornish Association
Ms Marie Goldsworthy, 72 Fitzroy Street, Geelong, Victoria 3220

South Australia Cornish Association
Mrs L James, 13 North Boulevard, Tea Tree Gulley, SA 5091

downunderpom

Well, as you were up until after 2:00 a.m. last night, I thought I'd give you a pinch, and see if you jumped! Caught you napping, apparently!

I've always maintained that a cat born in a chip shop isn't a chip, so I can empathise with you completely. I too, consider myself something other that the nationality with which I was born.

Anyway, life's far too short to be stuck somewhere you're not happy. And who cares what other people think about your travels? If they're going to pay your mortgage, put clothes on your back, food on your table, and money in your pocket, THEN worry about what they think. Otherwise, don't. Opinions are the cheapest commodity on Earth - everyone's got at least one, and they're usually deperate to give them away!

downunderpom

Says he, giving away yet another opinion!!

MrsDagboy

Yeah, but I bet you still have one of those funny accents

Ceri

Thomas, LLoyd and Owens - Are they Cornish names then?
I learn something new everyday
...............

The Cornish language is a Celtic language, of the brythonic (or 'P' Celtic) strand akin to Welsh and sister of the Breton language. When the Saxon invaders in the 5th - 8th C. AD divided the Britons into what was to become Welsh, Cornish, Cumbrian, and (indirectly) Breton a 1500 year saga for the Cornish language began! This was the times of King Arthur and Trystan & Yselt, and also the times of the great migrations with Irish and Welsh Saints travelling across Cornwall to Brittanny. The settlers in Brittany came from Dumnonia and South Wales and took their language with them

Bix

Ceri, I think they were down for a few days holiday and liked it that much they stayed

See DUP - tis very educational on this site. You are getting the roots of my ancenstry and if you are a good boy I will tell you how to make a good pasty.

Actually, as one cat to another I don't mind listening to your opinions. I was always taught to respect my elders

downunderpom

If you mean 'yacky da', then no way - I lost that by the time I was 11! I now sound more like a Cockney Aussie! First time I spoke to Mrs DUP (on the phone) she was convinced I was an Aussie, and I'd left Oz nearly 30 years previously.

downunderpom

Cheeky young whipper-snapper!!!

I do find myths and legends fascinating - especially Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I always felt sorry for Sir Galahad - the good knight (pure et sans reproach) that never got any...

Ceri

Used to go camping in Cornwall .. I can always remember one time when I was in the camp site's club, there was some entertainer on stage, and he was asking if there was any Welsh here, any Scottish here etc, and any Cornish here.. which to that the Cornish cheered - then he asked in a hushed voice are there any English here - to that most of the Cornish crowd booed.

I didn't like to tell them .. hellooo, I'm sure I drove across the border to get to Cornwall and saw a "welcome to England" sign - I think I may have got lynched if I mentioned that! lol.

Must say Cornwall is too pretty to be in England ( gawd I'm a creep! lol)

seriously though, I used to love Cornwall and spent many a camping holiday there.

Ceri

.. don't want to split hairs, gawd forbid ...but it's Iechyd da

downunderpom

Do you know what the whole quotation is? I know that it's "Death to all Englishmen..." but I don't know the full phrase or the full translation..... And I don't speak any more Welsh than Ois and Nachois, and Dioch 'n vowr (Which is phonetic spelling BEFORE you tell me off! )

Megalania

The Unfortunate History that launched a 1,000 Month Empire.