Originally Posted by islandergirl

For me this place is a bit like chicken, but you do get used to it - I just prefer the UK.

I accept the rubbish shopping, I prefer bland and tasteless beer, used to the bad standard of driving, the dry and dusty landscape I will never grow to love and the flies/spiders and bugs are horrible and yes they swarm everywhere.
Like the milder winters, the wine, eating out is generally ok.

I could go on but for me it's no better than the UK, just different.

If you are missing home (Scotland) then NZ would be less unlike Scotland than Aus from a climate and scenery POV.

Tell us what you don't like about NZ OP?

Originally Posted by Lookin2Oz

Interesting responses.

Yes we are in NZ and considering Oz, or of course returning back to the UK which would be Scotland.

To answer the question regarding why we are unsettled here in NZ - is this.

We had a friend round to visit the other night and she was explaining how stressed out she is at present and it is really all because of one of her clients. Our friend is in IT and has a very professional background in IT from South Africa. This lady ( and the family) has recently gone through chemo therapy so you can imagine that the family have had to deal some really serious issues and we saw them handling that very well.

Listening to how our friend was explaining her current work situation it was as if I could see it as clear as day and it was ultimately that this client who is contracting for their client declined the initial training offered as she knew everything, now she is throwing her toys and demanding instant responses times and support as her arrogant attitude has put her in a bad situation and is costingthe company $200 an hour for the support she now demands.

So, in this case I interpreted that because our friend is an immigrant she is not used to dealing with this Kiwi attitude and knows that if the Kiwi gets all snotty she will be supported and the immigrant will be labelled as aggressive or unprofessional. It is called abuse.

My dear forum friends, that it the one very real thing that I can not take, all the rest is a walk in the park and no matter what piece of paper I have stamped in my passport or what I have tattooed on my face we will always be seen as a foreigner and obviously that position affects everything you do and when you become aware of it (whether it is only in your head or not) it weaves it’s way into absolutely everything in your life.

You are the Englishman in New York

Originally Posted by rabsody

I hate to break it to you but it's the same here in Aus to some degree. If you suggest a way of improving anything or change you are labelled a whingeing pom, they are so defensive.

Originally Posted by Lookin2Oz

No problem, we would rather get the real version than find out three years down the track.

A huge part of what I currently do is change management so you can imagine !

We have a good friend that has been in Sydney nearly two years now and said he wants to move back to the UK and a big part of that he feels it difficult to integrate in his job. He is stuck on a 457 and feels he has to bite his tongue a lot of the time.

I have always been happy to take risks in life and seeing life as an adventure rather than the hum drum it can all become. Obviously there is a price to pay in more ways than one for that.

Obviously most people try to weigh-up the situ before making the commitment to move hence here we all are bashing away at our keyboards looking for what’s the right thing to do.

Sometimes all this technology becomes a burden and if we reflect back to how they approached situations like these 30 years ago we can question our decision making capabilities.

I guess it all changes as you get older and different things have different values but certainly in the transition stages little things can start to niggle like that one tiny mosquito that buzzes around your ear just as you hit the pillow. It is a wee beastie but hell that bite can make you itch for days if he get you good or has been feeding on the nighbour’s dog an hour ago that bite can create a lot of itch.

You gotta retain your sense of humour as it could all get to you quite seriously

Have a great weekend regardless.

Decided to offer an attachement !

Originally Posted by Lookin2Oz

No problem, we would rather get the real version than find out three years down the track.

A huge part of what I currently do is change management so you can imagine !

We have a good friend that has been in Sydney nearly two years now and said he wants to move back to the UK and a big part of that he feels it difficult to integrate in his job. He is stuck on a 457 and feels he has to bite his tongue a lot of the time.

I have always been happy to take risks in life and seeing life as an adventure rather than the hum drum it can all become. Obviously there is a price to pay in more ways than one for that.

Obviously most people try to weigh-up the situ before making the commitment to move hence here we all are bashing away at our keyboards looking for what’s the right thing to do.

Sometimes all this technology becomes a burden and if we reflect back to how they approached situations like these 30 years ago we can question our decision making capabilities.

I guess it all changes as you get older and different things have different values but certainly in the transition stages little things can start to niggle like that one tiny mosquito that buzzes around your ear just as you hit the pillow. It is a wee beastie but hell that bite can make you itch for days if he get you good or has been feeding on the nighbour’s dog an hour ago that bite can create a lot of itch.

You gotta retain your sense of humour as it could all get to you quite seriously

Have a great weekend regardless.

Decided to offer an attachement !

Originally Posted by 3 go mad in Adelaide

I could've written that! School system is one of my biggest bugbears

Originally Posted by Pollyana

I may be stating the obvious, but you'd get even more responses to this if you posted it in the Australia forum - the MBTTUK forum is composed of people from all over the world after all, and many of them have no interest in Australia.

Originally Posted by Pollyana

I may be stating the obvious, but you'd get even more responses to this if you posted it in the Australia forum - the MBTTUK forum is composed of people from all over the world after all, and many of them have no interest in Australia.

Originally Posted by Tr1boy

You forgot to include those of us that are in Australia and have no interest in it either.

Originally Posted by quoll

OK just because I feel really down at the moment and definitely in need of a vent!

What dont I like about Australia?
The lack of green - we have something that masquerades as grass but it is rough couch stuff not real grass and for most of the year we dont have it because water restrictions mean you cant water it and it dies. There are no hedgerows and usually very ordinary and not very inspiring flowers - give me a cottage garden any day of the week!

The lack of history (that is relevant to me) - I know that the aborigines have a history blah blah but you can only enthuse for so long over a few hand outline spit wall paintings and grinding stones and dreamtime stories woven around geological accidents. Give me castles, cathedrals, abbeys - anything with an evident passage of time with people who actually achieved something.

The boredom of the shops - not a high street in sight, just faceless, soul-less malls full of the same shops selling the same stuff and not the latest of anything anyway manned by disinterested staff who always walk up and ask you how you are today - they dont really want to know how you are so why the hell do they keep asking you?

The boring blandness of the space - you can drive for hours and see just the same scenery. Try identifying exactly where you are from the scenery - you cant do it, just mile after mile of eucalypt, bark drop, dirt. The Hume Hwy from Sydney to Melbourne is a prime example.

The people - insular, self centred, largely arrogant (of course there are going to be individual exceptions I know that!) and out for what they can get. This is a "who you know not what you know" type of place and though that may also be true of UK it is the rule here.

The political correctness which pervades everything - every tin pot meeting not only starts with an acknowledgement of country but a 5 - 15 minute treatise and self flagellation. Some meetings even have every speaker doing their acknowledgement of country so as not to be left out.

The lack of sense of community which is so strong in UK (where I come from anyway) - everyone here is so intent on head down and power forward that they couldnt really give a toss about their fellow man unless there is something in it for them.

The fact that this is the a*se end of the universe and to get anywhere else in the world takes at least a 6 hour plane flight and that the Aussie dollar except for a few months this summer makes it so difficult for anyone to go anywhere else without having to work for aeons to save up and get there (see we are now back to having a dollar worth nothing again - works for exports but not expats visiting home!)

The flies. Blasted things have an uncanny knack of trying to invade every visible orifice and will not leave your head alone. Mozzies too that find the one uncovered piece of skin which hasnt been sprayed with insect repellant.

The constant sunshine - bright, glaring, skin killing that means you dont dare venture out without SPF30 slathered on every visible bit. The lack of rain (drought is a killer). The heat - lurch from one air conditioned environment to another during the summer because breathing the air outside is like breathing in a furnace. Sweaty nights where it is so hot that you cant sleep.

The birds - almost forgot them. The dawn chorus of cockies which wakes you up at some godforsaken hour with a noise level that would be banned if it were a jumbo taking off.

There, will that do? As I said, having a bad few days here so everything is getting on my nerves!

Originally Posted by meljor

Yes at least back home you don't have to explain yourself or give a brief biography to every stranger, of course I could tell them to bugger off and mind their own business but I wasn't brought up to be rude so I just think it instead, though I have started cut them off early and change the subject to them instead, which works well as they tend to love the sound of their own voice.