Ceri

Hi,
I've been in Australia for 5 almost 6 years now... so nobody can say I didn't "give it a go". Before Australia it was Singapore (5years).So It is not homesickness with me, although of course I do miss things about my country... it will always be home.
Myself, the problem with Australia, the things which I cannot get used to.. even after almost 6 years of being here is that I do find it very, very behind and almost impersonal. It seems as if there's nothing outside Australia....
I could make up a list of things which I personally dislike, in no particular order... here's a try, hard to put everything into words, I've probably left lots off:

living in a cocoon
shoddy workmanship
Trading hours
can't get a meal around here at past 8 in the evening... restaurant and pub hours (close early when they feel like)
wages
Tax
ignorance
Bragging ( "aren't we the best ever".. blah and blah...)
impersonal "toy town" housing estates
"clubby" attitude ... haven't seen so many clubs in my life "are you a member of the members club?"
Racism
poor service
Roads and Traffic
Police (it seems it's becoming a police state to me)
Gun laws (I dislike to see police with guns, and that is just road traffic duties!)
Politics ... now this is a big one. Selling land to multi billion dollar companies, and Golf coarses which blocks public access to the river which should be there for everyone to enjoy (the aborigines do have a point you know)
Drugs... whether I'm out of touch with Britain, but it seems to me there is a huge drug problem here in Aus.
Crime with Guns... big problem (I know I mentioned guns earlier... but I hate guns)

To be fair here's a list of Things I like:
mild weather
Fishing
The wildlife... (can't feed possums on my balcony in UK can I?)... suppose I could feed a fox though
ummm.... this is hard, I honestly can't think of any more for this list.



I do find the cost of living expensive here. Houses may be cheap in some parts, but the actual cost of living seems expensive to me.
The heat of Brisbane doesn't bother me...I don't find it hot, actually thinking of the cold of Britain's winter is more of a worry (I hate the cold)

I'm not going to stay here either, I'm building a house at the moment... this was because I hate wasting money on rent. Anyway, I think... what the hell am I doing??
Anyway, I'll give myself another 2 years at the very most in this country... there again I may just pack up one morning next week., had enough and jump on the next flight out of here.. feels like that to me.

cheers

P.S .. I'm a woman (in regard to the earlier question/comment about more women hate it).. and I dislike it, but my De-facto is a man, and he hates it too. Maybe it seems more women dislike it here, because women out number men on these forums (???).. just a thought.

Herman

I know W-U-Edge very well. Yep, its a great area.
We have all our fingers crossed about house prices! My parents laugh at the fact that their house cost them 5,000 pounds in 1972, when they were in their mid twenties, and they had a mortgage of just 2.5 times my dad's income at the time, and now its worth about 600,000 pounds. I find it hard to laugh along with them. They argue that because of the good schools in the Thornbury area house prices will never fall. Hope they are wrong.

Herman

Speaking as a guy I know why most men love it here - its a mans world in this country! Its all big cars, big boats, fishing, beer and sport. Personally I have never been into that macho stuff and I find most sport pretty dull. The English guys I know who love it here tend to be sport obsessives. People who find sport dull or who prefer to read a good book to watching Aussie rules, or a nice glass of red over a crate of VB may find society here a bit lacking! Despite these things I have to say that I quite like the relaxed approach to life and am used to it now. I dont actually dislike it here.
Can't say the same for my wife though - her slight irritation at certain Australian eccentricities has rapidly turned into a loathing of all things Australian. Being Eastern European, she is from a relatively shy and unassuming culture and its reached the point where she simply can not watch Australian TV or stand to be in an Australian pub for more than 10 minutes. If she hears the word 'mate', sees sports reports on TV or her number one hate - loud Australian girls inserting the word 'like' between every word whilst rolling their eyes and talking at the top of their voices on a packed train, I see the cold hard expression in her eyes. She is desperate to get back to the UK. We have the option of returning to the UK on 30 April or staying for the 90 days extra it would take to get permanent residency via my employer (as from 1 May I would revert to a local employment contract and we can then get sponsored PR, which my employer can get us in 90 days). I think we should stay for those 90 days to get PR so we can always come back in the next 5 years if the UK does not work out for us. But she is determined not to stay a day after 30 April, PR or no PR and feels there's no point in getting PR for a country that she could never live in. I'm hoping I win this argument but based on my track record so far suspect we'll be on a plane on 1 May!

Christian S

Hi Kath,
In answer to your question, 'yes' we thought to ourselves 'we have given up everything to do this, jobs, house, cars, freinds and family, so how can we go back without a real go' but here we are 3 years later feeling the same as when we first arrived, we too new deep down it was never going to work but you have to give it your all and i would like to think we did, it's frightning isnt it Kate? i know, we have been where you are, what ever you decide to do i'm sure will be the right dicision.

Take care all

Christian

dingbat

...Barging in here...but after three years there is no way I would have stayed in Canada (where I went). They say it takes at least five or six. After nearly seven..I am starting to settle. Things back home have changed so much now..people have moved on with their lives and I wonder now what it would be like if I went back. I would have nothing, no money, no house, my kids are Canadians, I just don't know. Scary isn't it?

pommiesheila

Hi Dingbat,

I don't think it takes 5/6 years to know whether or not you "fit" a particular country or not. Personally, I have found Ceri's comments WHOLLY AND UTTERLY TRUE, and for me, and my children (who are basically academic and unsporting) it's no go here, I'm afraid.

pommiesheila

You are SPOT ON with your list of dislikes, and again, with your "likes" list...

BTW, did you get my private message???

dpr21

I must say, that despite being a really staunch advocate of Perth as a great place, I have to agree with PommieShiela. This place is fantastic for a cultural philistine like me who loves sport, space, sunshine and the outdoors. However, if you're academic AND unsporting I think there are better places to be, particularly for intellectual stimulation
DPR

Kath

Totally agree with Pommiesheila, our family is more academic, didn't think we were academic until we got to Perth - I'm finding a lack of people to have interesting conversations with

Ceri's comments are true (worryingly) we are undecided when we will return to UK, we've only been here 5 months but maybe we'll travel a bit before going back. I do enjoy the wild, bush aspect of Australia, I'll miss the green parrots visiting our back garden and the open space is great but I'm worried about my children's education, also the work culture and pay is demoralising. We've no regrets and I think we'll return to the UK more 'settled' after our very expensive adventure!

dingbat

I know Ceri's comments are spot on - I do agree wholeheartedly (as I know Aus). It's just that I have done the emigrate - hate the place - go home bit in 1991..and I ended up leaving again in 1996. Once the novelty wears off back home, the discontent sets in again. Maybe it's just me!

Herman

I dont think its just you. My wife and I are already anticipating that phase after a few years back in the UK. Last night she suggested we should learn Spanish when we are in England in case in a few years time we fancy another break from Britain, but this time a bit closer to home. I suspect that once you are bitten by the pleasure of 'upping sticks' and starting fresh its probably always going to be there as an option to consider. Once you've had a go I guess you realise that, yes its hard, but no, its not impossible. One of my (few) Australian friends here is 36 years old and since the age of 20 he has lived for 3 years in the UK, 3 years in Belgium, 3 years in Spain, 3 years in South America and 3 years in Holland. In Australia he has lived in Darwin, Canberra and now Sydney. He tells me that after 1 year in each place he decided that was it, no more moving but after 3 years felt the itch and simply moved on. Now he owns a nice apartment in Sydney and is happily married and they are considering their next move - like me his wife is Czech (which is how I know him) and they are considering a few years in Prague next!

Herman

I dont think its just you. My wife and I are already anticipating that phase after a few years back in the UK. Last night she suggested we should learn Spanish when we are in England in case in a few years time we fancy another break from Britain, but this time a bit closer to home. I suspect that once you are bitten by the pleasure of 'upping sticks' and starting fresh its probably always going to be there as an option to consider. Once you've had a go I guess you realise that, yes its hard, but no, its not impossible. One of my (few) Australian friends here is 36 years old and since the age of 20 he has lived for 3 years in the UK, 3 years in Belgium, 3 years in Spain, 3 years in South America and 3 years in Holland. In Australia he has lived in Darwin, Canberra and now Sydney. He tells me that after 1 year in each place he decided that was it, no more moving but after 3 years felt the itch and simply moved on. Now he owns a nice apartment in Sydney and is happily married and they are considering their next move - like me his wife is Czech (which is how I know him) and they are considering a few years in Prague next!

pommiesheila

Wholeheartedly agree with you about the work culture and pay bit. I've just applied for a job as an "ADMINISTRATOR/CLEANER" - yes, that's right. The job spec. says I'll be totally responsible for running the accountancy, personnel and administration functions and also states that the successful applicant will be expected to do all the office cleaning!!! Don't think they'd wear that in the UK do you??? BTW, the pay is around $20 per hour, on a "self-employed" basis, meaning the mean sods don't have to pay me any sick leave, holiday entitlement, and can get rid of me at a moment's notice - this self-employed status lark is becoming increasingly common here in Brisbane for the aforementioned reasons...

Sue

Hi Herman,
Have been following this thread for a while and noticed that you come from Alveston. My dad moved to Almoundsbury about 7 years ago. I'm from a small town called Dursley (don't know if you've heard of it) and have family living in W-U-E.

Spent all of my childhood waiting to leave and now as an adult miss it terribly. My hubby and I have lived all over the UK, Germany and now the US. Came here for the experience, although everyone assumed it was to improve our standard of living. In fact the opposite is true.

We've lived here for over 5 years and have been back to the UK to visit a couple of times. We prefer the UK to the US, but everyone has their own experiences and opinions and I'm sure there a people around who prefer the US to the UK.

Sue

Herman

I know Dursley very well. One of my friends used to live there as he worked at Dursley sports centre so we used to visit and hit the town sometimes. Almondsbury is a nice village. We want to live in Lower Almondsbury or Tockington eventually, but not until we have kids of school age as there's not a lot of places for a mum with a baby in a pram to walk to around there.
I moved from Alveston to London as I was asked to with my job - hard to progress in my firm without some "London experience". I really disliked London but the good thing about the job was that it sent me all over the world and I eventually met my now wife whilst I was working on a project in Prague. She came to London as my girlfriend on a student visa for 1 year and we made a pact to go somewhere together, not the UK, for an experience.
Australia was on offer with my firm and it really was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities - we were able to avoid a big issue we had with UK visas. She had 3 months left on the UK student visa, no work rights and a potentially huge overseas wait for a UK visa. In contrast the Australian authorities recognised her as my defacto so she got full work rights in Australia - could'nt have been better!. Also the offer was my London salary in Sydney so we saw it as an opportunity to set ourselves up with a decent house deposit whilst having an adventure! Neither of us viewed it as a permanent move as after many visits to my parents in Alveston (we could'nt wait to escape London at the weekends), she fell in love with the area and the plan has always been to go back there. I have been to Australia a number of times in the past, including a year in Sydney, so I knew my personal preference was always for a temporary stay, but I tried to keep an open mind.
We have actually felt ourselves under enormous pressure to stay here from others, despite it never being part of our plan. We are told constantly how lucky we are to be here and how we "must be mad" to want to go back to the UK. The pressure seems to come from people who had to fight so hard to get here, dreamers back home who really have no idea what real life is like on the other side of the world and English friends we have made here who are not at the stage in life where starting a family is on the cards. Both of us really resent this constant pressure and are sick of justifying our decision to return to the UK to people in completely different circumstances, who have no clue about our preferences in life. Anyway, we are sticking to our original plan and we have given up trying to justify our decision to others. If they ask us "why" now we just say "because thats our decision"!