scaria197

A North American perspective to Sydney.

I thought of writing this out as wanted to contribute to the forum and also help in adding a new perspective.

So July 01, 2011 was the day when we planned to fly out to Sydney, NSW from the East Coast. We like most Expats were settled- a house, a good job and set of friends. I think that was the day when we questioned our decision and knew there was no looking back. Off to Charlotte airport with luggage. Our flights to Los Angeles get cancelled due to mechanical issues and airlines cannot put us on any other flight for the next 2 days due to the July 4 weekend-everything sold out. Was this a sign that we should not move?? We thought of it the entire day. Finally a break through. United was able to find us new connections and was flying us business class to LAX and Economy ahead. Only down side was that it was the next day.

We get to the airport the next day..all goes ok to LA. Get on out Sydney bound flight and the pilot aborts take-off as the right wing controls were not working properly. We are in the plan for 3 hours till 3:00AM not sure if we will take off..we questioned and were convinced this move was not meant to be..but no looking back..our shipment was already on ship to Australia.

So finally we took off and landed in Sydney..beautiful day and a little chilly. We were exhausted and I was tensed as I have never driven a RHD ever in my life. Got the rental car and reached our Short term rental for 5 weeks.

Next Day..did the usual stuff...got our licenses swapped out, went to Medicare and made a deposit in our bank accounts we had opened online.

Next was looking for Jobs. I work in IT and was nervous as to what I find. Applied to a few positions and quickly followed-up to the agents with a phone call with a sales pitch. Got an interview in 2 days of applying and 10 days later had a job. Thanks God for the luck and his blessings as we at least had one person get a job to start paying the bills.We are a young couple and did not have too much saving..we came with 10K

With the job sorted out..it was time for car shopping and other things...we still had 4 weeks in our short term.

Week 2:

House hunting...OMG !!! We were appalled to see the state in which some units were..absolutely disgusting!!! How could the Landlords and agents even made them open for inspections!!!
Thanks to a few tips on BExpats, we had a package ready for every house application including pictures of previous places. We applied for 6 got 2.


Week 3-5:

Discovered the Shopping centers, got used to driving without turning my wipers on for turn signals. Kmart and Target as not too bad. Som things are a little expensive others work out the same. Coles and Woolies are smaller than Walmart, but thankfully the Ginger does not come from China and Green Peppers/Capsicum is not 99cents each. Overall, the quality of food is very similar. The portion sizes are smaller, but I guess I need that. Absolutely love the Veggie burgers in Hungry Jacks and Oporto. Atleast it is not a Soy patty like in Burger King in states. The cuisines you can eat are so many. Have tried Lebanese kebabs and loved them. Ofcouse the ususal stuff like Subway, pizza Hut, Hooters, Outback steakhouse were very similar..but about 20pc more expensive. However no tipping.


Week 5-7:

Stuff arrived, Ikea trips, Appliances and furniture from Harvey Norman...dont ever pay the sticker price,,,negotiate always....u have the power and the retail here is not doing too well..so customer is almost a king.

Week 8 +

Settling down, mrs was skeduled to start a job at a accounting firm but received the newz that her mom is not well. We flew her out on last Friday and she is right now going to be away for about 45 days...(...hope she is alright. What a bummer!!


Overall..we like it here..have not done too many weekend trips of a day at the beach as it is winter here...hope this summer will be great. If you ask us, we will do this again. Key is stop the comparison in your mind. Plan what you need to ship...we had a lot of Manchester and clothes shipped over. The Bed sizes are the same. Even the light bulbs you can get the screwon bulbs that are typical/ plenty in the US. Clothes are expensive here...vacation is plenty in comparison to Corporate America.Medicare is a great benefit here. Almost a blessing.

We do miss driving a tank like SUV, taco bell, serving sizes, walking to walmart in my pajamas at 1:00AM, ordering pizza at 12 in the night..but thats ok. This is a new country and 9000 miles away...I can live with that...


I walk more, eat smaller portions, drink beer at work on Friday, drive a loaded camry, can plan trips to the local park or go camping, walk up to the doctor and not worry that I need to pay a 45 dollar co-pay for every appointment and yet can enough many of the same brands and converse in the same language, expect the same driving courtesies.

We will do this again...

SillyOldBag

You seem to have got off to a great start with a great attitude! Hope your OH's mum gets better soon

sonlymewalter

Great post mate, hope the OH's mum is OK

scaria197

Thanks for reading and thanks a lot for the wishes. OH's mom is well and now recovering from an operation. We are glad that OH could be there.