dazuk

Hey PP, just because I PREFER england to Australia does'nt mean I can't complain about its shortcomings. Thats one of the beautiful things about being English we can see fault in our country and accept it , do you think the same could be said about your average Aussie???

bondipom

When we all have a different perspective on life there will always be someone disagreeing on a reason for emmigrating. I am also interested in how parents deal with the kids and the UV and I am sure the wannabes are also interested.

No one is claiming to have lived in your shoes or is being judgemental on your raising skills. How are you finding the difference with the kids?

bondipom

The problem people have with your posts is they are nearly universally negative about whatever the country being talked about is.

MrsDagboy

Jesus, some people just talk some absolute bollocks .

Simone, you are such a fence sitter .

In answer to BPs original question, YES, I think our kids have a much better & happier childhood here in Oz than they would back in the UK.

And I may be wrong, but I think most of the people who are actually here and have kids would probably agree with me.

MrsDagboy

Billy, I really hope you are joking, thats just appalling

dazuk

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MrsDagboy
Jesus, some people just talk some absolute bollocks .

OK that is aimed at me, no doubt, to what part of my comments are you saying I talk absolute bollocks?? This seems to be a common insult, u accused me of talking the above when I stated that Aus was the home of V6?V8's and that 4 cylinder cars are rare.

Is Aus not the country where heated debate is measured on the holden commodore/Ford Falcon saga?? Or did I dream all of that bollocks?

Grayling

I've noticed that.
Doesn't seem to matter which side of the argument you are on.

Who talks the better bollocks though?

G

MrsDagboy

Daz, as I have said before, you need to get new friends! If you think that every person in Australias main conversational topics are sport & Holden vs Ford based on the people you have talked to then you've been talking to a small selection of people. Its like saying that every person in the UK talks about soccer & nothing else. Or beer. Or the royal family. Its rubbish. Some people may talk about sport & cars (especially down the pub where those sorts of subjects are common amongst males & "aquaintances") but do guys down the pub in the UK never talk about soccer? Or darts? Or the Rugby? Of course they do, but it doesnt mean that no-one talks about anything else, but that is your implication. Some people here in Oz like talking about sport, but there are plenty that dont. As for the car thing, your comment was that 4 cyl cars are rare. In fact they make up approximately half of the total registrations, followed by 6 cyls & then by V8s. Not exactly what I would call rare. You seem to be very good at gross generalisations & confusing your opinion (which you are entitled to) with fact.


Grayling, I just think that comments like "are you suggesting that it doesnt rain in Australia?" to be patronising & condescending. I dont think anyone is that stupid. Some people may have misguided ideas (to think that everywhere in Oz is crime-free for example is very naive), but in general I like to think that most people are fairly sensible & after checking a few facts & opinions can work out something at least close to the truth.

And yes, it does depend on what side of the arguement you are on, but perhaps the best & fairest comments in this particular thread might come from people who are actually here & have young children? Followed by the ones in the UK who have young children & know what their life is like & what their children need?

Thomaz

Interesting all that.

And very pertinent to my own situation.

I’m sitting in my office (well, it’s a crappy shack) in Port Kembla overlooking the steel works (there’s a massive fire raging at the moment but that’s another story) wishing I was anywhere but here. Okay so I don’t live in Port Kembla – I live 20km south in Shellharbour which is fine in that at least you can’t see the steel works. Beaches are nice too – but you can’t spend all your time on the beach. For one thing you have to work.

Someone mentioned stress, well I’ve been in Oz for 5 months (came from Warrington and joined the Australian division of the company that I worked for in the UK) … since I’ve been here I’ve never felt do much stress in my life!! –

In the UK I worked 35 hours per week (very rarely any more than that) and when I did I was paid for it (weekends were double-time).

Here I am contacted to work 37.5 hours but tend to, and am expected as everyone else is to work longer than that – without any extra pay. I have been asked to come in on Saturday morning – no overtime pay and unless my weekly hours go above 44 then I can’t even expect time off in lieu.

Wages here are crap compared to what I was earning in the UK. I’m still with the same company doing a similar job but I had to take on new terms and conditions – in every case conditions less favourable to those in the UK. For instance annual leave here is 20 days. In the UK I was up to 32 days due to long service leave. That was not recognised when I transferred here (wasn’t a transfer in the strict sense of the word - I didn’t receive any relocation expenses or anything like that). Even a new starter with the company in the UK would get at least 25 days leave (number of bank holidays is about the same between the two countries).

Far more is expected of me work-wise which adds to the stress. They are very keen on regular appraisals and performance is rewarded. But they are not so hot on providing training. I’m not expecting a pay rise for a while.

My travel to work, whilst not stressful as the traffic isn’t so bad is nevertheless a 20-25 minute drive. In the UK I had a pleasant 10 minute cycle ride to work through some lovely countryside. Wasn’t so great in the winter months but with the right clothing I could still do it – here it’s often too hot to cycle for more than a few minutes.

Apart from work there are lots of other reasons to be stressful here – homesickness, lack of friends, missing family, the Australians, the rising Aussie dollar (still haven’t transferred most of my money), higher cost-of-living (house prices higher here than in Warrington), more taxes etc. etc.

So, why did I come here you may well ask?

It was a tough decision - after all I had seen the new employment contract and could have backed out at the last minute. But, the wheels were in motion and I finally decided to do it…… for my children’s sake !!

My kids are aged 7 and 5 and like many others I believed that a better life could be had for them here. After all Britain is going to the dogs isn’t it? Well, that’s what the British tabloids would have you believe. And I admit some things are better here, namely the weather and the beaches and at the moment that’s enough for my kids. I would say most of the time they do seem happier here – they also prefer their new school.. But whether a life in Australia will be good for them in the long term is hard to tell – for one thing having stressed out parents can’t be good and I have noticed some behavioural changes in them… not for the better. Also, will they be really turn out better for being brought up in Australia? I’m not sure – there is more to life than good weather and sport.

Really, I’m not sure I want my kids to grow up as Australians.

On the other hand it’s hard to say I’ll go home just yet.

I wish I had never brought my family here though.

DianeOZ

Well as a mum who has just got her blue peters badge in lasting a year here, I would say swings and roundabouts.

Weather - It's good to be able to plan things knowing the weather is going to be fine but you have to time things to avoid the worst heat of the day - common sense, but the kids do moan that it's too hot to go outside and I'd say that they don't play as much footie and cricket in the garden as they used to in the Uk but they are in and out of the pool all day which they didn't have before of course.

The kids holiday care and after care clubs are brilliant here, so much for them to do.

They are happier at school here than Uk but I think that has something to do with the fact they seem to do more fun things here.

We have been on 2 camping trips and they boys preferred our camping holidays in Uk (to Hunstanton for Gods sake!! - nostalga I think)

If we are busy in the house doing the chores then the kids will just veg in front of videos and the PS2 same as Uk, they won't just go out and play (moan moan - it's too hot).

I think for now they are having a better childhood, in 3 or 4 years time when the teenage years start for the eldest then I don't know what they'll think. I hope they will still love it.

janeyray

Try this for 'Character Building' ..... Every time a relative comes to visit from the UK our daughter is an emotional wreck as they leave, it's worse than when we left the UK to come here. Don't tell me this doesn't have some sort of long term effect emotionally on a child?

Then we got a rental property and the house prices went up so much we couldn't afford to buy in that area so our daughter had to move schools again!! Not at all character building.

We bought a trampoline for her to play on in the garden but it sits unused for the past 8 weeks as it's to hot outside and far cooler inside !!!! So it may be raining outside for 11 months in the UK (I think not) but you ARE ABLE TO GO OUT YOU KNOW!! Try doing some sort of sport outside here in 35c+ I use to ride my horse in all weather, snow, rain whatever try doing that here when its over 28c.
Yes the beach is the answer if it's hot but with a max of 2 hours or you are frazzled.

Then there are the months when you don't sit outside, play outside, bbq outside because of the flies and please dont say that you can (UK lot) because you can't sit for long with the flies in your face for 2 months let alone eat!!!!!

Then our daughter finally gets some new close friends and they move away because the Aussies never seem (?) to live anywhere for longer than about a year?!

I hear people say they are moving here for a better life for their child, what has their child requested this move then? No, it's all about what we want, our adventure and our lifestyle with no thought about 'what if the child doesnt like it', they'll settle, they'll get use to it, they are only children after all, everyone elses children like it. I hear this all the time and now find it very selfish and we were when we came here.

Our daughter said on the night we left for OZ
" If Australia is so good then why doesn't Mamma and Dadda come and live over there with us"? Couldn't answer that one.

DianeOZ

Forgot to add a minus for us:

I actually see less of the kids with our work hours here, we are all out of the house at 7am, my hubby at 5.30pm. By the time I get home and do the tea and battle over the homework thing there is no time for fun, . We need to do something about this for sure.

bondipom

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/...088067740.html

For details on the fire. Does the foam shortage strike you as slack arse on the OH&S.

Thomaz

Thanks for that. Hundreds being evactuated?

I'm still here - bloody company wants their pound of flesh

dotty

Perhaps I can comment as I did raise my kids here.

Firstly like most mums and dads we both worked even though a mortage is a long ago distant memory. Why because one wage was not enough to live on unless we wanted to scrape through. (Creating the business also required us to both work.)

We probably spent on half day a week at the beach every second or third week. Why?, because the kids got bored with it after a while, three weekly they would enjoy it, every week come on!

When it was too hot they like every other aussie kid stayed inside and did computer games . Bike riding and swimming was saved for the (hopefully) safer part of the day when it was cooler. But it does get dark early.

We did go through the owning a boat thing, novelty wore off, swimming pool yes great in summer.

Education is different to the UK. It is behind, but that does not matter if they are going to do their entire education here, my main concern would be taking an OZ educated kid back in high school they would simply be behind. School was not always pleasant, sometimes it was too damn hot.

I suppose basically Monday to Friday its matters not where you live, we all do the same boring work/school run/housework/chores/homework. OZ is no different.

Crime and drugs. Same opportunites for OZ kids as anywhere else, spoke to them at early teens, offered them a cigarette, to put them right off, offered them a drink so it was no novelty, bought them condoms with the groceries, showed them drug areas in Sydney, Vancouver put them off that too. What I am saying is its all here too, just guide them as you see fit, but dont kid yourelf its not here.

Boredom is a big big factor for kids. Hoons (for want of a better word) are acting that way because it can be very boring. Mums and dads in the UK may think the beach will be their life but the reality is different.

Safety for kids, I wont discuss this again, just accept that OZ churns out just as many nutters and perverts as anywhere else.

One thing I dont get is the fresh air sunshine thing. Firstly UV problems dont really allow for much enjoyment of the sun and where are people going?? the cities, most are quite crowded, plenty of traffic, hot air hardly makes for a fresh feel so I dont get that bit at all. Sure OZ has mountain areas but whos going there?

Bad childhood not at all, super improvement on the childhood we could have given them anywhere else not really.

Unless you are coming from some great UK slum and ending up in some upmarket bush/beach surrounded paradise I seriously doubt most of our lives day to day will be that much different.

Sorry if that does not read very exciting but I guess day to day life IS just that.