Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

If you're coming to Aus to live, then good for you. You will make up your own mind after living here. I really hope everything is how you'd like it - for many people it is what they want and they stay here. For others it totally is not what they want.

The worst thing is for people to judge how other people feel; their wishes and aspirations. There are certain people who post on this site (I won't say who), who really p**s me off with the crap they spout about the opinions of others. I sigh and scroll past most of their diatribe. It is not that they have a different opinion, it is that they believe they are so right about everything that how could anybody else think differently. You'll learn the phrase 'Godzoners', who believe Australia is God's own land, and everything is perfect in their little world. I'm afraid IMHO these people were probably narrow minded idiots in their past lives too. They totally do not see that others may have a different view on life here.

Anyway, good luck with your move. Please do not become one of the Godzoners, just be open minded about everything and do not judge people :)

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I would say that the people who I've communicated with here, and those whose posts I have read, seem on the whole to be a realistic and largely friendly bunch. I'm reminded of a quote - not sure who said it or exactly what they said but here's the gist:

It is a fool who thinks that they know everything, and a wise man who realises how little he knows.

Clever eh? ;)

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

You are very naive. Same shit, different country.

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

He was exaggerating at the very least. That would be about 1/6th of the population of NSW. The police would have been there in huge numbers, not just because of the recent riots at Cronulla, but because street drinking is illegal here and with even 50 people partying, they would be expecting trouble. Yep, it happens here a plenty.

Have you ever been to Trafalgar Square on NYE? Not unthinkable is it?

I wish you the best of luck in your new venture down under Sean, but I do think you are a little naive, but you did make me laugh when you said you cannot imagine a group of naughty aussies.:lol:

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

Yes Im scared too, leaving uk for Australia seemed like the right thing to do in the face of all the shit that we see happen in uk all the time, but stuff happens everywhere, we cannot control others behaviour anyway!
Since being in Australia I have found other things to be scared of......snakes, kids drowning in the sea(quite common, scarily enough!). Car breaking down in the middle of nowhere, and I guess like you in France( i have been often) you are always in the middle of nowhere if you opt for the rural life.

The things that scare you the most probably never happened to you while you were there and will probably never happen if you return. Its just letting your imagination run away with you. I'm scared of people calling me a failure, or that I will miss oz if we move back, but only time will tell, and the bottom line is you can always retire in france when your children have grown up!

There are many parts of England that are still very beautiful and fairly low crime rates. Trouble is, all we hear on the news is doom and gloom so thats what we expect.

Since coming to oz I have read and seen the film "the secret". I'm sure you have heard of it? Well anyway, I have realised that if I want to be happy here, I will. If I want it to work in the uk it will. If I don't it won't. Simple as that really. We just don't want it here anymore, so it wont work as we dont really have our hearts in it. We are currently planning to return in July, and wed have been here for 11 months. Long enough to fill a years diary, almost!!
A fabulous life experience, and a fantastic lesson.
xxxxx
besides I cant live without Indian takeout on a fri nite!!!! Or dark nights at xmas so you can admire everyones decorations! I love UK and proud to be English. Maybe we should all be more patriotic about our country instead of slagging it off, and use our votes, instead of thinking that it will never make a difference.
Good luck in whatever you decide, and be happy that youre only a couple of hours and an easyjet fare away!!!!xxxxxx

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

:D Ha Ha!!

So youre in the giant dust bowl too? where are you? Apart from the far side of far?!
As for chicken shops, we dont have many of those that I have seen, but plenty of "chook manure" for $2!!!!! Dont they know to use horse poo??

I guess that it would be easier if we were in France eh? Then we could pop over and visit friends and family on a weekend cheap flight!
Are you going back to uk or sticking it out?x

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

How about the Notting Hill Carnival in London, sometimes a couple of stabbings, and 50 arrests. I think on 3 or 4 occasions over the last 30 years someone has died of their injuries. Naturally the media make a huge thing about it

Not bad for a million people at an all day party

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

That first part was tongue-in-cheek. I thought that would be obvious given my previous posts.

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

For the record, I would like to state that I am in no way mocking (or failing to understand) the origins of the three place names - those three words reminded me of characters you might find in a Tolkien book. It was a joke about Westminster - ie. the seat of government in England.

I stated that I am a bit naive - and it seems that you agree, thats good. :thumbup:

On New Years Eve / Day in London this year, according to local press, there were a total of 700,000 on the streets. This includes Trafalgar, Thames, others. Check this out:
http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk /news/localnews/display.var.1943197.0.new_year_mayhem_gives_parame dics_busiest_night.php

I do read Aussie papers to try to get a feel for the place, but perhaps my attempted avoidance of anything Murdoch (apart from the Age where Murdochs lot have shares) has given me a false view of that country. I do, however know loads of people who have travelled extensively through Oz, rural, urban, and metropolitan. To a man they all say that the general atmosphere over there is better than here. These are Mancunians though. I'm going to Oz for the experiences, good or bad, I'm not expecting to fing a crime free Utopia.

So maybe my mate exaggerated, fair enough, can't see why he would make it up though. We both share an interest in observing social interactions, we are both well travelled, and thats what he told me on New Years Day.

I'm using this forum as a means to learn from others and to share my own experiences. It's only through listening to the views of others that I can hope to become at least a bit Oz-streetwise before I get off the plane.

I will go away now and educate myself in the riots of Cronulla. I do thank you for wishing me luck ( I will be needing it) but please do not accuse me of racial intolerance of the Indigenous Peoples of Australia, or of their language.

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

It takes literally a few seconds on google to find numerous articles like this:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...157740311.html

Video footage aired on the Seven Network showed hundreds of drunken youths turning on police following the arrest of one juvenile.
....
"And ... within that mass of people, there are these isolated incidents where people are getting upset with each other or arguing and it is unfortunately turning into big brawls.

"It is not uncommon for Australia Day."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...788726188.html

A large contingent of police were called to a Semaphore beach reserve in the city's southwest, about 9.50pm when a group of about 500 young people turned on each other after hours of partying, police said.
.....
He said the brawl was sparked by alcohol.

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

Thanks Elfman, I couldn't be bothered as I saw no point, although I do think Sean sounds more intelligent than your average wannabe.;)

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

Thanks for the links - have checked them out. Same story in many places. I'm happy to learn more about about Oz, that's why I'm here.

I don't want to get into the habit of going to google and typing, 'Australia+fighting+stabbing' or similar. Of course a big problem with the media is the 'if it bleeds it leads' syndrome. Good news simply does not sell newspapers. And that is sad.

Personally, I just google a place name and see what pops up. Once I get past the celebrity/drugs/violence/money stuff I start to look for the good news. It's out there but needs a bit more time to find.

Thanks, Sean.

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

Right then, erm, I forgot about Europes largest street party. There were about 1.4 million on the Sunday last year. :o

I stand corrected.

In a last-ditch bid to save face, I will post this link about crime there in 2007. 300+ arrests, few guns etc.

http://www.channel4.com/news/article...arnival/732647

Now where did I put my coat...

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

"Maybe we should all be more patriotic about our country instead of slagging it off, and use our votes,"

Hmmm. Having been right royally screwed by my precious country, I am a bit more sanguine about it.

As for voting. First off we define government. They are the unelected mass that gets in, whoever you vote for, and it is they that run the country.

At the next election we will be given the choice of whether the government screws us wearing a red condom, a blue condom or a yellow one.

Re: Too scared to live in England.
 

....so true... best post I have read in a long time. there seems to be 3 camps.. one spouting ozzie ozzie ozziie.. one chanting Engerlund, engerlund, engurland and a very tiny portion of people in both! wearing reversable beenie hats:thumbsup: