Originally Posted by Storini

As has been said, many of the people with the very positive attitudes to Oz are posting mainly on the other forum. Hence the balance point between positive and negative threads will appear to shift towards the latter on this forum.

sponge bob would be roasted alive if he posted his post on the other forum.

I think people like their own views reinforced, whichever way they incline...

Originally Posted by coxfamuk

Can anyone tell me (or pm me) what this other forum is.

Originally Posted by sponge bob

Well, i know before i start that this will upset people but its the facts has i see them. We came here looking for a better life and found that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
We picked Perth and not Brisbane because we thought the housing would be cheaper and it would not be so humid in the summer .
Well when we first got here everything seemed to be great just what we had hoped for. The weather was great the poeple were nice and there were plenty of jobs advertised. We have been here some time now and our views have changed alot. Tere are lots of jobs , the poeple are nice and the weather can be very nice indeed.ITS NOT ENOUGH from day one we have been told you wlll get used to this and you will get used to that, well thats the way we do it out here etc etc.
What this has really meant is that we are forced to accept lower standards in almost everything from education to food. from work place safety to employment rights, the list seems almost endless.
I know by now there will alot of poeple typing away to rubbish what i am saying but there are a lot of poeple that know what i am saying is true, so please read on and at least be aware of what ( i think ) awaits the hopeful immigrant, if he hasn`t researched has much has he should.
First i have to mention housing , everybody out here seems totaly obsessed with the housing market , prices have been booming for a long time now land prices are high ( this in a country with unlimited land ) and building costs are the same. At first we rented a house very large with a lot of land and all brand new. We thought this was great and began to think it would be wise to build our own new house in Australia. But it soon began to dawn on us that we would have to compomise where we wanted to build because of land prices and while we pondered this we started to take a look at the quality of the house we were renting and the others of friends and those around and nearby.
They are very poorly finished off the work is not what you would accept back in the uk yet they still run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Then we come to the education of our children , IT JUST MAKES ME WANT TO CRY why o why did i ever complain about schools back in the UK.I don`t see the point of going into this any further other to say you should really look into it yourself if you think the education of your children is important.
Then there is work lots of jobs about but they are nearly all in the city area which means traveling , the road network is has busy has any major city in the world at peak times, the driving ability of most of your fellow comuters is .......... well you decide when you drive from the airport .
so why do so many people come here and why do so many people stay? ( this is going to upset a lot of people i suppose ). A lot of migrants come to perth from the Uk looking for a better life and for the most part seem to find it. They come from run down northern cities terraced housing and inner city schools , perth gives them a bit more space a newer home good weather and they accept its bad points because of this. They seem to think good food is cheap food, good houses are bigger houses etc etc.

To sum it up I would have to say that in general we have had to accept lower standards in almost everthing , if you lived in a small teerraced house in a big city in the uk then it is paradise , if you live in a detached house in the country (uk ) then it is almost the opposite, on the whole the grass is not greener on the other side . People may say well its not for everyone and this is true , but before you come over think about what you have in the uk , the truth is you may be gambleing it all onthe promise of cheaper houses and sunshine, ( Well you get what you pay for in this life and it gets very clod hear in winter and very wet . )
just think before you leap, and good look which ever way you go. :confused:

Originally Posted by sponge bob

Well, i know before i start that this will upset people but its the facts has i see them. We came here looking for a better life and found that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
We picked Perth and not Brisbane because we thought the housing would be cheaper and it would not be so humid in the summer .
Well when we first got here everything seemed to be great just what we had hoped for. The weather was great the poeple were nice and there were plenty of jobs advertised. We have been here some time now and our views have changed alot. Tere are lots of jobs , the poeple are nice and the weather can be very nice indeed.ITS NOT ENOUGH from day one we have been told you wlll get used to this and you will get used to that, well thats the way we do it out here etc etc.
What this has really meant is that we are forced to accept lower standards in almost everything from education to food. from work place safety to employment rights, the list seems almost endless.
I know by now there will alot of poeple typing away to rubbish what i am saying but there are a lot of poeple that know what i am saying is true, so please read on and at least be aware of what ( i think ) awaits the hopeful immigrant, if he hasn`t researched has much has he should.
First i have to mention housing , everybody out here seems totaly obsessed with the housing market , prices have been booming for a long time now land prices are high ( this in a country with unlimited land ) and building costs are the same. At first we rented a house very large with a lot of land and all brand new. We thought this was great and began to think it would be wise to build our own new house in Australia. But it soon began to dawn on us that we would have to compomise where we wanted to build because of land prices and while we pondered this we started to take a look at the quality of the house we were renting and the others of friends and those around and nearby.
They are very poorly finished off the work is not what you would accept back in the uk yet they still run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Then we come to the education of our children , IT JUST MAKES ME WANT TO CRY why o why did i ever complain about schools back in the UK.I don`t see the point of going into this any further other to say you should really look into it yourself if you think the education of your children is important.
Then there is work lots of jobs about but they are nearly all in the city area which means traveling , the road network is has busy has any major city in the world at peak times, the driving ability of most of your fellow comuters is .......... well you decide when you drive from the airport .
so why do so many people come here and why do so many people stay? ( this is going to upset a lot of people i suppose ). A lot of migrants come to perth from the Uk looking for a better life and for the most part seem to find it. They come from run down northern cities terraced housing and inner city schools , perth gives them a bit more space a newer home good weather and they accept its bad points because of this. They seem to think good food is cheap food, good houses are bigger houses etc etc.

To sum it up I would have to say that in general we have had to accept lower standards in almost everthing , if you lived in a small teerraced house in a big city in the uk then it is paradise , if you live in a detached house in the country (uk ) then it is almost the opposite, on the whole the grass is not greener on the other side . People may say well its not for everyone and this is true , but before you come over think about what you have in the uk , the truth is you may be gambleing it all onthe promise of cheaper houses and sunshine, ( Well you get what you pay for in this life and it gets very clod hear in winter and very wet . )
just think before you leap, and good look which ever way you go. :confused:

Originally Posted by CadburysFingers

A good deal of what you say is true, especially food and education. I tell you, many times I have been shopping at Coles or Action and arrived home only to notice subsequently that 5 or 6 of the items I have bought are past their sell by date, some by months, one the other week by over a year. Something else to be aware of, is that depending on the time of year your child was born, he/she can be over six before they start school. Added to that, at that age they are learning stuff they already know, for example my next door neighbours 6 year old daughter started school recently and was taught colours, this is blue that is yellow etc. She knew her colours a couple of years ago, but because many of the Australian children didnt know their colours the whole class had to do it, the same was true of reading, writing etc etc. Other friends 7 year old daughter is doing stuff at 7 that she did two years ago in England at age 5. Almost any parent you talk to, that is heavily involved in their childs upbringing, will tell you similar stories.

Originally Posted by MrsDagboy

Hey Vash, how's your head mate? :D :D

Originally Posted by CadburysFingers

A good deal of what you say is true, especially food and education. I tell you, many times I have been shopping at Coles or Action and arrived home only to notice subsequently that 5 or 6 of the items I have bought are past their sell by date, some by months, one the other week by over a year. Something else to be aware of, is that depending on the time of year your child was born, he/she can be over six before they start school. Added to that, at that age they are learning stuff they already know, for example my next door neighbours 6 year old daughter started school recently and was taught colours, this is blue that is yellow etc. She knew her colours a couple of years ago, but because many of the Australian children didnt know their colours the whole class had to do it,

Originally Posted by aussie73

If the kids are being taught colours in year 10 when they are 15 years old then its time to panic. :D

Originally Posted by MrsDagboy

The problem is that firstly Perth education doesnt necessarily equate to education everywhere in Australia & secondly, you are comparing it to UK because a child has previously started school in the UK. Since they start school what seems to be almost 2 years earlier in the UK, its almost impossible for them NOT to do over here something that they have already done. But why does that make the education system some how bad or wrong? :confused: If they taught the colours & told them that blue was red & red was green I could understand people jumping up & down & saying that the education system was rubbish, but they are just taught things at a different time & stage - but that doesnt mean its inferior does it? :confused:

I've never had a child in the UK education system, but Im very happy with the education standard where our boys go to school in Brisbane, but then Im not comparing it to the UK, only judging it as I see it. Seems that alot of people in Perth arent happy with the education, but its hard to work out whether its because the standard really is lower or simply that more people compare it with the UK - usually unfavourably.

Originally Posted by jensteve

Hi all

I apologise now for any slip ups with my English language skills, I forever seem to put my foot in it.

I agree somewhat with what sponge bob has said, although he was rather tactless at the north/south divide coment. I have said many times to friends here it all depends on what you had in the UK as to what and how you find Perth and Australia.

I have lived on council estates and never would have been classed as well off in the UK so I find living in Perth a breath of fresh air. I can understand how an afluent person living in the UK whether it be North or South would have a bit of a culture shock coming over here.
As for schooling I can understand where he is coming from, I think he should ahve asked the reasons behind the seemingly falling behind the UK children seem to be over here.

I asked and was told they like to have a good base on maths and English before they are allowed to do other things, the fact that they ripped apart my sons English skills and said they would have never let a child come out of primary school lacking some of the basic skills required for high school cheered me up somewhat. What they explained made simple sense and I am now happy with my sons schooling. This may be why some people find their children seem held back, its not because they can't be bothered teaching other things which they may have done in the UK, its because from the schools point of view they are not upto scratch with their English language skills, and they won't start them doing other enjoyable subjects until they have a good firm grounding to build upon.

Perth is a strange place and I guess it all depends on the person if they fit in, or find it an enjoyable place to live, but yes it does depend on your previous life in the UK as to exactly how you fit in over here, if you came with nothing here would be paradise, if you came having done everything possible, this place maybe rather dull and its housing low quality.

Hope I didn't offend

jenny

Originally Posted by CadburysFingers

A good deal of what you say is true, especially food and education. I tell you, many times I have been shopping at Coles or Action and arrived home only to notice subsequently that 5 or 6 of the items I have bought are past their sell by date, some by months, one the other week by over a year.

Originally Posted by Scorpio1

Where Sponge Bob did go wrong was the 'northerner' bit. It's not just northerners from council estates who would really like Perth - it's anyone who's common from anywhere in the UK. It's a fact - your standards are lower therefore you see only the good things in Perth & that's fair enough. Even the awful Aussie accent may seem bearable if you've got an awful one yourself ;) !