Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

Actually I agree, Miss Moneypenny. For me, all that has become a bit of an BE myth- which has grown with the telling. I get the distinct impression that people log on bored and distracted - read the fashionable complaints and jump on the bandwagon - repeat ad finitum.

Read the MBTTUK forum, and everyone loves repeating 'The Top 10 Australian whinges' and they're all like repeats of an old game show - yet they're almost a caricature.

Looking at the way people hate the word 'Australian' being bandied about, you only have to avoid watching certain channels and that wipes out about 70pc of all those known whinges.

Even when I do watch 7,9 and 10 I can still live with the word Australian because I live in Australia.

In the company I keep, I've never heard one Australian proclaim that Australia is the best country in the world - et cetera et cetera- there is always a quiet and happy confidence.

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

Definitely a north/south divide on weather this year.
it's beautiful, warm and sunny down here on the south coast and has been for most of September :thumbup:

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

Where the Aussie media and advertisers do push the Australia's biggest/longest/largest whatever, the Brit media and advertisers tend to go for Europe's biggest/longest/largest whatever. I think the use of Europe rather than Britain tends to mask the similarity of style.

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

Likewise from the phrases I hear often

"I still call Australia home"
"True Blue"
"You beauty"

More words I would associate with a people loving the country they are living. Definitely not to be associated with grinding of new immigrants down.

It is very strange to read on BE and then go out in to my real world and mix with people just getting on with life;) its very much a ying and yang.

Dear I say it but BE reminds me of how much I enjoy my life:p especially down under.

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

OP comments are very sensible, nearly always stay off these threads as the same old stuff is banged around.

Everyone is different and we all see things differently and simply want different things.

With regards to the word 'Australia' being said often on tv, I agree it is, I must hear it 20 plus times aday BUT I like it! It's great there is such a PRIDE in the country.

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

You definitely don't sound like a lover of Australia. I hope you're not giving the wife an earful about returning to the UK. :D

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

Led Zep...overrated...nah
nowhere near the class of beatles, stones and the who
but along with other british rock bands of the 70`s like purple, sabbath, thin lizzy and even pink floyd are true rock legends

jimmy barnes....now thats tremendously overrated


;)

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

If only more people could see, or accept, that :thumbup:

Do you REALLY think that will apply to everyone ?

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

Here's my ten pence worth for what its worth. Much that has been posted here I think is pretty accurate - no -one is trying to put people off coming - just advising about the reality. For me the homesickness has never abated - just miss those people I love profoundly - it actually hurts. Also work life balance worse here - as in regional Oz jobs are not so readily available, income required is just as high as in UK - I have replaced high SE mortgage for high education cost (school and uni fees - need 40k net each year for my brood - personal choice I know ( private education) but not something we would compromise on and the state system is a compromise i am afraid from what we had in UK- Uni however is no choice have to pay fees up front no student loans for PRs. Working at least 5.5 days per week - traveling interstate every other week to earn a professional wage - leaving my kids and husband to manage on their own - I hate it , they hate it - no other choice.

In the uk I thought my 55k 45 hour per week job was too much for me and that Oz would give me the chance to re-group and re-assess priorities - now I work as a consultant - no team to support me , no admin help - just me - filing, typing answering to five bosses ( cleints) instead of one and no camaraderie. No support at home - Mum is 10,000 miles away and feeling so exhausted can't begin to enjoy the beach or weather.

And as for going home - well as previous posters have said - kids settled - dont want to go back - timing is everything. if your kids are young you have much more flexibility once they are old enough to live alone then you face the future of either staying and being miserable or leaving your most precious ones behind. I know 20 is old enough to live independently but not I fear when your "home" and parents are 10,000 miles away.

Not sure what the answer is for us - probably going back and hoping eldest will follow after a short while.

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

The problem is that one persons 'reality' is not real to another person.

I suppose people have to try to read between the lines, and ignore anything that says "Australia is x", and realise that Australia is a very big country and may be different in another part.

It would also help if people here would specify the area that they consider to be whatever they say it is. That way new readers may get to understand better.

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

All of this is just a class thing. The lower down the gradient you go the more unquestioningly nationalistic you get. True blue Aussies, Red neck Texans, morons in bulldog T-shirts on Leeds sink estates. Same everywhere. One cannot say "all Australians think/say/feel". One cannot say "all Brits this or that" it's drivel.

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

Jimmy Barnes was exported from Glasgow at the tender age of 5 but he is considered by many to be a true australian legend. :rofl: I'm not so keen myself - saw him at the G on Saturday and IMO he was screaming rather than singing and looked like he was going bright purple with the effort to boot!!
But each to their own I suppose, some people were loving it and anyway you look at it it was entertainment...:thumbsup:

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

The little face is presumably rolling on the floor and laughing because Australians can accept foreign-born people as legends. What a bunch of integrationist immigrant-accepting morons they are!

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

It's a good job that we British don't generalise, and put other people down too much ;)

Re: Things you should know before moving down under...
 

I am likely stating the bleeding obvious but it appears your career in Australia is making the whole experience a nightmare for you. I agree that regardless of where you are, if all you do is work then any work-life balance goes out the window and you'll hate your situation. All I can suggest is looking for a job within a company and at least you won't feel so alone.