Clacfart

Hey guys, I was talking to my father in law last night who was discussing how difficult it will be to meet new people and form a social group therefore me and my husband will become lonely and end up failing and coming back (nice to know he has so much hope for us haha but still worth considering nonetheless).

So, my question is how hard is it actually? I know that having a good social life is person dependant and depends on people's drive to make the effort to socialise.

Here in the UK we are both skydivers and have made loads of friends through this due to being in a like-minded community. I'm hoping Aus dropzones will be the same and I have already been in contact with some of the dropzones around Adelaide and they seem very welcoming.

Aside from skydiving, are there other opportunities to get out and meet people? I shy away from being the 'newbie' so I guess I'm a little concerned.

Does anyone have any experiences to share from just moving out there?

Many thanks in advance xx

scot47

Head down the RSL, have a few beers and bemoan the end of "White Australia" You will soon have dozens of pals

boom_meringue

I have been back in the UK for 2 years after 10 years in Perth; we have found it harder to connect to people here in the UK than we ever did in Perth. You will find loads of expat get togethers where you can meet people, the school run if you have kids and I found that I made loads of friends in the motorbike community.

tl;dr you will be fine.

DeadVim

I’m not a naturally sociable person but I joined a cricket team prompted by my Aussie OH 13 years ago when I emigrated.

Best decision I (she) made socially for me.

We are still going strong. A diverse bunch happy to accept anyone willing to pitch in.

Seems to be the rule rather than the exception, thankfully.

Walk on and embrace the change is my best advice.

Clacfart

Awesome, thanks so much everyone. Worry averted

spouse of scouse

Bit unfair on the RSL there, Scot. The one my late step-dad belonged to was brilliant, and welcomed everyone who wanted to join in any of their activities or fund raisers. I had a beer or three there many times and never came across one bigot - and believe me, I have an excellent 'bigot radar'

I was initially a bit afraid that my Austrian step-dad wouldn't be particularly welcomed when he first went there to inquire about becoming a member - he had been conscripted into the Hitler Youth in the final years of WW2 and saw active duty. I needn't have worried though, he was welcomed with open arms. Before he became too frail, he used to manage much of the set-up for the dawn service at Kings Park. Remembering him standing at the services with tears in his eyes reminds me of what a special person he was.

Beoz

Cricket is always a winner for social. Because it goes for so long the wags usually turn up for an hour or too for a chin wag.

the troubadour

Social life can indeed be hard to find to satisfaction in Australia. Surely not just a question of meeting but a connection of sorts would be nice as well?
You may prove fortunate, depending on interests I suppose.
IMO, Australians are more often than not, not particularly 'big talkers', possibly men more so, hence better 'doing' something be that bridge, a sport, fishing or something of interest.


It is not only migrants than find the going tough, Australians back from 'more open' societies often comment along similar lines.
The difficulty in making meaningful contacts is often a point mentioned on line. Saying that living in the English provinces is hardly welcoming either, and folk keep pretty much to themselves and can be stand offish. Not a great deal of difference.

quoll

the troubadour

I tend to agree with most the above. Good friends are harder to come by in OZ in general, than UK, where there just seems easier to develop a 'deeper' emotional connection. Australians, to my mind, are as with many things in life, a little too blasé about their 'friendships' for my liking to be thought much more than connections.
Work, in my experience has always been the major factor in contacts, too often net working though, even in subtle forms, than to be classified as 'friends'.
Quite a bit of back stabbing as well, probably more among women and possibly a result of having not to much of an 'external nature' to discuss, but as mentioned, though 'used to it' , years ago found it somewhat disconcerting, just how much men here were disconnected from their emotions. Far more than from where I had just arrived from, plus more than Englishmen, supposedly renown for such behaviour.

I like the above quotes on those whom like to skite. Has this become 'institutionalised' form of behaviour in Australia? Sometimes appears so.

Probably more 'profound' than desired. If only contacts desired, those will likely come with the usual methods. At least the same language is shared and cultural similarities which simplify perhaps initial approaches towards building a social life.

Stuck in Auckland

Most fly in via airports than drop in

Try that and you might make some friends inline

Gordon Barlow

Born and raised in Oz, I left and became a perennial expat, in several other countries. Whenever I returned to my original homeland, I always had trouble "connecting" with the natives, even my old friends - except for people who had themselves been overseas, generally speaking. About half of the Australian expats that I know today, say they share my experience in that regard; the other half say they have no problem. The same applies to British expats and former expats: half of them find re-connecting difficult, and half have no problem. During the year that we lived in Perth (1971), almost all our friends were either Brits or former Aussie-expats. So my advice to newcomers is to seek out those two types.

aries