Rab's story
Oct 14th 2004, 2:12 am
#1
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Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 169
Rab's story
Rab posted his account of migrating on the Oz Lifestyle board and it was so well received that I thought it might also be useful to the people visiting this board. The original thread with replies is here:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259468
Rab's Story
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can and will probably give as realistic an opinion as you are likely to hear. And I’ll start by saying that moving from the UK to Australia is a tough game, tougher than you could imagine when you make your first enquiry.
I'll be honest too and say that with absolutely everything going for me I have found it an awful upheaval like you just wouldn’t expect.
For lots of British people Australia is the ultimate Mecca - sunshine, barbecues, sea, and laid-back lifestyle. All that is here for sure but you need to build a foundation upon which to enjoy those things.
You see in the UK I had a good job on whatever plus salary plus bonuses and car, health scheme etc, paying a fortune in tax but enjoying the job managing a business in Manchester and Leeds. I had a beautiful house in Lancashire, a happy marriage, lovely quiet life in the hills, with the Lake District 45 minutes away, Liverpool the same distance.
My wife is Australian we married in 2000 in Adelaide and she had lived with me in the UK since 1998. Every time we came to Aus we fancied giving it a go - the cheap house prices were an amazing attraction, especially in Adelaide.
The giving up of work and setting off was the easy bit, all the forms, security tests, health checks etc were just part of it. We even brought the cat.
When we got here, especially for me as a Brit there seemed to be so much missing. My wife Mary started work at the university here and got straight into applying for work as she is 28 and keen and still needs to prove herself. I wanted a bit of a break after 16 years with the same firm.
After eight months I had no job still, no house, we had a nightmare selling our house in the UK - it only sold in June this year after going on the market in July last year.
I think May was my lowest point before we found a buyer for the house in the Britain. I wrote this in my diary: -
“We just need a chance to make everything work again.
“I went to the storage unit and unpacked three boxes today and when I did so I unpacked neatly wrapped drill bits, clean tools, clean tool boxes, loads of things wrapped in cling film and cardboard. All those things were like our new life all ready to go, all sorted out, all going to be right.
“I think Australia will continue to be foreign until we lay down some proper roots ... even then there are many things about Aus which I think will stay strange.
“With Mary though I think I will be happy here even when things are frustrating. It’s almost like our trip to India but with India you know it’s going to be difficult – with Australia I never expected it.
“We have not got off to the best start. I have found it hard … very hard. And it’s punched me on the chin like I never expected. I opened those wrapped tools today. I opened the plastic film, I opened the cardboard, slit the tape with my knife. And every thing I unwrapped was like a part of me being freed here. I know it sounds stupid. It is stupid.
“But when I went through those things today I felt those same emotions as when I wrapped them.
“And I think that will help.�
As for living here there is a lot to see, a lot of sport going on. But I am 40 and set in my ways a bit and have found it hard adapting.
I didn't apply for work as I wanted a break – but then I wished I had as I got quite bored in the winter. Not that I am not energetic - I always got up early every day and was always busy - but sometimes it is hard being without the money we had before. I applied for about 12 jobs and had three interviews which all went well but I have a sneaking feeling they think foreigners are a gamble and I bet in each case the Australian got the job.
I hate the sport here - all Aussie Rules, and no proper football coverage on TV. The TV is shocking - all ads and no quality. There is so much red tape here – you need to hire an electrician to wire a plug! I hate the pubs and places to go they are so awful – gambling machines like you’ve never seen before, so smoky just simply horrendous.
I thought it would be a lot like Britain – but there it is very different. I hated the traffic and the prices of everything in “rip-off Britain� but this winter in Adelaide and for many reasons I would have gone back at the drop of a hat. I hated being defeatist too so I guess that’s why we have stayed. I was only really here for Mary and just hoped it would get better.
In Britain I lived 100 miles or so from my mother but there is a big difference between being 2 hours from your mum and 24 hours and AU$2000 away!
On the positive side the weather is amazing – we’ve just had the winter and that was about three months of 10 degrees and a bit of rain. Even on a July day when it is supposed to be winter it can be 23 and sunny out there! There is so much to do if you can get out and about and want to do sports, especially water sports. The city of Adelaide is a beautiful city full of parks and big wide streets, free flowing traffic and so close to the sea.
It is surrounded by hills and forests and if you like wine it is the best place on earth to be! I always knew we ought to get somewhere nice to live and was in the right place for that instead of Sydney with its high-priced real estate.
The day things changed was in August.
I got a call from the guy who was to become my boss, not in the job that I could have done with my eyes shut, but a job that was a real challenge but with an organisation held in the highest regard here. I won’t say what it is doing but in that moment I got back my whole confidence and sense of belonging and fulfilment.
The job is amazing. I was out today visiting clients about an hour from the city. I am already working fewer hours than in the UK and feeling less stressed at work. The country is getting brown as the summer dryness begins. Today was about 38 where I was and as I write this the thunder clouds gather above this amazing city.
I see it all in a different light now – the people are now in this with me, not the aliens who greeted me strangely, yes the TV is still crap and the pubs are poor, and there is nothing but AFL on the sports news. But it is starting to become our home. That process will come together fully in two weeks when we move into our house in the hills, the sea in the distance, the gum trees and our fields around us. I can’t wait to buy my first cow, to bring home the dogs we want to acquire, and to unwrap the furniture and boxes we packed in Britain so many months ago.
Everyone has their dreams so I am not going to preach. I love it here for now. We’ll see what the future holds. But watch it, watch Australia carefully because this land of dreams and eternal youth will turn round and smack you in the mouth with a fist of reality so fast as to look at you.
My heart goes out to anyone else making this move. Good luck and stick with your dreams!
Rab
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259468
Rab's Story
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can and will probably give as realistic an opinion as you are likely to hear. And I’ll start by saying that moving from the UK to Australia is a tough game, tougher than you could imagine when you make your first enquiry.
I'll be honest too and say that with absolutely everything going for me I have found it an awful upheaval like you just wouldn’t expect.
For lots of British people Australia is the ultimate Mecca - sunshine, barbecues, sea, and laid-back lifestyle. All that is here for sure but you need to build a foundation upon which to enjoy those things.
You see in the UK I had a good job on whatever plus salary plus bonuses and car, health scheme etc, paying a fortune in tax but enjoying the job managing a business in Manchester and Leeds. I had a beautiful house in Lancashire, a happy marriage, lovely quiet life in the hills, with the Lake District 45 minutes away, Liverpool the same distance.
My wife is Australian we married in 2000 in Adelaide and she had lived with me in the UK since 1998. Every time we came to Aus we fancied giving it a go - the cheap house prices were an amazing attraction, especially in Adelaide.
The giving up of work and setting off was the easy bit, all the forms, security tests, health checks etc were just part of it. We even brought the cat.
When we got here, especially for me as a Brit there seemed to be so much missing. My wife Mary started work at the university here and got straight into applying for work as she is 28 and keen and still needs to prove herself. I wanted a bit of a break after 16 years with the same firm.
After eight months I had no job still, no house, we had a nightmare selling our house in the UK - it only sold in June this year after going on the market in July last year.
I think May was my lowest point before we found a buyer for the house in the Britain. I wrote this in my diary: -
“We just need a chance to make everything work again.
“I went to the storage unit and unpacked three boxes today and when I did so I unpacked neatly wrapped drill bits, clean tools, clean tool boxes, loads of things wrapped in cling film and cardboard. All those things were like our new life all ready to go, all sorted out, all going to be right.
“I think Australia will continue to be foreign until we lay down some proper roots ... even then there are many things about Aus which I think will stay strange.
“With Mary though I think I will be happy here even when things are frustrating. It’s almost like our trip to India but with India you know it’s going to be difficult – with Australia I never expected it.
“We have not got off to the best start. I have found it hard … very hard. And it’s punched me on the chin like I never expected. I opened those wrapped tools today. I opened the plastic film, I opened the cardboard, slit the tape with my knife. And every thing I unwrapped was like a part of me being freed here. I know it sounds stupid. It is stupid.
“But when I went through those things today I felt those same emotions as when I wrapped them.
“And I think that will help.�
As for living here there is a lot to see, a lot of sport going on. But I am 40 and set in my ways a bit and have found it hard adapting.
I didn't apply for work as I wanted a break – but then I wished I had as I got quite bored in the winter. Not that I am not energetic - I always got up early every day and was always busy - but sometimes it is hard being without the money we had before. I applied for about 12 jobs and had three interviews which all went well but I have a sneaking feeling they think foreigners are a gamble and I bet in each case the Australian got the job.
I hate the sport here - all Aussie Rules, and no proper football coverage on TV. The TV is shocking - all ads and no quality. There is so much red tape here – you need to hire an electrician to wire a plug! I hate the pubs and places to go they are so awful – gambling machines like you’ve never seen before, so smoky just simply horrendous.
I thought it would be a lot like Britain – but there it is very different. I hated the traffic and the prices of everything in “rip-off Britain� but this winter in Adelaide and for many reasons I would have gone back at the drop of a hat. I hated being defeatist too so I guess that’s why we have stayed. I was only really here for Mary and just hoped it would get better.
In Britain I lived 100 miles or so from my mother but there is a big difference between being 2 hours from your mum and 24 hours and AU$2000 away!
On the positive side the weather is amazing – we’ve just had the winter and that was about three months of 10 degrees and a bit of rain. Even on a July day when it is supposed to be winter it can be 23 and sunny out there! There is so much to do if you can get out and about and want to do sports, especially water sports. The city of Adelaide is a beautiful city full of parks and big wide streets, free flowing traffic and so close to the sea.
It is surrounded by hills and forests and if you like wine it is the best place on earth to be! I always knew we ought to get somewhere nice to live and was in the right place for that instead of Sydney with its high-priced real estate.
The day things changed was in August.
I got a call from the guy who was to become my boss, not in the job that I could have done with my eyes shut, but a job that was a real challenge but with an organisation held in the highest regard here. I won’t say what it is doing but in that moment I got back my whole confidence and sense of belonging and fulfilment.
The job is amazing. I was out today visiting clients about an hour from the city. I am already working fewer hours than in the UK and feeling less stressed at work. The country is getting brown as the summer dryness begins. Today was about 38 where I was and as I write this the thunder clouds gather above this amazing city.
I see it all in a different light now – the people are now in this with me, not the aliens who greeted me strangely, yes the TV is still crap and the pubs are poor, and there is nothing but AFL on the sports news. But it is starting to become our home. That process will come together fully in two weeks when we move into our house in the hills, the sea in the distance, the gum trees and our fields around us. I can’t wait to buy my first cow, to bring home the dogs we want to acquire, and to unwrap the furniture and boxes we packed in Britain so many months ago.
Everyone has their dreams so I am not going to preach. I love it here for now. We’ll see what the future holds. But watch it, watch Australia carefully because this land of dreams and eternal youth will turn round and smack you in the mouth with a fist of reality so fast as to look at you.
My heart goes out to anyone else making this move. Good luck and stick with your dreams!
Rab
Oct 14th 2004, 3:41 am
#2
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Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Bishopton, Scotland
Posts: 390
Re: Rab's story
[QUOTE=GLR]Rab posted his account of migrating on the Oz Lifestyle board and it was so well received that I thought it might also be useful to the people visiting this board. The original thread with replies is here:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259468
I read with interest 'Rab's story' and know of some people that have gone through this nerve racking experience, only to return home to the UK because they couldn't hack it over there.
Most of the people on this forum do not have blinkers on and understand it is a whole different lifestyle over there and shouldn't compare it with UK life.
We are not a pub and TV sort of family, so that part won't bother us. Hubby is in the Sports industry, so we understand that there will be loads of job opportunities out there for him. With 4 kids, I don't think it will be all 'plain sailing' settling into the lifestyle, but we are going there (Perth hopefully) with our eyes wide open and willing to give it a 'good crack'.
From speaking to friends and relatives who have made the move, you have to give it at least 2 years before you start to settle into the Australian way of life. We have a friend who came back after 6 months, then went back and tried again for 1 year. He came back to UK again then went back to Oz and has now been there for 25 years. He says it takes time, but you will soon realise that the UK does not have much to offer, especially if you have a growing family.
I will close now, but am keeping an 'open mind'. Just want to get the chance to try.
Regards
Jan
PS I am 46 and hubby is 43, so your never too old to start getting into sporty/healthy lifestyle.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259468
I read with interest 'Rab's story' and know of some people that have gone through this nerve racking experience, only to return home to the UK because they couldn't hack it over there.
Most of the people on this forum do not have blinkers on and understand it is a whole different lifestyle over there and shouldn't compare it with UK life.
We are not a pub and TV sort of family, so that part won't bother us. Hubby is in the Sports industry, so we understand that there will be loads of job opportunities out there for him. With 4 kids, I don't think it will be all 'plain sailing' settling into the lifestyle, but we are going there (Perth hopefully) with our eyes wide open and willing to give it a 'good crack'.
From speaking to friends and relatives who have made the move, you have to give it at least 2 years before you start to settle into the Australian way of life. We have a friend who came back after 6 months, then went back and tried again for 1 year. He came back to UK again then went back to Oz and has now been there for 25 years. He says it takes time, but you will soon realise that the UK does not have much to offer, especially if you have a growing family.
I will close now, but am keeping an 'open mind'. Just want to get the chance to try.
Regards
Jan
PS I am 46 and hubby is 43, so your never too old to start getting into sporty/healthy lifestyle.
Last edited by KenJan333; Oct 14th 2004 at 3:59 am.
Oct 14th 2004, 3:41 am
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2004
Location: Currently in Southampton leaving for Brisbane on the 14th of April 05!!
Posts: 47
Re: Rab's story
Hello Rab.
What an amazing story you have written... it has brought tears to my eyes.
Australia for me pulls me like mad.. it is gut renching some days and i thought it was like that for all people that want to go to Australia. but as i have read it is very hard..you go up and down and need to push yourself like never before to settle into a new country. i feel for people like that. i know that when i am back home i will slip right back in like i have never left the place. as i lived there for 24 years and have now lived in the uk for 2 years.. i close my eyes here and picture myself in my parents back yard looking at dads mango tree and bogonvillas blooming. god i wish i was there now..but its like a you have to go through this dark tunnel before you get there. like you are pulling the months closer that are attached to a rope and i need to pull them up to me..but it is a long way down. you are there and i think i can imagine how you feel slightly as that is how i feel about this place..
i am pleased to hear your story at the end is more positive and that you have found yourself a challenging job that can make you feel whole again. there is nothing worse then feeling lost in a country that is so unformilar.. i wish you all the best in Australia!
Jessica
What an amazing story you have written... it has brought tears to my eyes.
Australia for me pulls me like mad.. it is gut renching some days and i thought it was like that for all people that want to go to Australia. but as i have read it is very hard..you go up and down and need to push yourself like never before to settle into a new country. i feel for people like that. i know that when i am back home i will slip right back in like i have never left the place. as i lived there for 24 years and have now lived in the uk for 2 years.. i close my eyes here and picture myself in my parents back yard looking at dads mango tree and bogonvillas blooming. god i wish i was there now..but its like a you have to go through this dark tunnel before you get there. like you are pulling the months closer that are attached to a rope and i need to pull them up to me..but it is a long way down. you are there and i think i can imagine how you feel slightly as that is how i feel about this place..
i am pleased to hear your story at the end is more positive and that you have found yourself a challenging job that can make you feel whole again. there is nothing worse then feeling lost in a country that is so unformilar.. i wish you all the best in Australia!
Jessica
Oct 14th 2004, 5:04 am
#4
Visa Granted-MT Eliza 06
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Thatcham, Berks
Posts: 141
Re: Rab's story
Rab, well done for hanging in there. We were the same when we came to UK from South Africa 10 years now and now we might be doing it again to Oz. (melbourne next year on a STNI)The only difference is the exchange rate works in our favour this time and the people are alot friendlier. No offence but the english seem to be very reserved and do not welcome people with a different twang easily even though I am a brit.Glad to see it all worked out for you in the end, Cheers and good luck to everyone applying.
Oct 14th 2004, 8:00 am
#5
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,360
Re: Rab's story
It is a great story and I guess it just goes to show that once things start going your way it really does feel like home..
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing
Oct 14th 2004, 8:40 pm
#6
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Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 169
Re: Rab's story
Originally Posted by KenJan333
From speaking to friends and relatives who have made the move, you have to give it at least 2 years before you start to settle into the Australian way of life. We have a friend who came back after 6 months, then went back and tried again for 1 year. He came back to UK again then went back to Oz and has now been there for 25 years. He says it takes time, but you will soon realise that the UK does not have much to offer, especially if you have a growing family.
I fully agree with your view that you need to give it 2 years before making any decision on whether to stay or go. That way you'll have given it long enough to make a true decision rather than a decision based on the initial problems of leaving everything behind. You'll also be able to apply for Aussie citizenship after 2 years so giving you much more flexibility.
We're heading to Brisbane in few weeks now and our feelings have very much veered from the euphoria of the early application days (early 2003 for us) to absolute dread and trepidation. Our 3 year old daughter has become very upset about leaving her grandparents and her friends behind and it really brings home to me the gamble that we're taking. We keep on with it though as we know that this is once in a lifetime opportunity and that if we don't go then we will always have the "what if..." question in our minds.
Good luck to everyone - just be aware that emigration is an emotional rollercoaster and if you're at the top in the early days of applying just be ready for the down days.
Cheers
GLR
