15 year old girl moving to Melbourne from Scotland!!!!

My names Lauren, I am going to be moving to Melbourne in a couple of months:(,I'm nervous, any teenagers in here from Melbourne or moving to Melbourne, message me I need advise! Thanks x

Join up with the Life in Victoria forum there is a link at the foot of this one. A lot of the members have children and some of them are around your age. It will depend on where you are going to be living though how easy it is to catch up.

Good luck

Hi, I moved to Melbourne when I was 14 and I'm not going to lie to you- it will be hard. But this is the best thing that ever happened to our family. There will be some days when you will wonder why you lived in Scotland for 15 years instead of Australia and then they're will be some days when you will want to be back more than anything else. I was miserable for a good 2 years but now- I'm in such a good place after being here for 3 and a half years. I love Australia and see it as a land of opportunity for me and my family. I plan on moving back in a couple of years and am just taking life as it comes. I honestly struggled more with my transition from primary to secondary than I did with moving to Australian schools. I had a tour and started 2 days later and surprised my self with making new friends quite quickly. Friends was the thing I was most scared about as I'm really shy but it was so easy to fit into a group. Sometimes I do miss my old friends (like now when they're getting uni offers and I've only just started my final year) but the I email them or meet up when I'm back for a holiday and it's like nothing happened. Sometimes all you'll want it to say one word to someone that doesn't have an Australian accent so just drop your friends a wee email. I actually only email 2 of my friends now as the rest just never replied, but they're my best friends and we always meet up when I'm back and they mean the most to me. It is hard sometimes- my grandfather died last year and all I could think was that if I'd never moved I could have spent another 3 years with him, my dog is sadly on her last legs (literally) and I think of all the cuddles I could have given her in 3 years if we were still with her, my dad had cancer almost 2 years ago and I just think that I would have been surrounded by so much more love than I was there- but everyone was always so supportive with me when it all happened that I just have to get on with it.

Instead I try to look at all the positives out here- I know the economy is bad in the UK but I've had a job out here for 2 years now- I really love it sometimes and really hate it at other times. I have made more friends than I ever had in my life out here. I see parrots every day, we take a ten minute drive and I see kangaroos, I'm a 40 minute train ride into the city, I go into the city with friends all the time, I have grown as a person- I was always so shy and I think it is partly with having to slow down my speech and talk louder that I have come out of my shell- I love debating. I have actually become closer to God- ironic as I haven't been to church since we left, I've done so much more in my short lifetime than I ever would have if I'd stayed at home, and I plan on doing so much more in the coming years.

Education wise, you would probable go into year 9 (third year- they started the school year in Feb) and you would be doing your options plus english and maths. It is a very different education system- not better or worse- just different. I do think that for me (being academic) that I'd have gotten more out of the structured UK system but I have learned so much more out here. At home you would choose a language, a tech/art, a science, english, maths and something else, where as school here is you do a class for a semester and you have to choose a cooking class (horticulture, nutrition, global foods ect) /tech subject (wood/ metal/automotives) , english, maths, an art subject (clay, painting, camera, ect) a sport subject (plain old sport/health/ KNITTING- yes knitting! and girly things like that) and all sorts of things. I would at many times have preferred the structure of the Scottish system but in the end- I'll get my world recognised qualification and I'll get into my chosen career somehow. Uniform- yes we know it looks hideous- but everyone is wearing it and trust me, everyone thinks it's hideous. When we came here for a holiday we would play "who can spot the ugliest uniform"- the purple one- and I was horrified when I tried on my blue dress and white socks because now tourists would be judging me!

I seem to have been writing a lot so I'll finish it here- good luck with your move and I really hope I haven't scared you off- Australia is literally the best thing that has ever happened to me- I had a lot of bad days in the beginning- but for me- once I passed the 2 year mark I started to see Australia as my home and the last bad day was when my papa died. It always hurts to say goodbye but I've found writing it down helps me deal with my issues. (I find saying good bye a few hours before you have to leave helps so that you get it over with and are then in a different state of mind, and then say goodbye to friends a few days before so you get it over and done with and you don't have to worry about it) I hope I've helped you out a little and message me if you have any other worries about the move- I always hated it when people would tell me they knew how I felt when I know they didn't but honestly- I know exactly how you feel.

Fiona,

Hi, we should (fingers crossed) be moving to Melbourne within the next few months and my daughter is 15 also. What part are you thinking of living? It's all a bit scary but very exciting! What brilliant information Fioooooona!!!

Oh yeah, I'm moving to Melbourne in October. I'm 14 and I will probably need someone to talk to. Someone my age, I mean.

So yeah.

Hi Lauren, we moved from Scotland when I was 12 and for the first few months it was amazing! We had beaches and sunshine and everything just seemed so perfect, but then the reality sunk in and I hated it. I didn't really miss my family that much because we spoke to them everyday but I noticed that I was losing contact with my friends. I also found it really hard to fit in at first as my group of friends seemed to constantly change, but now on out second year I've settled alot. I still miss Scotland and there are some days where you just want to cry but I am getting used to the fact that this is where I live now, and if you're friends aren't really trying to keep in touch, then maybe they weren't such great friends after all.

I hope you settle really well, and if you don't right away you will eventually. The point is, it gets easier.

Robyn