Alfresco

johnknight001

leave al your furniture behind in blighty, don't bring it as its all no good here and cheap as to replace, would love to meet the fxxxer that said that one, in hindsight bring the bloody lot. cost a fortune to set up again from scratch, still all good in the end.

Dorothy

I agree. I went to dozens of things where I couldn't wait to leave but also met some of my best friends at meetups or events I would normally never have gone to.

Margaret3

yep, I finally got back to trusting my judgement !

paulry

Yeah, I agree - bring the lot. But have several non-ruthless sort-throughs to reduce the junk first. We sorted three times before shipping but still have about ten boxes of loved junk piled up in the garage here. We're happy we have it though because we also brought all our useful stuff which made the settling in process a lot easier

eddie007

That's a bit sad, item number 1.

Wont bother inviting newbies over in future

paulry

Were you the inviter?

eddie007

No idea LOL... There have been many in the last 6 years.. We did the same for newbies that others did for us...passing it forward.... Many are very good friends still today...some we never see ... One family brought a house across the park from us... Ignoring both comment one and two

If I WAS it would be a slap in the face wouldn't it?

DILLIGAF?

paulry

Not sure, but since being on BE I have acquired a fair bit of knowledge about some of the shenanigans that go on in WA so nothing would surprise me. Actually, come to that: things are a bit of a soap opera on the eastern seaboard too.

Pollyana

I think many of us have come unstuck through trusting people we have met through BE on arriving here, I know I have. Yet at the same time, and at the same meets, I've made lifelong friends, so I guess its like any walk of life, we just need to be aware that there are lovely people out there -and there are alao a lot of weird/selfish/nasty bar stewards. Unfortunately sometimes we have to suffer encountes with the bar stewards in order to learn to avoid them.
Even after some of my less pleasant experiences with new people, I would still advise new Expats to meet as many people as they can - its the only wy to make new friendships after all.

eddie007

My motto is "keep an open door, an open heart and an open mind...."

You can always slam it shut as it hits their arse on the way out

old.sparkles

paulry

I agree to an extent but some don't know what true giving/receiving friendships are. Some are too dependent on BE for friendships meaning that they risk having too many expatriates (who are often here today gone tomorrow) as their friends but never quite assimilate with the Australian life and people - which presumably coming here was what it was all supposed to be about. The resultant insecurity and alienation that such circumstances produce might also explain why BE seems to have cores of people who treat it as their main new friendship resource, and shun, seek to undermine, and throw names at those who don't conform with their established opinions and pecking orders.

Bermudashorts

Ok a career one from me. Not advice I have taken as personally I ignored it but something I have seen a lot...

So the worst career advice for a newbie (IMHO) is "take a step down", "target jobs you are over-qualified for", "be willing to do anything no matter what level you are at in the UK" etc etc.

My advice is to hold your head high, aim high and don't apologise for your non-Australian background.

Pollyana

I fell back on BE friendships for the first few months having no outside ways of linking up with people. Once I started to make friends in a good job I just accepted the offers of friendship there as eagerly as I did those from the forum. And had the same issues. I met some horrendously catty and vindictive people from non-forum sources, who to this day give me nightmares, but again thats life. I also met some beautiful life-long mates. Its like moving to a new town in the same coutry, take whats offered and be prepared to refine your choices later.