One year goes by.....

[jimmyay1]

A year since i moved down here, time has flown.

 

mostly good stuff has happened. took me 3 months to secure work, partner had already transferred job down here so that helped cushion things financially when we came.

 

everything seemed really pricey at first, i wondered if we would ever be able to afford a meal out or anything.

 

securing employment helped as we had 2 incomes coming in and renting in a relatively cheap rental unit, albeit with irritating noisy neighbours. after a year we have managed to save up enough (just) to put a deposit down to buy a 3 bed place in the bayside area. we are going to auctions at the moment and hopefully will buy a property soon. however we've kept our property in London with tenant as an investment.

 

I feel at home in Melbourne and reasonably settled and enjoy the area i live and the places i go to at the weekends, the scenery is stunning and i am just in awe at how beautiful and unspoilt this country is, it's unbelievable. I've have had a trip up to far north queensland which was stunning.

 

however work has dominated my life for the last 6 months and i generally do very long hours as a manager far longer than i worked in the UK. Like 8am to 730 -830 pm most weekdays. I don't find that hugely enjoyable as i have been tasked with managing and clearing up the huge disorganised mess of a previous employee and it is difficult whist firefighting day to day with little in the way of support and a fairly relentless schedule.

 

However because i have not been in the country too long i feel i can't complain much, i just have to take on what's thrown, and just hope things get a bit calmer on that front as i gain more experience and feel more comfortable with systems and processes, all of which have had to be learned afresh whilst trying to be a manager of people at the same time!

 

sometimes in periods of reflection i feel a little lonely as i have no friends locally or family here, just my partner. my partner works away half the week so i am generally home alone 3 nights in a week. I generally just work into the evenings and then come home and have dinner then go to bed. i have done one or two things with work people socially at weekends including going skiing which has been very nice. however of course it is different to old mates and family and it takes time to bed this in.

 

i am hoping that gradually things will improve on the social front but obviously i need to make time and space for it. i suppose i have to feel like everything is under control at work before i can do that and that is hard.

 

we are financially a lot better off in Australia than we were in the UK and know longer term there are better opportunities for us to get more financial security than if we had stayed in the UK.

 

Overall the migration experience has been good to us in terms of what we have achieved in a year however despite success migration has been stressful at times as you are quite on your own. in some ways i feel like i've had a very up and down year.

 

Sometimes i feel really over the moon and ridiculously happy. Other times i get a feeling of being a bit empty, alone and down for no real reason, although I don't really miss the UK at all very much. it would be nice to see family they are a long way away and perhaps won't visit for another year or 18 months. my partner has lived in various countries and always a long way from family,has few friends and is very self reliant. i guess i am too but i do miss what was a very good and stable network of close friends made over decades which is probably what i miss most of all, to be honest.

 

Overall a good year but migration is a process not an event and that process continues for a long time after you have arrived. i feel i have some way to go to feel like i have fully "made it".

[Guest Ptp113]

A year since i moved down here, time has flown.

 

mostly good stuff has happened. took me 3 months to secure work, partner had already transferred job down here so that helped cushion things financially when we came.

 

everything seemed really pricey at first, i wondered if we would ever be able to afford a meal out or anything.

 

securing employment helped as we had 2 incomes coming in and renting in a relatively cheap rental unit, albeit with irritating noisy neighbours. after a year we have managed to save up enough (just) to put a deposit down to buy a 3 bed place in the bayside area. we are going to auctions at the moment and hopefully will buy a property soon. however we've kept our property in London with tenant as an investment.

 

I feel at home in Melbourne and reasonably settled and enjoy the area i live and the places i go to at the weekends, the scenery is stunning and i am just in awe at how beautiful and unspoilt this country is, it's unbelievable. I've have had a trip up to far north queensland which was stunning.

 

however work has dominated my life for the last 6 months and i generally do very long hours as a manager far longer than i worked in the UK. Like 8am to 730 -830 pm most weekdays. I don't find that hugely enjoyable as i have been tasked with managing and clearing up the huge disorganised mess of a previous employee and it is difficult whist firefighting day to day with little in the way of support and a fairly relentless schedule.

 

However because i have not been in the country too long i feel i can't complain much, i just have to take on what's thrown, and just hope things get a bit calmer on that front as i gain more experience and feel more comfortable with systems and processes, all of which have had to be learned afresh whilst trying to be a manager of people at the same time!

 

sometimes in periods of reflection i feel a little lonely as i have no friends locally or family here, just my partner. my partner works away half the week so i am generally home alone 3 nights in a week. I generally just work into the evenings and then come home and have dinner then go to bed. i have done one or two things with work people socially at weekends including going skiing which has been very nice. however of course it is different to old mates and family and it takes time to bed this in.

 

i am hoping that gradually things will improve on the social front but obviously i need to make time and space for it. i suppose i have to feel like everything is under control at work before i can do that and that is hard.

 

we are financially a lot better off in Australia than we were in the UK and know longer term there are better opportunities for us to get more financial security than if we had stayed in the UK.

 

Overall the migration experience has been good to us in terms of what we have achieved in a year however despite success migration has been stressful at times as you are quite on your own. in some ways i feel like i've had a very up and down year.

 

Sometimes i feel really over the moon and ridiculously happy. Other times i get a feeling of being a bit empty, alone and down for no real reason, although I don't really miss the UK at all very much. it would be nice to see family they are a long way away and perhaps won't visit for another year or 18 months. my partner has lived in various countries and always a long way from family,has few friends and is very self reliant. i guess i am too but i do miss what was a very good and stable network of close friends made over decades which is probably what i miss most of all, to be honest.

 

Overall a good year but migration is a process not an event and that process continues for a long time after you have arrived. i feel i have some way to go to feel like i have fully "made it".

 

A long way to go, 2 years at least.

[Guest TheArmChairDetective]

Well done for what you have achieved so far.

Good luck and best wishes for whats yet to come.

[calNgary]

Sounds like it is a bit 'all work, no play' for you at the minute, can you not join a club of some sort even if its only 1 night a week so your not sat home alone? You are right in thinking the longer your here and more experience you have of working in the country ,that more doors will eventually open, good on you for hanging in there and working so hard, it must be tough if your alone alot.

I hope you can squeeze some play time in soon, i think it will be the boost you need, lots of luck with everything

 

Cal x

[Rupert]

I found that a very open and honest update. I just thought I would say that, without trying to fix anything for you. Sounds like lots is going right and you just need those final bits to slot into place. That can take time for many of us.

[jimmyay1]

I found that a very open and honest update. I just thought I would say that, without trying to fix anything for you. Sounds like lots is going right and you just need those final bits to slot into place. That can take time for many of us.

 

 

Thanks Rupert. I am generally pretty happy, and looking forward to all there is to come.