yanH

I'd agree with that. Football (soccer) is really popular here in Sydney. My kids have been playing in the local league here on the North Shore and its a really lively league. Many of the clubs have several teams in each age group. Aussies are also make up the majority of players on all the teams that we came across so its not just the expats playing. A lot of parents that we've spoken to also prefer soccer as they consider that its safer for the kids than ARL, AFL etc.

The A League is also definitely increasing in popularity. We watched Sydney on Friday night and there were around 20000 there (shame it was a shit performance from Sydney ). Once they can expand the number of teams and get into other parts of Australia then I think it will really take off.

Vegemite

DUHHHH...I'm suurrreee, I dah'nt git it???? Meees confused. Me's a bit daft as mes a canefarmers daughter, born and bred in NQ. Pleaaase explain yur post to mees pleease, pleeese? Thanks, Dahhh...

I actually am a canefarmers daughter and yes I was born in NQ, so you do have some massive backpedalling to do. Not happy!!! :curse::curse:

rugbymatt

Framac.................back peddle?

Vegemite

Yep. Get on his bike and start riding backwards with an apology to start with..... ()

framac

Apology my arse. Did I not say lovely ppl but sometimes a bit slow. The humour flies above their head. Maybe you're the same Have a look at they beards with no moustache. If you ask why, they reply they have a scar from childhood. Aye that will be chocolate. They actually think they're the bees knees. No apology veggy, sorry baby.
BTW Veggy, the Indian restaurant aint there anymore. I think it was you who told me down at the big bear. Its now a cafe.

Steve G

So how do the Mozzies treat the Brits?

Margaret3

first of all apologies for not reading whole thread,lol

My sister has stayed in usa for over 20 years, we have recently moved to aus and she is going to visit us next year, and i have the strongest feeling she will love it and not want to go back to the states

Amazulu

And you could call rugby league total shite.

birdynumnum

I've found the same, not only in n q'land though

Hutch

I've found the aussies to be pretty good judges of character ... if you find they're treating you with indifference or unpleasantness, then perhaps the fault lies with you .. and not them.

Weirdstone

That's how I find it Hutch....

....which begs the question 'How do the Brits treat the Aussies?'

Fleaflyfloflum

pmsl...

The day i make judgement on my personality based on the opinion of an Australian (or anyone else for that matter) I'm hanging up my boots!!

You make me laugh sometimes

Weirdstone

So, for example you have a personality of an arse-hole, and you find that lots of people don't like you ... then you wouldn't consider that it is any way down to how you present yourself?

Not saying you are an arse-hole though

Fleaflyfloflum

LOL why thankyou. I promise i am not.

the thing is, being considered an arsehole is just one persons opinion. I guess if you end up being a Billy no mates in life, after a while i'd say you might need to reconsider your social skills. But Hutch is being daft as a brush saying Australians are generally good judges of character. They are no better than anyone else i would say!! It depends on the individuals skills at assessing people not the patch of earth they were hatched on. But in his defense i'd say he was not being too serious

Hutch

It was, I must admit, a disingenuous comment. If I'm being honest, I'd say that this whole area falls under the category of on-going social baggage. I stopped getting wound up by people's 'simplistic' views of Australia and Australians some time ago, when I realised the people making the comments were undoubtedly exactly the same in the UK. The whingers whinged as much in the UK as here, the xenophobes were probably every bit as xenophobic in blighty - socially witless caterpillars don't suddenly transform into gregarious butterflies because they've moved 12,000 miles around the planet.

The other problem with this whole subject is that the majority of migrants find themselves thrust into a situation they haven't confronted since they went to big school. We all had lives and friends in the UK, but they didn't happen overnight - some friendships take decades to mature. And yet some people move here and seem to expect to develop a solid circle of friends in months. The people we knew in the UK came from a vast variety of different social situations - school, work, clubs, pubs, chance encounters, family links etc. Those relationships brewed over many years - some fizzled out, some stood the test of time. The same, of course, is true here - but the bottom line is that many British Expats do not help themselves when it comes to building the sort of social circle that makes everyday life bearable.