I need your help
 

I've been accused of being too positive about Australia, and told that I must dislike something here sufficiently to complain about it.

The problem is that I can't think of anything.
I know I have a bad memory, so maybe I just forget ?

I need you help with suggestions that I can consider, to see if there is something that I can say is "Crap" about my life in Australia...

Fire away with any ideas ...

Re: I need your help
 

Too many smug people?:lol:

Re: I need your help
 

Its your life... how are we supposed to know?

Re: I need your help
 

Sorry, I can't think of anything either.:)

Re: I need your help
 

I've been told I must have, so some people think they know me, so give me ideas, so I can think about it ;)

Re: I need your help
 

You were 'accused' of being positive about Australia to the point of it being predictable. If I were to come on here and say "did everybody see that terrible school bus crash in Sydney?" people are now expecting your response to be something like "well in my Australia, that didn't happen. Where I am its still all just puppies and fluffy bunnies"

Re: I need your help
 

get in touch with stuck in blighty hes always moaning about something:thumbup:

Re: I need your help
 

Maybe the problem is you have an answer to everyone else's negative about OZ. I know you are trying to help, but sometimes the word smug comes to mind;)

Re: I need your help
 

Ahh.. I see where you are coming from, because I have been through it all myself, and can see both sides, and provide useful info for some people, some call it helpful, but others prefer the word "smug".

Well, that's life. I consider that I am sharing my experience and knowledge, and if some think that it is smug to be able to help people, so be it.

I will continue to post my comments on Australia, just as I am sure that some people will continue posting their negative comments on Australia.

However, if people were to stop posting about their experiences, and knowledge, maybe I would end up stopping posting about mine. But then, things might get a bit quiet around here ;)

Re: I need your help
 

Stop being negative about your positivity.:p

Re: I need your help
 

You are soooo right about this, one day this site could fold just because people will be to afraid to say what they think.

Jo

Re: I need your help
 

:rofl:

I dont know why it's OK for people to complain about being unhappy yet someone who is enjoying life and able to put a positive spin on things should be smug. :blink:

Dont ever stop posting ABCD now you're back, it's refreshing to read positives instead of the usual "I miss Next" or other such post. :thumbup:

Re: I need your help
 

You offer helpful, useful and informative advice without expecting anything in return! Oooops that'll be a positive again!

Ah well why change when you're ahead. Keep the happy life going. There's too much bad stuff going on elsewhere.

Cheers

Ginny

Re: I need your help
 

It so humid that your washing never dries. Oh.. and its raining again ;)

Re: I need your help
 

I've never noticed, we split the work, I hang it and my wife brings it in and irons it, so I would never know :D
But we do have a dryer, just in case ;)

We need the rain, they've been playing in the pool and splashing water everywhere, and the pool now needs a top up... (Heavy rain tomorrow possibly though)

Re: I need your help
 

That was the old me....

I now get my web hosting costs covered by visitors to my website :rofl:

Re: I need your help
 

piss off you muppet

Re: I need your help
 

Whaaaaaaaaaaat!?? You kidding?? Me and OH married 13 years and he has NEVER hung out the washing! :sneaky:

Hmmmmmm... think I should print this thread out.. increase the font to about 46 and and stick it next to washing bin???? :huh:

Oh... and ABC... I think you're grrrrrrreat (yep.. been at the Frosties!)... not just for hangin out washing, but for all your lovely statistics and sensible posts! ;)

Em x

Re: I need your help
 

I thought you weren't so keen on aspects of Sydney............

Re: I need your help
 

We have also been back and forward a few times like yourselves, and
have been able to compare our life in the Uk with our life here, and also feel we have many more positives here than there. I know some people wouldn't agree but for us it ticks almost all the boxes. :thumbup:

Re: I need your help
 

I love it here but can think of heaps of negatives. Just like in the uk. Some days it p*sses me off so much I think I can't stand it any more but then I look at my shorts and think, oh well at least I am not cold.

It seems to me that a lot of people like to congratulate themselves, reassure themselves or celebrate their new life after working so hard to get here. And then they go on and on about how they made the right choice and its all so perfect, to the extent that its unrealistic. Thats probably one of my pet hates - Dame Edna once said that it was nice to leave Australia because of the headache she got from everyone slapping each other on the back and I can relate to that.

I could never move home as the standard of life I have is so much higher, its so wonderful for bringing up family but like anywhere else its not perfect and also cultural differences grate on me sometimes.

I was tempted to make a list of things I dont like but dont feel like putting myself on a downer - it could turn out to be quite a list....

Re: I need your help
 

Sorry ABC, can't help because my take on life is very similar to yours. Yes shit happens but it's the usual stuff that would happen whatever the first world country we were living in. I don't complain on here about stuff that sometimes happens because it's not relevant to Australia. Others are happy to complain about stacks of things and sometimes apparently it's Australia's (or Britain's) fault. Not sure how that works, generally, in my experience, it's 'someone's' fault regardless of their nationality and most of the time people don't actually have that information, they blame Australians but it's just as likely to be an expat who's been here a few years.

Don't worry about what others think. You haven't changed during your break away and nor should you. I think more people are helped by your links and advice than are irritated by your 'positivity'. The old saying applies: People who mind, don't matter and people who matter, don't mind.:D

Re: I need your help
 

Well for a start you live in Viccy point. So tons of old people. So going to the Post Office is a nightmare.

In the newsagent there are people discussing thier sore back while someone else is trying to better that with their gamy knee, or how their collapsed disc is much worse than theirs. All the while I'm waiting just to buy a newspaper:curse:.

Why are cars so loud, why are hoons so common, why do so many otherwise normal people think it is ok to buy their young kids motorbikes to drive around their 'gardens', why are there so many rednecks, why do old people think it is okay to hold parties until 12:30am.

Theres too many bloody trees, just for koalas, and they are all eucalyptus junkies anyway, we shouldn't be encouraging that. And bloody schoolies, just cos they've done a few weeks school they think they can get drunk illegally and get pregnant and then blame society and be paid for it.

And its too muggy and warm,

There you go, theres a start :D

JTL

Re: I need your help
 

:p:thumbsup:

Re: I need your help
 

Don't know about the bunnies and puppies, but probably why some people suggest posters move to other places.

I can't stand what lies to the SW of me. All the problems that JackTheLad mentions. But it doesn't effect me if I don't go to the mall there. Apart from that it is not key to my friends or workmates.

Re: I need your help
 

oh don't. abc will start back with a barrage of statistics about how there aren't any rednecks in aus, how no-one holds parties past a reasonable 10pm, there are no hoons and so on ad nauseum :p

it's a bit like those annoying parents who think their little johnny is whiter than white and can see no wrong in the kid.

*fingers in ears* la le la le la, happy happy happy! :)

Re: I need your help
 

spot on. good and bad everywhere, nowhere's perfect.

Re: I need your help
 

I've been here more than thirty years and sure there are a few niggles but when I go overseas I'm always incredibly glad to get back home to Australia. When I return to my home area in Lancashire I have plenty to complain about, apart from the fact that I cannot understand them and they cannot understand me, I certainly could not settle there ever again, one or two weeks is the maximum.

Re: I need your help
 

Correct, so I gave up complaining, did something about it and moved up to QLD ;)

Re: I need your help
 

And so many are, as you say, just like in the UK.

Therefore, not the fault of Australia, and irrelevant, as it would be the same back in the UK. ;)

Re: I need your help
 

Australia is fabulous soyour positive banter will be most welcome by everyone you meet unless they were born under a very sad rock

Re: I need your help
 

We have 2 Post Offices, and to avoid a problem, I avoid them on pension days, and rarely see a queue. But don't they have queues in UK Post Offices these days ?

I buy my paper at the Fruit shop, or at Woolworths, while I am shopping, so I don't see any of that at the newsagent.

Cars, parties, etc, just the same as the UK... They had an 18th party across the road some time back, and the 18 yr old came over to all neighbours to tell us about it the day before. But we did find a beer bottle on the garden the next morning! How did I react ? It could have been worse, and I know I've done worse when I was that age, in the UK, so it probably happens everywhere.

Schoolies, yes, I agree, they should be banned. In 5 years time, that may have been a problem for me, but my daughter has agreed not to go, so I have avoided that potential problem.

Too muggy and warm ? I'm sitting here in the shade with a bit of the sea breeze coming in. ;)

Re: I need your help
 

different negatives, different country but I don't think one is better than the other. They are just different.

My life here is far better - I don't miss the negativity and dead end feeling of where I lived in Wales but I feel quite far from lots of things i want to be near here. I kind of think I will go back one day but now my children are Australian it gets harder.

I miss cheap holidays, cheap flights, architecture, diverse scenery, fringe events, shopping choice, pubs, spring mornings and smells. I miss BBC2 and I would never have said I was a bbc 2 type of person. I miss British people or maybe just knowing where I am with people.

I don't miss people being so miserable, the lack of business opportunity - here you can really make something if you work hard - I think more easily than at home. I definitely don't miss the grey.

I dont like the sports coverage here, hate the tv, the adverts arent as good, the "we are great" mentality but then again it doesnt bother me because I am usually outside doing something.

I think its really strange though that some people dont like other people criticizing Australia in any way, as if it somehow is something that shouldn't be talked about and its against the rules to be negative. Inversely, some people make me wonder why they havent just gone home and enjoyed what they now seem to appreciate.

I was surprised on going home, how small my house really was there, how nothing had changed in 5 years and how I just could pick up the conversations where I left off. I loved it but after a month I couldnt wait to come back home to Australia.

Re: I need your help
 

I agree, like everywhere, it isn't perfect, we can all complain about something no matter where live.

But I tend to accept things, especially where it would be no different if I was somewhere else.

With the cultural differences, they also used to be a problem, until I accepted that I was the one who needed to adapt, and not want Australia to change to suit me. And that is how I felt/thought in the beginning.

I chose to come to Australia, therefore I should accept Australian ways. Once I realised that, it was easy to accept things being different here.

Re: I need your help
 

Schoolies was no worse than every weekend where I came from..:huh:

My son can go next year, no problem..

And I can talk out of experience as I live a stones throw from Surfers not miles away in a brizzie burb , went into Surfers during schoolies this year and found it fine...

Youngsters are as entitled to have fun as us oldies... Remember we were all 18 once...

Re: I need your help
 

It seems that, rather than face the problems, and complain about them, I have found ways to avoid them instead. It gives a happier life.

But when they are the same problems that would occur in the UK, I do not even think of them, as they are just part of normal life, either here or there.

Something that is making me wonder, is the mention of "defending Australia".
I am not sure, but I feel that most of my comments are in stating that different parts of Australia are different to other parts of Australia, rather than in direct comparison to the UK. I will have to look back and see...

My neighbour is in his garden now, mowing his lawn, should I complain about disturbing my peace, or just accept that it happens, both here and the UK ?
:)

Re: I need your help
 

That's the problem.... I DO remember... and I now have a daughter.... if I had a son, I wouldn't worry as much :)

Re: I need your help
 

I have found the biggest problem with most people's attitude who have emigrated is that they expect Australia to be like the u.k:curse:Drives me mad, we emigrated here to have a different and hopefully more fun filled life which I have found to be the case. I do find myself comparing the differences between certain things but think this is a natural process of adjusting to a new life.
I miss lots of things but mainly clothes shopping but what I have here I wouldn't swap to go back to the u.k.
Things are going to be different after all this is AUSTRALIA not the U.k::eek:

Allyson:thumbsup:

Re: I need your help
 

Sorry mate but you accept everything.. Nothing has a negative side to you. Everything is positive.....

Lose a leg.. think of the money I can save on shoes
House burns down... all that released carbon will be good for the plants
Spouse drops dead... chance to get a younger model.

Its not normal and its just a little creepy.

Re: I need your help
 

Just because it's not how you are doesn't make it not normal. If he's not normal, then neither am I - happily. If you don't like it, the answer is, as usual, don't read it. If you do read it, don't knock someone because they don't have the same mental attitude to you. No one's right and no one's wrong, everyone's different.