emigration reality
Jun 26th 2006, 7:04 am
#76
Australia's Doorman
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: The Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 11,056
Re: emigration reality
Send in ... the clowns ...
Jun 26th 2006, 7:14 am
#77
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 936
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by Hutch
Send in ... the clowns ...
Jun 26th 2006, 10:22 am
#78
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 47
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by kporte
been visiting BE for a few months now and it has amazed me how my ideas and misconceptions of a life in Oz have changed. when the idea of moving came to my wife and i, the motive was simply for a better quality of life. i believed that the cost of living was far less than the uk, that houses were a giveaway and that i would earn far more dough. i am not entirely sure where i gleaned these useful nuggets of info, but joining BE put me right. there have been many threads concerning these issues, and posters such as arkon have been berated for posting opinions percieved as negative. thank god for the "negative" posts or i'd be going into this like the light brigade!! my wife and i are still very much up for it and i have the possibility of a decent job on reasonable pay in the picture from yesterday, but now our tentative plans are geared around realistic goals and the 4 bed house with pool and two new cars has changed to 2 bed house and 2 year old Holden with high mileage!
i still hold onto the belief we will have a better quality of life but because we will be prepared to downsize our life in a lot of ways. it is so easy to get carried away with the idea that Oz is some kind of shangrila and i thought i was past this at 40. your thoughts on this, as always, will be most welcome.
cheers
i still hold onto the belief we will have a better quality of life but because we will be prepared to downsize our life in a lot of ways. it is so easy to get carried away with the idea that Oz is some kind of shangrila and i thought i was past this at 40. your thoughts on this, as always, will be most welcome.
cheers
Jun 26th 2006, 10:44 am
#79
Australia's Doorman
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: The Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia
Posts: 11,056
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by devonleas
thank god for the negative posters
Jun 26th 2006, 10:47 am
#80
Oiiii.. You slaggg!
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Brisbaneshire
Posts: 5,209
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by kporte
been visiting BE for a few months now and it has amazed me how my ideas and misconceptions of a life in Oz have changed. when the idea of moving came to my wife and i, the motive was simply for a better quality of life. i believed that the cost of living was far less than the uk, that houses were a giveaway and that i would earn far more dough. i am not entirely sure where i gleaned these useful nuggets of info, but joining BE put me right. there have been many threads concerning these issues, and posters such as arkon have been berated for posting opinions percieved as negative. thank god for the "negative" posts or i'd be going into this like the light brigade!! my wife and i are still very much up for it and i have the possibility of a decent job on reasonable pay in the picture from yesterday, but now our tentative plans are geared around realistic goals and the 4 bed house with pool and two new cars has changed to 2 bed house and 2 year old Holden with high mileage!
i still hold onto the belief we will have a better quality of life but because we will be prepared to downsize our life in a lot of ways. it is so easy to get carried away with the idea that Oz is some kind of shangrila and i thought i was past this at 40. your thoughts on this, as always, will be most welcome.
cheers
i still hold onto the belief we will have a better quality of life but because we will be prepared to downsize our life in a lot of ways. it is so easy to get carried away with the idea that Oz is some kind of shangrila and i thought i was past this at 40. your thoughts on this, as always, will be most welcome.
cheers
Your experience is pretty much akin to ours as we started out (2.5 years ago) with a blinkered perspective and the naive perception that Australia was going to give us a 4 bedroom house, (somehow) an improved 9-5, relatively low crime, cheap groceries and a lot more to boot.
From being a member of BE for the past 2.5 years I have gleaned a mountain of valuable information, knowledge and informed opinion and experience. My wife still clings to the dream of a swimming pool in the garden but this looks doubtful in the short term. However, the long-term is really down to us.
What I can see from the threads that I have read over the last few years is that what is on offer is a different and very appealing lifestyle. Quite frankly, that is enough for me and I'm pretty sure my wife feels the same. We also feel that Australia (depending on where you go) offers an awful lot to very young children.
We realise that Australia is still going to provide us with the boring day-to-day working existence BUT we feel that we will live for our weekends, which, quite frankly, is something I just don't get excited about here.
Anyway, nobody really knows what hand they are going to be dealt but just like the lottery...."You've got to be in it to win it".....
Last edited by DunRoaminTheUK; Jun 26th 2006 at 11:02 am. Reason: Crappy grammar
Jun 26th 2006, 10:57 am
#81
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2006
Location: Greenwood, WA
Posts: 575
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by kporte
this is how i feel. at the moment i am pressured into a lot of hours at work, never see my wife and am at work most weekends.justify this to myself by booking an exotic holiday or buying some pointless gadget to make myself feel better about my life slipping by. due to overtime money is ok but life rating is poor. want to get out of this cycle and focus on what is important, you know?
Good luck to you and yours!
Paula
Jun 26th 2006, 11:01 am
#82
Ex BE ***** Addict
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,770
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by kporte
been visiting BE for a few months now and it has amazed me how my ideas and misconceptions of a life in Oz have changed. when the idea of moving came to my wife and i, the motive was simply for a better quality of life. i believed that the cost of living was far less than the uk, that houses were a giveaway and that i would earn far more dough. i am not entirely sure where i gleaned these useful nuggets of info, but joining BE put me right. there have been many threads concerning these issues, and posters such as arkon have been berated for posting opinions percieved as negative. thank god for the "negative" posts or i'd be going into this like the light brigade!! my wife and i are still very much up for it and i have the possibility of a decent job on reasonable pay in the picture from yesterday, but now our tentative plans are geared around realistic goals and the 4 bed house with pool and two new cars has changed to 2 bed house and 2 year old Holden with high mileage!
i still hold onto the belief we will have a better quality of life but because we will be prepared to downsize our life in a lot of ways. it is so easy to get carried away with the idea that Oz is some kind of shangrila and i thought i was past this at 40. your thoughts on this, as always, will be most welcome.
cheers
i still hold onto the belief we will have a better quality of life but because we will be prepared to downsize our life in a lot of ways. it is so easy to get carried away with the idea that Oz is some kind of shangrila and i thought i was past this at 40. your thoughts on this, as always, will be most welcome.
cheers
So at the end of the day weather you settle happily ever after is probably more down to the luck of the draw and the circumstances that greet you when you get here combined with the kind of lifestyle you used to have back home. It’s nothing to do with being a failure or a whinger and more down to the roll of the dice and how you choose to play your cards. It is possible to be happy here and equally possible to be unhappy here through no fault of your own. Good luck to everyone that tries it and there is no shame in going home.
Jun 26th 2006, 11:07 am
#83
Oiiii.. You slaggg!
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Brisbaneshire
Posts: 5,209
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by arkon
The odds are in your favour for making it work here because if the stats are to be believed you have a better than 65% chance of staying. In the last few weeks we have met a few expats that have come, stayed and are enjoying it here. I used the opportunity to secretly compare our lives with theirs to try and work out what the difference was. After some digging it would seem the same kind of shit happened to them as to us with a few key exceptions. Both had babies out here, our experience was of incompetence and trauma and theirs was the opposite. Both had run in’s with the RTA but they didn’t have a Scottish accent or a British virgin isle marriage certificate so were not at the receiving end of racist abuse or made to feel very small for having the wrong kind of marriage certificate. This goes on for most things, we seemed to have got the shitty end of the stick and so it has coloured out opinion of the place whereas they accept all the negatives exist but are happy to live here. We liked all our foreign holidays and diversity of culture and they were happy with holidaying in the UK. I owned my own business and an employer and they were employee’s. The differences in our personal circumstances was immense and I know see exactly why we hate it but others find it an OK place to live.
So at the end of the day weather you settle happily ever after is probably more down to the luck of the draw and the circumstances that greet you when you get here combined with the kind of lifestyle you used to have back home. It’s nothing to do with being a failure or a whinger and more down to the roll of the dice and how you choose to play your cards. It is possible to be happy here and equally possible to be unhappy here through no fault of your own. Good luck to everyone that tries it and there is no shame in going home.
So at the end of the day weather you settle happily ever after is probably more down to the luck of the draw and the circumstances that greet you when you get here combined with the kind of lifestyle you used to have back home. It’s nothing to do with being a failure or a whinger and more down to the roll of the dice and how you choose to play your cards. It is possible to be happy here and equally possible to be unhappy here through no fault of your own. Good luck to everyone that tries it and there is no shame in going home.
Absolutely Arkon. One mans meat is another mans poison. The future for all of us remains unwritten and until we've had our own individual and unique experience of living in Australia nobody can really predict that the whole process will be dire or superb.
I'm really (sincerely) sorry that you have been on the receiving end of so much shit and xenophobia, really I am. This is every migrants worse fear and unfortunately for you it seems to have become a reality. Was the racism you experienced a "black - Carribean" racist slur or a "European - pommy" racist slur?
Jun 26th 2006, 12:02 pm
#84
Ex BE ***** Addict
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,770
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by DunRoaminTheUK
Absolutely Arkon. One mans meat is another mans poison. The future for all of us remains unwritten and until we've had our own individual and unique experience of living in Australia nobody can really predict that the whole process will be dire or superb.
I'm really (sincerely) sorry that you have been on the receiving end of so much shit and xenophobia, really I am. This is every migrants worse fear and unfortunately for you it seems to have become a reality. Was the racism you experienced a "black - Carribean" racist slur or a "European - pommy" racist slur?
I'm really (sincerely) sorry that you have been on the receiving end of so much shit and xenophobia, really I am. This is every migrants worse fear and unfortunately for you it seems to have become a reality. Was the racism you experienced a "black - Carribean" racist slur or a "European - pommy" racist slur?
All water under the bridge now though, my opinions of the country are now set and little can happen to make me change my mind.
Jun 26th 2006, 12:24 pm
#85
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Asia Pacific
Posts: 4,922
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by arkon
All water under the bridge now though, my opinions of the country are now set and little can happen to make me change my mind.
(said in good jest)
Jun 26th 2006, 1:02 pm
#86
Gone for Good
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Mandurah, WA
Posts: 138
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by arkon
More a Scottish accent thing. We are white Anglo Saxon and never been on the receiving end of any kind of abuse before to do with accents or where we come from. Here it was taking the piss out of the wife’s accent and where she came from combined with a bunch of anti pom stuff. There was also just some crass stupidity thrown in for good measure, like the consulate staff asking how did you manage to get a British passport if your Scottish! By the time we heard that particular gem we had been here a year and were now didn't find it at all surprising.
All water under the bridge now though, my opinions of the country are now set and little can happen to make me change my mind.
All water under the bridge now though, my opinions of the country are now set and little can happen to make me change my mind.
And about the passport, no offence to the English people on here, but that is the sort of comment I wouldn't be surprised to hear in England. You just to look on here the number of times people ask questions on here like will my English TV work in Australia, English plugs, etc.
And someone on here the other day asked about English passports and had to be corrected by JAJ. It's not an Australian problem, it's an anyone outside of the UK problem where everyone thinks England is Britain.
Last edited by binky; Jun 26th 2006 at 1:10 pm. Reason: speling
Jun 26th 2006, 1:30 pm
#87
Ex BE ***** Addict
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,770
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by binky
I get nothing but positive comments about my Scottish accent. In the last 2 months in my current workplace (in Perth) I have been told by 3 different people that I have a beautiful accent and similar comments from 2 people I have spoken to in Melbourne.
And about the passport, no offence to the English people on here, but that is the sort of comment I wouldn't be surprised to hear in England. You just to look on here the number of times people ask questions on here like will my English TV work in Australia, English plugs, etc. And someone on here the other day asked about English passports and had to be corrected by JAJ. It's not an Australian problem, it's an anyone outside of the UK problem where everyone thinks England is Britain.
And about the passport, no offence to the English people on here, but that is the sort of comment I wouldn't be surprised to hear in England. You just to look on here the number of times people ask questions on here like will my English TV work in Australia, English plugs, etc.
And someone on here the other day asked about English passports and had to be corrected by JAJ. It's not an Australian problem, it's an anyone outside of the UK problem where everyone thinks England is Britain.
Jun 26th 2006, 1:57 pm
#88
Gone for Good
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Mandurah, WA
Posts: 138
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by arkon
I stand corrected, I must be wrong then.
Please point out to me in my post where I said you were wrong.
Jun 26th 2006, 1:59 pm
#89
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Perth
Posts: 3,453
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by binky
I get nothing but positive comments about my Scottish accent. In the last 2 months in my current workplace (in Perth) I have been told by 3 different people that I have a beautiful accent and similar comments from 2 people I have spoken to in Melbourne.
And about the passport, no offence to the English people on here, but that is the sort of comment I wouldn't be surprised to hear in England. You just to look on here the number of times people ask questions on here like will my English TV work in Australia, English plugs, etc. And someone on here the other day asked about English passports and had to be corrected by JAJ. It's not an Australian problem, it's an anyone outside of the UK problem where everyone thinks England is Britain.
And about the passport, no offence to the English people on here, but that is the sort of comment I wouldn't be surprised to hear in England. You just to look on here the number of times people ask questions on here like will my English TV work in Australia, English plugs, etc.
And someone on here the other day asked about English passports and had to be corrected by JAJ. It's not an Australian problem, it's an anyone outside of the UK problem where everyone thinks England is Britain.Since devolution I've always tried to make a point of my Englishness. I've always felt that England has somewhat missed out in the devolution revolution.
The West Lothian question (where Scottish MPs vote on issues which affect England only but English MPs don't get the same return priviledge); the tendency of Scots to claim that they are Scottish (first and then British), the assertions of the Welsh and the Northern Irish.....all of this has made me assert my Englishness even more than ever.
I actually feel that I have more of an identity with England than with Britain and I'd vote for complete separation from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and an English parliament if it was ever an option.
Jun 26th 2006, 2:01 pm
#90
Oiiii.. You slaggg!
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Brisbaneshire
Posts: 5,209
Re: emigration reality
Originally Posted by arkon
I stand corrected, I must be wrong then.