cdandi

Australia is not such a bad place.

Many English are never satisfied with what they have and believe that the "grass is always greener on the other side" which of course it is not. For many English backpackers going to Oz for the gap year it's a great adventure and generally they have a great time. However for many families their reasons for going is to have a better standard of living and a better lifestyle which is not necessarily going to happen.

Australia has many social problems. There is a high rate of unemployment - despite all the good news reported in the media on the jobs front, and those that have a job are willing to work long and hard to keep it for little money. There is a huge problem with alcohol and drug abuse and as a result associated crime. Also, many English believe that they are going to a warmer version of England! This could not be further from the truth! Australia has a very different culture which I believe is a reflection of the physical environment. Australia is largely a vast barren land with a very harsh climate.

To some Australia a wonderful place. My only advise to those wanting to relocate over there is do your homework first and try to visit the place a couple of times before making a final commitment.

oceanMDX

Good points, much of the same can be said for Canada. Some Brits expect Canada to be a larger version of the UK - it is not.

Sandra

Your post would be a good post to move to the going to Aus forum - most of those coming back have already been through the experience and only want to chat here and get support and reassurance - they already have been there, seen the grass isn't greener and know about it personally!

Good luck in posting your thread on the going to Aus forum.

Cheers

Peter

It'll dawn upon many of the British that Australia is no longer a colony one of these days and it isn't an extension of their culture.

I see posts here by people dying to have expat meetings in Australia 'cos they obviously can't handle the natives (Aboriginal or otherwise) and want their UK Exclave cake and to able to eat it as well.

A lot of people who post here should never have emigrated.

Australia's a different country. Australia no longer considers the UK to be a close relative. The focus is on Asia and the US.

Australia is a wonderful place to me for one reason; it's my home. I can seriously sit you all down and give you horror stories of Australia. I lived there 29 years; longer than most of you probably, and have seen most of it.

But me, like most Australians, aren't going to cry or feel sorry when some British person thinks Australia sucks. We're used to hearing bollocks like that.

In fact, the first thing I think of is good riddance.

And the US can think that of me when I leave too.

Megalania

Migration is not the terminal decision it was for most many years ago. It is now more like an extended working holiday just with the option to never leave if so desired.

Ben

I think that is the crux of a lot of it. Because everyone has more mobility than years ago, there is always the possibility to go back and visit when you get lonely. With Australia being so far away the realisation that it isn't as simple as just jumping on a plane and going home for the weekend hits hard. At least with the US you are closer. You also find more people with the attitude that if it doesn't work out it doesn't matter, you can always return home.

You do have to go into moving with open eyes and expectations but that is easier said than done. I thought I had come to the US with open eyes but got a shock very quickly when having to deal with schools and doctors. It took me a few years and a lesson in how to stick up for myself a bit more and not get walked on. I have a very determined nature too that won't let things get the better of me. Not everyone has this ability.

There is another thought - could it be the weather. Both Canada and Australia have extremes. Canada it is the winter that is so long and cold and Australia it is the heat. To come from the UK to either of these countries would be a shock.

melaniee

Have to disagree there-the Aussies are obsessed with England, the royal family, the whole thing-you see it everywhere every day.

For some reason we found that a lot of the traditional things people tell you about Australia in England are not true. Maybe it has come from people experiencing holidays over here. It sure is very different having a holiday or gap year here as opposed to moving over here completely.

Peter

We're interested in the royal family 'cos a) they amuse us and b) we have no inbred horsey teethed taxpayer-funded royals we can call our own.

The Hutt River dude doesn't count and neither does that floozy than married that Danish prince.

FWIW, a lot of Americans are interested in Britains royal family, probably 'cos of Harry and Wills bed-a-bility or Diana's death titillates the crime scene crowd.

robertd

What a good way to look at it, as a working holiday that goes on a bit.I have been looking at it that way

Fuzzyness

i think you've hit the nail squarely on the head there. that is the way i would view it if and when i decide to go.

cdandi

I also think that at one time there was not much to go back to England for - apart from family. It was all doom and gloom when I left 24 years ago and in Oz initially I experienced a much higher standard of living. Nowadays, the English are a lot more affluent and unemployment is no longer such a big issue.

CalgaryAMC

And the British monarch is Australia's head of state. Constitutionally, and affirmed by popular referendum.

Your posts represent a dogma that is constitutionally, culturally and historically fanciful.

Don

Not really. If the UK monarch did anything against the Aus public will there'd be a rapid constitutional change.

Purely titular.

CalgaryAMC

The British monarch is Australia's head of state. Constitutionally, and affirmed by popular referendum. I cannot see anything not real about this statement.

The statement "we have no inbred horsey teethed taxpayer-funded royals we can call our own" is false.

Megalania

Wanna Queen up yer Right Royal Bum?