Guest Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 ^^^ Your OH's family and friends sound like real pains in the arse. I haven't met any Australians with that attitude. We get on fine now. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since those days, and besides, they're in Queensland and we're in Melbourne! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Sometimes the best form of defence is attack mate. My wife was asked probably the same questions as you when we started telling people we were leaving Aus. Even I got sick of it in the end. I regret now that I bit as badly as I did back in those days. I think folk were genuinely bewildered as to why I didn't want to be there, particularly as pretty much every other Brit they must have encountered would have loved the place. We'd get invited to someone's place for dinner and I'd get asked "what is it about the UK that you like?," as if missing your home was some kind of weird minority activity!. Or, they'd invite along some Brits who'd been in Aus for years to give me a pep talk on how the UK was finished and how I needed to let go of the place! I'm sure it was well meant, but if they'd wanted to get me offside then they did a pretty good job of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bound4Tassie Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I regret now that I bit as badly as I did back in those days. I think folk were genuinely bewildered as to why I didn't want to be there, particularly as pretty much every other Brit they must have encountered would have loved the place. We'd get invited to someone's place for dinner and I'd get asked "what is it about the UK that you like?," as if missing your home was some kind of weird minority activity!. Or, they'd invite along some Brits who'd been in Aus for years to give me a pep talk on how the UK was finished and how I needed to let go of the place! I'm sure it was well meant, but if they'd wanted to get me offside then they did a pretty good job of it! It's a bit like being a vegetarian at a BBQ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 We get on fine now. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since those days, and besides, they're in Queensland and we're in Melbourne! Perfect! I admit that I never had many friends from the UK here in Australia. Just a couple of good ones and that was it. Some of them I found overbearing and they never shut up about how fabulous their lifestyle was since moving here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 What do you consider pennies though. My ex husband recently spent 4 months working in Paris. During that time he had to make many trips to Manchester and London, a couple at short notice. The cheapest flight he could get was 170 GBP and the most expensive was 350 GBP. I don't consider that pennies for a 55 minute flight. You say he HAD to make a flight, which meant he couldn't time his journey to take advantage of cheap fares (as you do when you're planning a holiday or weekend away). I'm guessing he also didn't travel RyanAir or EasyJet because on a business trip, he didn't have time to schlep to remote airports! Besides, the main point is that although it's just a 55 minute flight, in that 55 minutes you're in a totally different country with a totally different culture and therefore a huge raft of interesting things to do and see. It would cost me a lot more, and take a lot longer, to achieve that from Sydney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 There is nothing wrong with preferring UK to OZ or vice versa and there is nothing wrong with objective criticism of life in Australia. For example, telling someone thinking of moving to Sydney about the horrendous traffic,the time they can expect to waste commuting, and the high cost of housing if you want to live near a beach. But, in my opinion, there is everything wrong with posting on PIO about how horrid, awful, unfriendly, arrogant, etc Aussies are. That is a subjective opinion usually from someone who has failed to settle & or did not want to come in the first place. I heard endless horror stories before I left England myself. All rubbish although I was naive enough to believe it right up until the moment I met my first Aussies in my cabin on the ship to WA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 ^^^ and that's why a lot of them were called winging Poms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest51810 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 ^^^ and that's why a lot of them were called winging Poms. In Australia do you get called a Pom or a jock? I know you call yourself jock but I wasn't sure if all Australians separate us as jocks or we all get lumped in as whinging poms lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I've been called a Sweaty Sock (Jock) bloody cheek :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I regret now that I bit as badly as I did back in those days. I think folk were genuinely bewildered as to why I didn't want to be there, particularly as pretty much every other Brit they must have encountered would have loved the place. We'd get invited to someone's place for dinner and I'd get asked "what is it about the UK that you like?," as if missing your home was some kind of weird minority activity!. Or, they'd invite along some Brits who'd been in Aus for years to give me a pep talk on how the UK was finished and how I needed to let go of the place! I'm sure it was well meant, but if they'd wanted to get me offside then they did a pretty good job of it! I can't be around people who slag off England and say it's finished either. That really does annoy me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Same here and it's surprising the number of people who do slag England off - particularly gets up my nose when they've never actually been there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest51810 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I've been called a Sweaty Sock (Jock) bloody cheek :laugh: Well to be fair scottish people would be sweaty in Australia lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Same here and it's surprising the number of people who do slag England off - particularly gets up my nose when they've never actually been there. I did deliberatly say England not UK as I e never set foot in Scotland lol Wish I had now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 True enough, I never looked forward to the hot humid summers :cute: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I've never slagged off England or Australia and I've lived happily in both. I like living in OZ and I have no desire to move back to England, but paradoxically perhaps, I spend much of my time watching UK sport and news or reading about it on line. The main part of my working life was spent in two twelve year stints, one in Sydney, the other in Southampton. The 'haters' of either country will tell you about the huge differences between working in UK and OZ. The only differences I can report is that my workmates liked different footie codes and drank different types of beer. I'm with some Aussie mates now in the pub after midnight on a Sunday. If only I could do that in UK! We talk about the same subjects and tell the same jokes. It is no good telling you this because if an OZ hater was here they would not get on with my Aussie friends! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I've never slagged off England or Australia and I've lived happily in both. I like living in OZ and I have no desire to move back to England, but paradoxically perhaps, I spend much of my time watching UK sport and news or reading about it on line.The main part of my working life was spent in two twelve year stints, one in Sydney, the other in Southampton. The 'haters' of either country will tell you about the huge differences between working in UK and OZ. The only differences I can report is that my workmates liked different footie codes and drank different types of beer. I'm with some Aussie mates now in the pub after midnight on a Sunday. If only I could do that in UK! We talk about the same subjects and tell the same jokes. It is no good telling you this because if an OZ hater was here they would not get on with my Aussie friends! This ^^^^^:notworthy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I'm drinking schooners of Guinness. I never drink Guinness. Must be the Sydney effect and Aussie mates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablo Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I've never slagged off England or Australia and I've lived happily in both. I like living in OZ and I have no desire to move back to England, but paradoxically perhaps, I spend much of my time watching UK sport and news or reading about it on line.The main part of my working life was spent in two twelve year stints, one in Sydney, the other in Southampton. The 'haters' of either country will tell you about the huge differences between working in UK and OZ. The only differences I can report is that my workmates liked different footie codes and drank different types of beer. I'm with some Aussie mates now in the pub after midnight on a Sunday. If only I could do that in UK! We talk about the same subjects and tell the same jokes. It is no good telling you this because if an OZ hater was here they would not get on with my Aussie friends! Again,you can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) In Australia do you get called a Pom or a jock? I know you call yourself jock but I wasn't sure if all Australians separate us as jocks or we all get lumped in as whinging poms lol I have never heard an Aussie use the phrase "whinging poms" in the 30 years I've been here, and most of them don't use the words pom or jock. However that is on the East Coast. Australians from different parts of Australia have different slang, just like Glaswegians don't use the same slang as Londoners. Edited February 1, 2015 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I can't be around people who slag off England and say it's finished either. That really does annoy me too. If they're Brits living in Australia, then it's a coping mechanism IMO. They're obviously not that happy in Australia so they have to keep telling themselves it's much worse in England. Just like when a marriage breaks up, many people turn their ex into an evil demon. It's too painful to remember the good times so it's easier to focus on their bad points and think "I'm better off without him/her". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I have never heard an Aussie use the phrase "whinging poms" in the 30 years I've been here, and most of them don't use the words pom or jock. However that is on the East Coast. Australians from different parts of Australia have different slang, just like Glaswegians don't use the same slang as Londoners. I have to agree. I've only heard it used by other Poms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I've only heard "whinging pom" being used jokingly. If ever I used to complain about the heat or a train being late for work. my Aussie mates would say "Oh shut up you whinging pom". I never came across any animosity whatsoever from anyone about being British. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I've not lived in the UK since Dec 2008 so I don't know what the licensing laws are now. The pubs in Southampton all closed at 1030pm on Sunday's although I was a member of a club with a late licence tho u had to be in there by 1030pm. Are there pubs in the UK which open past midnight on Sundays? I'll have to Google it! Not that having a late opening time is necessarilly a good reason to come to OZ! Times have changed anyway. When I first came to Sydney, the shops closed at noon on Sat and almost all the pubs closed all day Sunday. I've never been called a Whingeing Pom either. I did ask one of the Aussie barmen in the Trinity Bar how England got on v Oz in ODI Final and he said something like "we won easily, bowled you all out with ten overs to spare", and I said "You don't have to gloat!" (but I was joking.) Most of the Aussies I know don't talk about my "Englishness" unless something about England comes up in conversation. Looking back over the years I have had plenty of problems with homesickness, missing my parents, loneliness, but I know that would have happened wherever I was away from home, even if I'd moved to another part of the UK. In some ways I find people from the north of England to seem more "alien" than Aussies! I don't mean they are unfriendly either just "different." it might be a good way to practice emigrating even? Move from say Southampton (where I was raised) to Newcastle (where I was born) and see how to cope with homesickness & feelings of being "a stranger in a strange land!?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrutineer Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I have no problem getting on with Australians at all - I think it's a very easy country for British people to integrate into. The differences are superficial and unimportant. Also, and I don't want to be too controversial here, but the other British people you meet in Australia are different to those you meet in the UK because they've had the gumption and courage to get up and go and emigrate, so you have that in common and it takes a lot of courage to do that sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 It's probably the only time I've ever dared to venture out of my comfort zone and I doubt if there has been anybody else less suited to leave home than me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.