ozzieeagle

I have been lucky enough to have been in this country now, just over half of my life. 23 years here, and 22 years in England. It was easy to fit in for me having an Australian wife, and extended english family here (cousins etc). I became an Aussie citizen after about 7 years here (the operation didn't hurt too much lol) However I still felt English. I still support England in the soccer (hate that bloody word) football. Although these days I will admit to preferring to see Aussie beat England.

When Did i realise my heart was more Aussie than English. ? It was on a trip up to Sydney, with my Father who was on holiday from england. I took the opportunity to take of, out on my own, and was drinking in some bars around Kings Cross, Pretty soon, I was bantering away with some NSwelshmen. Its so damn easy to talk to the locals in a pub here, and was in a shout with them within about 1/2 hour. Then blow me down, the ineveitable British tourist's came in, Mancurians to be exact. It Didn't take long before these guys were chatting away quite happily with us. I was really enjoying The Vic v NSW banter between myself and the locals. However the tide turned, We got onto football, (soccer) things got slightly testie, much to the NSW guys amazement. Yehp the blokes from Manchester, were bringing over old predjudices, Something about Cantona and kung fu kicks at Selhurst. Which had happened long after I had left England. Eventually I was faced with two blokes from Manchester (yehp they must have been the only real Man Utd supporters, Actually from Manchester I've ever met) Squaring up to me, With a question that went right to the Heart. "What are you anyway, English or Australian" This really threw me, to be truthful, but what amazed me was my answer. I didn't even expect it myself. "Yehp" I said "I'm Australian"

Like I've said in one of my few other posts on here, I'm having my first trip to England in about 16 years soon, I wonder how I will feel after that.

Any other long term Migrants really feel Australian ?

jayr

If you asked Badge he'll tell you he felt Australian before he even got here...

Billabong

I've been here 6 months and I quite honestly feel Australian already!!

I really feel at home here!! Not sure who I'd support if England were playing Oz in a sporting contest though!!

G'Day

Beautiful post. Unfortunately I've only been here for 2 years and haven't been allowed to "feel" any Australians yet

Actually I felt Australian before arriving too. I spent 5 years deciding where on the planet I wanted to immigrate to for good and by then I'd come to love and appreciate Australia and the Aussies so much that it felt like coming home when I got off the plane. I don't have the accent or anything like that, but I think my great-great-great-great grandparents probably just popped of the ship for a quick bit at the pub and missed the ship to Australia where I am convinced they actually meant to head out for. If it wasn't for that I would have been born down under.

Phoenixuk2oz

renth

I'll be applying for my citizenship next week and when that happens I'll be an English Australian. I'll always have my English heritage of which I'm proud.

Having said that I feel I have more in common with the average Aussie "man in the street" than I have with the average mancunian football lout.

ozzieeagle

I beleive the process of the heartchange, is a gradual one, It was for me at least.

I'm looking forwards to being in England when the cricket is on. What kind of reaction do you think I will get, If I wear an Aussie Cricket Shirt, in a pub say around MKeynes Agro, or just good banter. Hopefully It will be just like the Banter we get here. That could be the nail in the proverbial heartfelt coffin.

BTW Last time I went to England, We couldnt get decent Salad meals, as takeaway anywhere, but that was circa '89, Hopefully things have changed, Have they ?. Also does anyone have a supermarket Site where I can look at the prices, because I'm dreading our what our shopping bill will be after 3 months.

bondipom

Like the avatar. For food try www.tesco.co.uk and www.sainsburys.co.uk. tescos has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Not sure if salads have improved there. No more terraces at Selhurst park.

I'm not a citizen yet but I find patriotic jingoism a bit nauseating and have never identified with it. That includes the idiocy you see in The Sun and the garish flag waving you get here.

The Mancunions I knew were always blue so they loved their enemies enemy.

mlbonner

Interesting post.

I've been here on and off for just over two years now, and despite my partners little girl telling me that I should be supporting Australia now, I feel that England will always be my first team and Australia my now (proudly) second.
What gets me more now is how people I meet outside of Australia 'think' I'm Australian. Two days ago I came back from a trip to LA, where people more often than not mistook me for Australian, at first I thought this was just because I was travelling with three other Aussies, but then when I went to the airport to drop the rental car off (by myself) and was chatting away to the Thrifty guy, Mr Melbourne came up to me and asked me whereabouts in Australia I was going back to. Then when I got to the airport the check-in girl said "have a nice flight home" and when I thanked a guy for moving his bag out my way he gave me a "no worries mate" (in a very bad accent !) Just can't win, to the Aussies I sound like a pom, to everyone else I just sound confused!!

renth

Very true, when we were in Singapore all the shop hutlers would say "where you from, Australia?"

I think it must have been the sun tans.

podgypossum

Although i love living here and shall get my Aussie citizenship the day i am eligable, like Renth i will always be an Englishwoman Australian. I cant ever see me wanting the English soccer team to get beat. Was too much part of my previous life!
I love Australia, i love Australians (excpet the miserable b*****ds who are rude on the phone at work) i never want to be anywhere else, but you cant spend 38yrs of your life being brought up in a certain culture and community and hten suddenly just turn your back on it as if it never existed..that is false, and you are denying who you really are...that doesnt mean you are not happy or betraying your new world, its just knowing who you are.

Merlot

Agree with this statement but I have really realised how Australian I have become since returning to the UK to live last year. The longer I am here in the UK, the more I feel like I belong in Australia, my husband feels the same.

We love being back but find it hard to relate to the Brits, there seems to be an underlying aggression and inability to have a pleasant chat, not all of course so please don't jump on my case, I realised I felt more relaxed with strangers in Australia.

M

Larissa

This kinda sums it up for me but I'll add a bit more.
I like being here and am glad to have the priviledge, but I will never be "Australian", although I may absorb some of the habits or outlook. I think too many people try to fit in too much (heck, it's not hard to fit in anyway here) instead of just accepting who they are and their little indiosyncracies etc. There's a lot of good things about the British, maybe some mad manchunian footie supporters aren't the best example, and I just don't get why we are constantly wanting to put ourselves down.
Many other nations are proud to be who they are and I'm not offended by that; cultural diversity is a great thing. Wouldn't it be a shame if everyone became some bland Australian (or whever they're settled) stereotype?
BTW Me dad's a Man U fan from Manchester!!!

Scossie

About 3 days!

I'll always be proud to be Scottish, but now Australia is my home, & I'll only ever be going back to Scotland for a holiday, or to meet old friends/family etc.

Never been homesick. (Why should I? I am home.)
Reckon any UK migrant who has a, "Them & us" attitude to Aussies is hard of thinking!
Tried to assimilate into the Aussie culture as much as possible, & reckon I have.
Will be more than proud to get my Oz citizenship ASAP. (In 3 months time).

Yup! I'm proud to be a new Australian.

Hutch

Although I was born in England, I've never felt very English. I've got an aussie dad and an Irish mum and I've always felt it was a quirk of fate that I ended up here anyway (thanks to displacement from WWII) - the first generation of my family to be here. We've all (parents, big sister, two younger brothers) left or are leaving England one by one. So I guess I've always felt Australian and I really do regard it as going 'home'.