Mike46

Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Scotland
Posts: 1

Mike46 is an unknown quantity at this point

Default Hello from a snowy Scotland
Hi All,

I am looking for information on Canberra. I have a possibility of getting a position there and would like to know about the city.

Is it easy to meet your neighbors? I'm an American and I just can't get used to the shyness in your average Northern European (lived in sweden before coming to Scotland), at home in California it was easy to get to know your neighbors.

How is it for kids? We have a 10 yr old boy who is crazy about football (soccer), are there decent clubs in Canberra?

Also, how do the children handle ? My son is half Russian and though we have been living in Scotland for three years his English is still not perfect (also for some strange reason his 'T's have disappeared completely. In Sweden I only spoke Swedish to him and his mom only speaks to hi, in Russian.

My wife has a degree from a Swedish university as a preschool teacher, will she be able to use this in Australia to find a postin in a preschool?

Thanks for you help.

Cheers,
Mike

moneypenny20

First you need to find out if you're able to obtain a visa, having a possible job offer won't get you here if you can't get the visa. Check out the DIAC site and do the visa wizard (find a visa).

Mike46

Thanks moneypenny20,

As far as I understand the company will apply for a ENS Visa (121/856).

moneypenny20

I know about Spouse Visas. The rest are a blur to me. Someone will be along sometime (many going to bed now).

Mike46

Thanks again moneypenny20. I realize it's late there. Sweet dreams

Ozwanderer

Canberra can be a bit of a strange place for some Mike, inhabited by a lot of politicians, their hanger ons and public servants, the former two categories do something of a disappearing act when parliament isn't sitting and a lot of them have probably disappeared anyway.

But it is an interesting enough place to live, great facilities and possibly the worst part about it is the weather as it can be a bit bone chilling cold with a good southerly/SW wind and snow on the alps and then summers can be hot but a dry inland heat.
You're a couple of hiurs from skiing when there's snow and about the same from beaches on the NSW south coast, one of Australias best kept secrets.

Your son ought to fit in OK and will be able to play soccer as in many ways other than pollies and senior bureacrats it is a younger peoples town and so plenty of kids and organised sport.

If the company is doing the ENS and you have the qualifications you should be OK though if you're actually 46 YO., they'll need to apply for an age exemption but an agent will hopefully sort that out.

Your wife will need to jump through the qualifications hoops too re getting registered and special police clearance re working with kids etc.
You can do a search on http://www.immi.gov.au/asri/a-z.htm#f re yours and wifes qualifications/occupational requirements.

Mike46

Thanks Ozwanderer,

Your reply is very helpful. Yes I am officially ancient as I just turned 46, so this makes moving to Australia very difficulty. I absolutely understand this as I will be in the work force for less than 20 yrs and then will want a pension. That's a lot of investment for Australia (my son's education, our medical...) with not much return as compared to a younger person. Being an academic I'm not used to all these hoops (spoiled), usually I just get a position, apply for a visa and get one. Now I want to jump to private industry and things get tougher.

You seemed a bit luke-warm about by son fitting-in (sorry I'm a typical American and if the reply doesn't contain the words awesome or fantastic, I get nervous). I worry about him because he has had trouble settling here in Scotland. Mostly he complains about the weather and the lack of outdoor football games, so that should be better in Canberra.

I do worry about the family and weather. I grew-up in the central valley of California (+40 in the summer with no humidity, +2 in the winter, cloudy and rainy) so Canberra sounds a lot like home. Though all of our gum trees were imports from NZ. My wife on the other hand is Russian, we went to visit my family in Arizona once and she about died. Luckily I understand that the mountains are a few hours drive away and they get snow in the winter. We all like to cross country ski.

I iwll look over the web page you mentioned.

Cheers,
Mike

Mike46

Thanks Ozwanderer,

Canberra sounds fine to me. As for weather, I'm from the Central California Valley (+40 in summer with no humidity and +2 in winter cold, wet, grey), so Canberra sounds similar. I also grew-up with a little over an hour drive to the beach and with about a 2 hour drive to snow. I'm more worried about my lovely wife, who is Russian. We visited my family in Arizona in the summer and she about died.

You didn't sound overly enthusiastic about my sons ability to settle, which worries me a bit. He has had trouble settling here in Scotland, mostly because in Sweden he had a much more outdoor, go where you please, forget mom and dad, life style. I have a feeling it would be better in Canberra.

I'll check out the web site you mentioned. Are there age restrictions on a 457 visa?

Cheers,
Mike

Ozwanderer

Canberra is probably not going to be quite as severe as inland California for though it is possible to get to about 40C in Canberra, summer is going to see temps much more around the 35C mark, a range of 30- 40 you could say and the winters though cold will not be so wet and you get glorious [ not quite awesome ] sunny winter days and know you'll get one when there has been a fantastic! overnight frost of -6, -7 and in the morning a mist or heavier fog in some places that will hopefully get burnt off with the rising of the sun or if heavy enough and you have it all day they're the days you can do without but like 40C they are not all that many.
With the fog gone on such days, it can be blue skies and sunny with temps getting to 10+ for a few hours at least.

A very spectacular drive can be had driving from the coast or south from snowfields back towards Canberra after a frosty night and there's a few places where you'll find Willows [ without leaves] by waterways and so with all the finer branches coated in ice, it is like a wonderland as the sun glistens on it and you have the heavy ground frost and a light mist

Other than summer browning off the landscape which it does most places other than sub tropics/tropics, it is quite a lush countryside and no desert like landscape and Gums from NZ! for never noticed them there and I'll have to look harder next trip but your wife should not hopefully find it too harsh.

So I've fitted in a bit more of the mind bending vernacular just for you, BE being a place at times where one could be found guilty of confusing a reader with such lingo; but your son should adapt very well as to massive outdoor opportunities and Australia is big on camping/hiking, many national parks close enough to Canberra for that and all along the east coast so maybe even something like Scouts could appeal to him for some adventurous activities with lads in the about 10-15 age range and then they move on to Adventurers for a few years and then it's Rovers for the young adults.
I'd reckon Aussie kids could be much like those most places in that like adults you can get all types but generally speaking you'll find a mid range of open friendly kids who'll not go out of their way to ostracise someone just because they are from somewhere different and if he likes sports and outdoor activities he'll fit in exceedingly well.
He'll just need to learn about Snakes in the Aussie outdoors, something he may not have had to deal with in colder climes, but it's pretty simple:
. Wear suitable clothing, especially for about the feet/legs when going bush and tread heavy, good ground vibrations though watch where you're treading.
. Do not go sitting on logs and rocks etc. without a good look about and no putting hands down holes to see what might be there [ also poisonous spiders! ]
. If one is spotted, do not disturb and if on the move, let it keep going, keeping out of its path if possible and leaping aside if need be [ they are generally shy and would rather not see us ]
He ought to learn of bush basics like that in somewhere like the Souts though to be honest, I'd not be surprised if it's never considered too much for unless you live in/near the bush likelihood is that most people will never come across one.

But re friendliness, you might even find you and your wife getting invites to talk about Russia and Sweden before you know it.

And yes you can apply for a 457 first with no age restriction though the temporary visa does have a number of disadvantages, main ones being reliance on sponsorship for maintaining the visa and your wife would likely struggle more in finding work on a temporary visa, a need to have medical insurance and some locations there'll be international rate fees for education and more on http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Visa_Validation-Australia
You'll also find some good general info on http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/ , the settling in part being an informative section but one thing most people may not think of is getting an Ambulance Cover, usually separate to Medical insurance.

Mike46

Ah yes, snakes, I remember them well. Where I grew up we had rattle snakes (at least they give some warning), black widow spiders and scorpions. Must tell a funny story on my mom. She went to the toilet once and made the mistake of sitting down without looking first. Well one of our little green scorpions (not very poisonous) happened to be on the seat, so mom got a nasty surprise when she sat down. Poor Mom, couldn't sit properly for a week.

Also, had a mate who forgot to lift the pillows on the couch before tucking his feet under them. Unfortunately there happened to be a black widow spider under there who managed to bite him on both feet. His poor feet swelled up like melons.

Finally, I remember being kept in from recess during school more than once because there was a poisonous snake on the playground. I'll have to start to remember my old habits of check before you do anything.