Originally Posted by St.Georges Girl

The fire down south of here was lit deliberately too, so they said on the news anyway. 14 homes lost and 250 fire fighters working hard to contain it. I just can't imagine the amount of wildlife that was lost down there either. It beggars belief that a human being could do that. Why are there so many arsonists here?

Originally Posted by arkon

I think it's probably because the place is so dry you can light a fire just by striking 2 flints together!

Originally Posted by St.Georges Girl

But down south where this recent fire was raging, it is nice and green (or was), but no matter what the landscape is like, lighting fires and putting so many peoples lives at risk is nothing short of moronic.

Originally Posted by arkon

What annoys me most about the morons that light the fires is the wildlife they kill or mame. In the local rescue center they got a koala with his testicles burnt off. Apparently he climbed a red hot tree.

Originally Posted by St.Georges Girl

Oh God, can you imagine the pain! I know what I'd like to do with the creeps that do it and I can't say it on here.

Originally Posted by arkon

As of tonight the fires were still burning and I've just found out another is burning out west of us. LUCKILY a storm has just this second started here so hopfully it will bucket down tonight and help the RFS.

Originally Posted by denver

There is no debating or arguing with them, Australia is great and that's the end of it, They were told so on the telly.

Originally Posted by denver

The only places I thought has come place were certain cities in the US (Europe is great to visit, would not want to live there)

Originally Posted by denver

I don't think it because someone told me on the telly, I know it because I have lived there for 28 years, and travelled a lot (mainly in Europe and North America) The only places I thought has come place were certain cities in the US (Europe is great to visit, would not want to live there)

Originally Posted by Mogwai

I moved over last may to work in Newcastle NSW on a sponsored visa (457). I came with a good job to start with and so I had none of the work problems encountered by others on this site.
The first 6 months were fine, I had a new circle of friends an australian g/f and work was going well but little things were niggling me and they soon grew into larger things that bothered me. I'll list the main ones:

Poor music and music scene. I'm a musician and a music fanatic so the lack of a decent music scene and tours was a big thing.

I'm not a TV fanatic but the TV has to rank among the worst I've ever seen. Barring a few exceptions the Ozzies struggle to make any good homegrown comedy/drama etc etc. The radio is awful too. I have to listen to the commercial stations at work all day and all I can say is: Australia there are other bands than The Chilli Peppers, Nickleback and Coldplay. Also I've heard the "new" Pink song 1 million times in the last 6 months therefore it's no longer new Mr Brainless DJ.

There are about 3 or 4 nice buildings in the whole of Newcastle and the rest is forgettable blandsville. Yes it's a new country and I'm not taking a pop at them on this one, I'm just saying what bothered me about the place.

Fashion? Boardies and T shirts and maybe chuck a pair of jeans on if you're going out. The clothes shopping is poor and Sydney is nothing to shout about either shopping wise considering it's supposed to be one of the worlds great cities.

Beer: There's a few good brews to be had (Coopers, James Squire, Little Creatures) but the majority of the rest (VB, Crown, Tooheys, XXXX, Carlton Draught etc etc) are bland, characterless toss. I had to laugh at a Bogan trying to chat up a German girl in a bar the other day: He was drinking VB and claimed that Oz had better beers than her home country .

Weather: Yes I like warm weather and heat doesn't bother me too much but I found myself hankering for a palpable change in seasons rather than just sun everyday and maybe a torrent of rain everynow and again. Sounds crazy but I like the strange winter light you get on clear days in Europe and the feeling you get when you go into a warm house from the cold.

Anti english press: Yes we get the idea: We: old colonial overlords, You: Aussie battlers who manage to beat us at most sports simply because we give less of a shit about them than you who use them as a substitute for lack of culture. Some papers are worse than others. The editor of The Daily Telegraph deserves a good kicking for all the aniti english bile he's printed during this ashes series.

Australia is the best country in the world. This is apparently true according to a workmate of mine. Once I'd finished listing the myriad faults of his beloved homeland he obviously labeled me a pommy whinger but my point was simple: Australia has faults and that most Aussies are so caught in their "True blue battler" crap that they deny all the minus points.

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I move back in 20 days and yes I'm looking forward to it but I don't view England with rose tinted specs. There are as many problems if not more than Oz there, but I'll return with a much greater awareness of what I appreciated about it in the first place.

Originally Posted by celine_uk

I can understand where your coming from, as a young guy who from the UK to Toronto Canada 4 years ago

When I first moved here I was,young (20) & naive and blinded by how different and k everything was here and over the years the place has slowly started to annoy me. Don’t get me wrong Canadians are the nicest people you'll ever meet but sometimes 2 nice, their general 'do it tomorrow attitude' and the FOREVER comparing everything to US and even to UK a lot really ticks me off. Whatever culture they do have is rammed down your throat over and over again because its 'Canadian' and that its unique ( but most of the time really its just a diluted version of something they've already done in the US or somewhere else)
I just find the culture to be very bland, maybe its just Toronto I don’t know

I just wish Canadians would stop being so darm nice and say what's on their minds!
I'm sure some of you hear would be surprised to here my complaining like this especially me but anyway my rant is over now

Originally Posted by blowfly

Your post is interesting. I think Canada gets talked up as much as oz does.

Originally Posted by celine_uk

Its not that I think Canada or OZ are talked up I thinks that the UK is talked down, The main problem I believe is with the UK media really, people seem to have the misconception that everything outside of the UK is cheaper/better because of what the daily mail/Sun says, well ok yes some things are cheaper here in Canada but you will be paid a lot less compared to what you would be getting for simplar job in UK, so it all evens out, food for example here is 50% more than the UK with less variety.