Originally Posted by JAR123

Can I ask you would you return to live in the uk ?

Originally Posted by coxfamuk

What this experience has made me realise is that no matter where you were born, you adapt to the environment you are living in - how you adapt is up to you. I guess all my life I have felt like an immigrant, and I guess because of that I am prepared to adapt to my surroundings and embrace new cultures.
The huge majority of immigrants I feel certainly don't sponge off the economy, if anything, they make it grow by adding valuable skills. Be patient with them and you never know, you may learn something from them and find a great friend.

Sarah

Originally Posted by sam&molly

They are separate States all with their own government, taxes and laws who have come together as a Commonwealth. You'll find that the NSW government has more power that the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh Assembly. Prior to the Commonwealth each State was totally independent. The fact that in just over 100 years the Australians have developed a sense of nation is something us Brits could and should learn from.

Sam

Originally Posted by kath n kim

Yes JAR123, I would certainly return to live in the U.K, and probably will one day, especially after living in Australia has made me look at the U.K through a different perspective. I now realise how lucky I am that my birthright allows me live there, if I want to. I also feel lucky that I have been able to experience life in Australia as an immigrant.



This is a lovely, honest thread Sarah. I hope all goes well for you with your move. I would send you karma too, if I knew how to..!

Originally Posted by mary1

You are a little lacking in knowledge of history.
the UK is not a nation but a Union between 4 countries which makes it different from Australia.

All the states and territories are equal in Australia.When they couldn't decide whether Melbourne or Sydney should be capital they created a new capital Canberra to make everyone happy.

Maybe if this had happened in the "UK" the Scots wouldn't be wanting Independence and the IRA wouldn't have spent the last 30 years trying to blow the English up.
Why did the parliament have to be in London? We are equal after all.Just because England has a bigger population shouldn't make it the big bully.

If the English really wanted a "United Kingdom" then perhaps they would change the National Anthem.

One of the Verses of the "God Save The Queen " asks God to help General Wade kill the Scots.Why should we sing a song about asking god to let our neighbours murder us.A little arrogant don't you think.

I can't recall a verse in "Advance Australia Fair" for the Queenslanders to kill the Tasmanians or vice versa.

Originally Posted by fnord

Just a small historic note on the National Anthem and that "Rebellious Scots to crush" verse. That verse was only used when it was simply a patriotic song during the Jacobite rebellion in 1745. When it became the National Anthem in the 1790s, it did not contain that verse.

Originally Posted by louise4

Nichola, we have been hre before and i don't think either gained any new outlook on this subject. i have decided that i prefer a peaceful life on this forum and would like it if we could be friends.
I have decided not to answer your question, simply because it would probably lead to cross words again, which really don't want. have a nice day.

Louise

Originally Posted by arnie2oz

kath n kim & coxfamuk - thanks for excellent posts. Karma well deserved.

I feel sorry for those who are intollerant of others because of their background or culture. The best places to live are where there is a very varied cultural mix. (How did we live without Indian/Chinese/Italian etc meals??)

Originally Posted by moneypen20

I am very proud to be firstly English and secondly British. I love my country and most of the people (obviously don't know most of them ) I object to illegal immigrants but not immigration. I strongly object to the country's immigration policy but firmly believe that we need immigrants to keep the country going.

I am thoroughly looking forward to being an immigrant in Aus. I am also looking forward to working for a living and integrating into Australian life. After two years I will go for citizenship because hopefully I will want to be an Australian citizen but I will always be firstly English because that is where I was born and bred and where all my ancestors were born and bred (except for a relative from donkey's years ago who apparently was French - but you can't have everything )

Good thread. No karma because I pretending not to be a whore

Originally Posted by kath n kim

Just thought I would post this for all of you who are leaving the U.K because of all it's "problems".
A lot of people seem to be talking about the "spongers" who are now there....Sponging off the benefit system, having never worked a day in their lives, never having contributed to National Insurance contributions, expecting child benefit, free dental treatment, free prescriptions, free hospital treatment and numerous other handouts.......The huge influx of foreign immigrants flowing into the country, immediately expecting these same handouts, again having never contributed to the country's econonomy, often ignorant to the country's culture, morals, values, laws, way of life and even sometimes the language.... A lot of people are complaining about the rising crime rates, cost of houses, rising taxes, ridiculous laws, the governments' lax stand on allowing all these foreign immigrants to just walk into the country and almost "take over".....The lack of control that teachers now seem to have over children, in often overcrowded classrooms, with no discipline or morals being taught at the homes of these children, and your children having to be taught alongside them............The decline in the standard of public health care, aged care, mental health care and every other (overstreched and free) national system, probably due to the "spongers"......The widening gap between the wealthy and the poor... The list of the failings of the country is endless.
I know, because a few years ago I was saying exactly the same, then I moved to Australia.

I now realise that you could be saying exactly the same about this country. The only difference is that, I am now that "foreign immigrant"...As you will be in the near future. Expecting free Healthcare, Child benefit etc, etc........Trying desperately to fit-in, make a new/better life and trying to recreate a little bit of what was familiar to you, here in this new adopted country where often everything seems strange and almost unwelcoming. Where the system sometimes seems so unfamiliar, and where a friendly, helpful face is so gratefully appreciated...(even if it is in Centrelink!)

And who can blame many of the Australian people born here for often feeling slightly resentful of the fact that "Pommies" move over here and expect everything for nothing? That they move over here and push their property prices up to unaffordable levels for the average Aussie, because they can afford to pay more, after selling their house in the U.K for an astronomical price......Then, they come over here and expect handouts for free, without ever having contributed to the country's economy............Bringing with them their own thoughts and ideas on how things should be done.......
Sound familiar?
There are still the same injustices, unfairness, crimes and everything else over here, just as they are in the U.K. The only difference is that you see it from a different angle when you are on the outside, looking in.

Living in Australia has taught me many things. One of them is to have a little pride in your own country. Most Australians are very patriotic, and why shouldn't they be - Australia is a wonderful country......But then,
so is Great Britain. It is still one of the most sought after countries in the world, to live - That's why so many foreigners want to live there! So please don't knock it, or the "foreign immigrants" most of whom have moved there trying desperately to forge a better lives for themselves and their families, just as you will be doing in Australia.
People are human, no matter where they were born, and there are good and bad everywhere. I for one, now appreciate all that the U.K does have, rather than what it doesn't.

These are my thoughts and views. You may agree or disagree, that is your prerogative.

Originally Posted by renth

Of course it is. Sure they don't have a "welsh" passport but if a people see themselves as distinct, particularly with their own language, as most Welsh do then yes, it's a country.

Ceri, where are you?