Why Oz And Not Spain, U.s, France....

janie606 · 04-04-2008, 02:11 PM

Hi just wondering whether anyone considered any other country when wanting to emmigrate and why they chose Oz what with the costs,long haul flights, possibility of not seeing family long term over the likes of America, Canada, France ,Spain.......?

jane and kev

sadsmile23 · 04-04-2008, 02:16 PM

Hi
For me, its the fact that it IS so far away from UK ! (see my post "am I evil thinking like this?).
Seriously tho, America and Canada did come into thought, but seem even more difficult than Oz (plus OH skills not in demand there) , always fancied Spain but then there's the language barrier and kids education.
Just always liked the idea of Oz and when the opportunity arose.................

windsor · 04-04-2008, 05:12 PM

My husband and I lived in Spain around 5 years ago and although lovely I found it to be quite expensive in some ways. We lived in Estepona. My husband had a bar and worked from 10 in the morning to 3 the following morning a was becoming burnt trying to make money in the quieter months. I worked for a real estate company in Puerto Banus. It was fine work but high pressured. I really love Spain but it is hard to get a good job because of mainly the language barrier although we were trying to learn but to become so fluent would take a time.. Australia is thriving, the people are lovely, house prices are so much cheaper and you get much more for your money (Spain is expensive, unless you live in the middle of nowhere). I guess in moving to Oz things are that different in day to day life. By that I mean language, driving the same side but you get the quality of life that we don't get here. Canada is really really hard to get into and I have citizenship to Oz so am using it..

Shani

Cellefrouin · 04-04-2008, 05:44 PM

Hi,

We've lived in France for over 4 years now and it is a very beautiful country to live in. The house prices are much cheaper than the UK and you get an awful lot of property for your money. Electricity, cars, food and oil (for central heating) have become very expensive in the last year. There are things which are cheaper than the UK but not that many. The wages here are really low, so you really need to open a business to earn anything like you can in the UK.

The most frustrating thing here is when trying to get things done, be it work on your house or sorting out an everyday problem with anyone (i.e. electricity company or telephone company etc) as they don't know the meaning of customer service!

We've been trying to buy/open a business here for 2 years now! For every piece of paper you'd be expected to fill out in the UK there are 5 more to do here...... for the same thing!!! There seems to be no sense to it all, they just love their paperwork....even the French complain about it.

Initially the language was a huge problem but not now. All the kids are all fluent and myself and my Husband can speak enough to get by. I suppose that this is the reason why Australia comes out on top for most people, no problem with learning another language! If you choose to live in France, Spain, etc then you must be prepared to put in the effort to learn the language. There are a lot of English here who don't bother to learn French at all, they just expect everyone to speak in English! Just being able to have a chit-chat with my neighbours makes life so much more pleasant!

I am glad that I have experienced living in another country and the only reason we are considering going to OZ is that we cannot earn a living here. There is no way that we would ever consider moving back to the UK. So for us, OZ seems like the place to be.

Regards,

Caroline.

ali · 05-04-2008, 12:49 AM

I think language is the main thing and for us US was a NO because of the major/serious crimes, the fact that alot of people do carry guns for protection - and they drive on the wrong side of the road lol

Ali

calNgary · 05-04-2008, 12:54 AM

wo too lived in Spain for a little while before coming here,we bought some land in a beautiful little valley near Mazzaron about 2 hrs south of Alicante.For us the main hurdle was the language barrier,from my sons point of view he was very reluctant to start at a spanish school knowing very little of the language,you can sit courses and do night school ,but its real life that teaches you the language and its hard to blend in with real life when your not fluent spanish..catch 22.
We sold everything to come here and its been much easier to make the move and settle ,,pretty sure the aussies overtake the spanish with''manyana'',god they can be slow out here,, but overall here is much more sutiable for us as a family.even if does cost more than 100quid with easyjet to visit home,lol
Cal x

Stuju · 05-04-2008, 12:57 AM

Hi
Done Spain lived there for a short time - too hard with the language barrier (even thou some of the spanish speak really good english) i found it too hard to learn. Also the weather in Spain is tooooo hot - parents live there still & some days up to 50 - so hot they cant get in their pool.
Didnt fancy the USA or Canada or France.
All in all other half is a aussie citizen so was the best option for us.
gizmo

janie606 · 05-04-2008, 08:02 PM

thanks guys for your replies, it has helped me make my mind up i think, OZ is for us, its just been not quite straightforward as i'd hoped and was starting to think about anywhere else that is not the UK. France does not really appeal to us yet (maybe would if we were older) we were going to move to spain a few years ago but a couple of the major factors against there was workand education. As for the U.S well gun crime and crime in general worries us but enjoyed visiting there, one of the tempting things though are house prices!

jane