Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

This article came up in a thread on the Aussie forum. I thought it might interest people thinking about returning from Australia, as it gives a perspective we don't hear too often.

(Thanks to Iamthecreaturefromuranus for original post)


http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...340890279.html

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Pick me up of the floor! :D

Can't believe they printed that. In Australia :eek:

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Well, it's time they stopped living in denial!!

I have worked with many Australians in the UK who have said they have no plans to return to Australia. (Even some ping-pong Aussies who emigrated to UK, went back to Oz, came back to UK again.)

My husband's company has an internal email distrib. list purely for Aussies in the UK - there's that many of them. This is a large corporate (not London-based)! Quite a few of those he works alongside are here indefinately. All the ones we've worked with are more open-minded about living outside of Oz. From my experience, it was the people who had never left Australia that seemed the most critical about anyone wanting to live anywhere else.

Also good to read in the article that Australian's raising children in the UK don't all take the "Oz has more opportunites for children" stance.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Fair play to them for printing it though .Puts a different perspective on living in australia ,especially for professionals .
It seems to me australia is dumbing down if its losing its most valued resource ,iis well educated .
Obviously sitting on ones arse sucking on beer and coffee milks and the odd trip to bunnings for a pot plant or two doesnt float every ones boat.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I also have met heaps of aussies in the uk and some with brit passports are just so happy to have them ,and some of the one who havent have said to me they will fight tooth and nail not to have to go back to aussie .

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

yep doesn't float my boat!! almost everyone i have met want to go home but it's not as easy as that so they stay here longer.
But good for the newspaper for printing things that are obvious..!!

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

That is a brilliant article.I am surprised to read an article like this in an Australian newspaper.Thanks for that.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I have the same experience ,i wouldnt say all want to go home but quiet a lot do and are going to, and the others seem to just whinge and wine about the place.
I at the moment are a fully paid up member of the Whingers and Whiners club of West Australia ,hopefully i will not be renewing my membership next year . :)

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

now I'm gobsmack how many times as this been said here .what is the reaction of the godzone crew I can't imagine there impressed??

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I dare say we will be getting a few of the GODSQUAD in soon ,they cant help themselves because deep down they have doubts too .Especially now this article has cropped up ,it must seem like treachery . :)

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

theres gonna be a witch hunt......

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

we wont win ,they outnumber us 10-1 .
Iwonder about this site at times because the amount in the godsquad zone is far more than the returning back to the uk section ,but it seems to bear no resemblance to the reality i see in everyday life with brits .
I have 3 brits on the job at the moment and every single one of them wants to get out of here ,i have feeling there is a few in godsville section who havent faced up to their feelings yet and are trying to put up a brave face and still nodding like dumb donkies at the pom this pom that snide remarks .

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

lol me neither, Can't say it's OZ i don't like, it's just the cost of living for us!!! we can't afford to live here :rolleyes:
Thats what most want to go home for, to earn a better wage. I will never understand why wages are so low :confused:

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I have actually done very well here ,but its been a hard 16 year slog .It depends what you work is i suppose and at the moment what state your in .
I actually just want to go home ,as i have found as i have got older i want to just get back to familiarity and my roots ,also my eldest son is leaving aussie in May to live in germany [he hates australia ]and my youngest is as dinky di as they come .
Its a graet place for holidays but our experience has been a hard one ,some have it a lot easier and good luck to them ,but for those that have fought tooth and nail to make it work like us takes its toll on your personality and relationships .sorry to be so serious :) :)

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

i know how you feel..I don't want to be here forever even if we earned loads of dosh!! there's just something not quite right, something missing. Some friends of ours are returning after just 2 months of being here :eek: i feel so jealous...they can't afford it here (perth) either. They were promised this and that and got nowt!!
Everyday is a struggle but i have learnt to take it on the chin and i want to call this a long holiday rather than failure.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

ditto

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

That was *very* interesting reading.

I lived in Singapore for a few years and volunteered at the offices of ANZA (the Australian & New Zealand Association - it was more fun than the
sedate British Association LOL! I noticed that they loved their sausage sizzles though!). You would not believe how many Aussies and Kiwis were working there; all of Down Under's brightest and finest. Hundreds and hundreds of them in banking, insurance, manufacturing, oil & gas etc. There is an Australian International School (NSW curriculum) in Singapore and in Hong Kong for the children of the expats.

I now live in New Jersey, husband commutes to work in Times Square, NYC. Yet again, I've encountered so many Aussies and Kiwis. They all say they're here to make money and will go home again...but to be honest, they keep finding another excuse to stay. I do know of one family who are planning to return to Canberra next year after securing US passports, but when push comes to shove I reckon they will either stay here or will end up back in the States.

I've just been in London....again absolutely everywhere I heard Aussie accents; ok a lot of them are on the 2 year working holiday makers visa (whereas Brits going to Oz only get 1 year visas) but some of them told me they were trying to find ways and means to stay in England. Also there are loads of highly paid professionals from Down Under working in London too. A Kiwi friend of ours from Dunedin has actually just left his job at the United Nations in NYC to return to London (which he prefers) to secure his permanent UK residency and eventually citizenship. He has no plans whatsoever to return to New Zealand.

I've e-mailed my various Aussie mates the article from "The Age" and it will be interesting to hear their comments about it.

We're spending Thanksgiving Day on Thursday with Aussie friends who are in their mid 40s and have a six year old and 7 month old twins. Now they have spent the past dozen years living in Singapore (where they met), Pattaya in Thailand, Penang in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore again, Leeds UK, briefly back in Oz and the last three years in New Jersey. They want to do another expat posting (hopefully in SE Asia so they can have a maid to help with the children) before going back to Oz for good. They plan to live in Perth (she's from the Gold Coast). I honestly can't see them settling in Oz, I think the boredom will drive them crazy!

I honestly think that Australia and New Zealand are facing a serious brain drain.....all the expats bitterly complain about the high rates of income tax and it's one of the factors preventing them from returning other than for family holidays.

At one time when we lived in Singapore we mused about my husband transferring to his company's Sydney office in the financial district (he's a manager)....but he soon put the dampers on that idea. He said that not only were the taxes too high (47c in the $AUD) but it would be the end of his career as there would be severe limits on career progression and opportunities compared to working in Europe, Asia or the Americas.

Interesting links for Aussie expats:

http://www.americanaustralian.org/

http://anza.org.sg :beer:

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Excellent article stating what most expats already know but are afraid to say.LOL

I was ammused to find the word 'Wan*er' within its paragraphs, I rarely get to read such words in the UK media, has Australia gone the extra mile to provoke reaction or is it just to keep us interested? ;)

Cheers

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I agree with this 100%. We’ve had to cancel Christmas this year (our first in Oz) because we simply can’t afford Christmas presents at all. For the past seven years when we lived in the UK, we’ve had a two or three week holiday in Florida just before Christmas, done all our shopping there, stocked up on clothes and had an absolute ball. It’s totally ridiculous to get into your 40s and not even be able to buy Christmas presents :(

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Remember the more Aussies that move to the Uk the more the UK is going to become like OZ. :D With global warming affecting the UK and all the Aussies moving there because of the brain drain , in 20 Years the Uk will be just like OZ. :p

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

How I agree with you! :( I've changed so much. I am full of self doubt, constantly questioning myself, driving both me and my hubby nuts with all my thoughts :o The one thought that plagues me daily "what do I do for the best for all my family?" I sometimes get so overwhelmed with it all I would just love to lie down and let the whole world pass me by. :rolleyes:

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Unlikely, since the majority of UK males aren't uneducated chauvinistic pigs.

Now what the UK is becoming is what Oz wanted to be but failed dismally to achieve...a vibrant, multicultural, world leading society full of buzz where professionals can excel and familes can achieve....only with a nice pleasant climate that wont kill you or fry you.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

An experience like this certainly can change your personality. I used to be so decisive - now I don't know if I'm coming, going, been there or just on my way! And when I get there I don't know why I'm there. I'm sure I'm going crackers!! Or maybe I always was and didn't realise it until now :o

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

:D you and me both girl!!! You know what I reckon it is? Desperation. It's like being a caged animal, pacing and going completely bonkers with the frustration of it all! :rolleyes:

I've got two more years left to serve, at least you'll be free soon....lucky sod! :o

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I know - can't wait, I'm getting so excited now just thinking about living again - the pubs and nightlife, the pretty villages, the lovely scenery within driving distance, the choice in the supermarkets, the rugby, the humour, talking to neighbours again, up-to-date TV programs, world news, Europe on the doorstep, proper holidays (for two weeks - in a hotel) and most of all...... Money!! I can't wait to be earning money again :D

Sorry I'll shut up now - it's all that pent up stuff inside me, sometimes I just have to get it out :o

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I'm quite intrigued at this. I've met quite a few brits where I am, counting them roughly I'd say 25 to 30. Only one of them wants to go back, and they are going for two reasons. One is because her Mum is ill and isn't expected to live more than a year and the other is because her daughter isn't happy here. They've been here for 11 months and go back to Portsmouth on the 11th December.

All the others love it here, they range from being here from 6 months to 30 years.

Really is weird and I wonder if it's to do with where you first settle, what you expect when you get here and the experiences you have when you first arrive. :)

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Just as an addition to the original link... in 2002, for the first time in Australian history the number of native born Australians leaving the country passed the number of ex-pats returning home...

One of the figures listed in this report for New Zealand is staggering. 21.9% of New Zealanders live overseas. :scared:

http://wopared.parl.net/Library/pubs...-04/04rn54.htm

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I agree with the 'where you settle' bit, that's a biggie. The other two, well, we've had great experiences since being here, met lovely friends, no hassles with OH job, built a home (pretty hassle free) and I've been lucky enough to go to uni. All good.

One big problem; I still don't feel I 'belong' here. Someone tell me how the hell I can make that go away, or do any more to settle than I already have done? :o I'm tired of trying now.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Was talking to my Aunt at cricket on Sunday, she said it's quite strange because she doesn't really feel like she belongs here, but also feels she doesn't belong in the UK either. Maybe it always feels like that for some, I really don't know.

She has been here just under 26 years, they did go back to the UK after 18 months originally, but came back before their visa ran out. She did say that she loves both places, but prefers here. :)

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I dont know really to be honest wendy ,maybe the guys on site just want to go home but i have employed backpackers in the past they were predominently british and irish and the greater majority always seemed to want to go home ,even though they were enjoying their hoilidays here they just couldnt invisage working in 40 degree heat and dealing with the flys every day .
There major gripe was the pub life and nightlife is shit especially for single people and often found themselves just pissing it up with their backpacker mates in the backpackers hotel beacause they reckon the atmosphere was better .
There is something to be said about where you live as well because when i go into deepest darkest suburbia in perth and go for a drink with a few lads at the old bailey in joondalup ,i can honestly say i never hear one brit say he\she dislikes aussie ,maybe it is something to do with not wanting to voice an opinion OR it could be they are deliriously happy .

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Aye, it's a mystery isn't it.

I did know one lad that came out backpacking and went home after only 3 weeks, he was one of the customers where I used to work in England. He said that he just didn't like it.

Wouldn't it be great if people could come over for a year before making any commitments, it should be free and a job waiting though as it would just cost too much otherwise. I doubt that'd ever happen though eh :D

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I think it's all a big mystery. The only conclusion I've come to about all of this is that we are just all so different and want/enjoy different things in life. We all have different expectations and different needs. I suppose that's why some love it, some hate it and some can't decide so ping pong between places.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

You're probably right there.

I sometimes wish I could wave a magic wand and let everyone be where they are happy. I hate to see people sad, life is too short. :)

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

GOD FORBID

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

I read this article a couple of years ago, when it first came out. I thought it was an excellent piece of work then, and I think the same now. :)

What impresses me most about it is the people interviewed. They didn't leave Australia because they hated it. They left because they are visionaries, competitors, movers and shakers. They wanted more out of life, and they were prepared to move thousands of kilometres from home in order to get it. Now they are head-hunted by large multinationals, and they work in top positions all over the world.

I have tremendous respect for Aussies like this who leave our country to pursue their dreams. Critics of Australia claim that our "no worries attitude" has created a nation of uneducated dolts who can't be arsed to go the extra mile - but this article just goes to show how wrong that stereotype really is.

Paradoxically, Aussies are also criticised for our "aggressiveness" and our "go get 'em" attitude. But again, this article just goes to show how desirable these characteristics really are.

In late February this year, I entered my current workplace as a low-paid grunt in a temporary position. I took that job and threw everything I had at it, believing that if I worked hard enough my efforts would be recognised.

Three weeks later, I was asked if I wanted to apply for a higher position within the company. I did - and I got it. Result? 50% pay rise and a position of genuine responsibility, in a new role which I have since developed and refined into a more sophisticated role. I have also pushed hard to make my voice heard, maintained regular contact with senior management, and looked for opportunities to expand my duties.

8 months on, I have just had a meeting with my team leader, who informs me that I will be recommended for another pay rise in April next year by himself and the key accounts manager (with whom I work closely).

Nevertheless, this will not stop me from returning home within the next two years - hopefully to similar employment

Still, it's all good. I'm proud to be an Australian, and even more so when I read about the success of my fellow ex-pats. :cool:

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Yes, only one thing really lacking in the Aussie surerman:


hu‧mil‧i‧ty 
–noun
the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

"Surerman"? :confused:

Look, I am simply making the point that the Aussies who get ahead are the Aussies who work hard and look for the right opportunities. To imply that this indicates a lack of humility is simply bizarre.

I've worked hard for everything I have, and I'm entitled to be proud of it. There's nothing wrong with that; nothing whatsoever.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

Give them all medals and put some bunting up. People from the UK have been successful around the globe for hundreds of years and no-one here bats an eyelid. Banging on about it is just another sign of Aussie insecurity.

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

i think, for them, it's like going to the moon. ;)

Re: Interesting reading for those thinking of returning from Oz
 

If you read this newspaper article carefully (and don't just read see what you want to see) a lot of Aussies who travel overseas and live overseas want to do so because there are many opportunities for them career wise, and they feel feel they are mixing with the cream of the worlds crop in their chosen profession. Of all those people leaving. a large percentage come back. Some people are incredibly ambitious and want to "make it big." I think it says a lot for Australia that so many successful, well educated people come from there (seeing some people on this forum have the belief that Australia's education system is flawed) Australia is a minor economy with a small population and can't compete with places like the US in that regard.

I am living in the UK and it is so far from being all that it is not funny. A lot of Aussies come over here for the career and travelling opportunities, I don't know any (from about 30 peeps) who plan on staying here, one girl from Perth wants to go and live in New York and my boyfriend has a British passport and plans on staying 5 years (boo hoo!) An interesting phenom I have noticed is many Aussies in their late 20's and early 30's want to stay in the UK longer because they are free from family responsibilies and can run amok, get drunk every weekend, go out till 5am and generally hold onto to their youth without parents and friends nagging them to settle down. One guy I was speaking to said he was petrified of going home because he is 32, and nearly all his friends have bought houses and are in serious relationships and he won't have anyone to go out with. However, he loves Oz and said thats where he wants to end up.

Me, I am not a money hungry, ambitious type and although I have a honours degree in english, taking on the world and driving a Mercedes does not interest me in the slightest.

Give me happy, healthy people, beautiful weather, great food, a unique landscape, open spaces, a clean environment, competent government and a laid-back lifestyle anytime!! :)