Bobj Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Bloody hell, grandad Thats over half a century ago...... Can quite see why you're a math chalkie...:wink: Cheers, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 I was amazed at the 9 to 5 mentality in the UK. Everyone was watching the clock and disappeared as soon as the clock hit 5. Of course we do, only fools and brown noses work for free! :smile: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Well, I've recently rejoined the workforce and we are expected to work hard but are paid exceptionally handsomely for it. If working on a public holiday it's over double time and a half and double on a Sunday. 4 weeks holiday plus Public Holidays and accrued personal, sick leave. We work absolutely no unpaid work at all not even a minute as you strictly clock on and off. A big plus for me also is no parking fees whatsoever which was very expensive for me back in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 If you started work at 9 and left at 5 you wouldn't have a job long in this fair land I'm afraid. The eight hour day is a myth in Australia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Certainly in the corporate world where you are on an annual salary with bonus. The only thing that matters really is outputs not inputs. Get results is what counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 If you started work at 9 and left at 5 you wouldn't have a job long in this fair land I'm afraid. The eight hour day is a myth in Australia! I work 8.30 - 5 and rarely work longer does that count? Just do a good job when in the office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croft Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 You sound very fortunate, it is the risk financially that concerns me. If money was not an issue I would go tomorrow as I know if it wasn't for us I could financially afford to come back and take the financially loss. What would you say the main difference are. Is it that you have a bigger home/pool that has improved your lifestyle, the time you spend outdoors because of the weather? The work ethic is this different? Maria With a young child we have found everything is a lot more family orientated. Yes, there are lots of activities in the UK but you have toi pay for them. Here an awful lot of stuff is free. For instance there are 3 artificial lagoons set up in and around Brisbane, all free to use. We went to the free screenings of Christmas movies there before Christmas, staying to watch the nightly fireworks show floating in the lagoon. Brisbane is a busy, cosmopolitan city but within 20 minutes you can be in the hills with not even a hint you're near such a large city. As for work, I've seen little difference. Everyone still works hard but they start earlier and finish earlier. Houses are undoubtedly bigger and you can still get something amazing if you're prepared to travel to work. As everywhere, the closer you get to the centre the more expensive it tends to be, but I do have to remind myself that if I was living in the UK I would be spending a lot more to live in a nice area near the centre of a major city. Private schools are cheaper if you want to send your child there. Even the elite schools are half the price of an equivalent in the UK, while private Catholic schools are incredibly inexpensive. Our circumstances are very different to most people though. My wife was sponsored straight into a well paid job. I retrained over here as a primary school teacher but I'm able to stay as a relief teacher as whatever I bring in pays for the nice extras. We have been extremely fortunate and at the moment are very comfortable. This may change however if we decide to take the plunge and buy a house. While you'd be amazed what you can buy for the money, mortgages here are hideously expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si T Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I quite simply fancied a change. Mrs T agreed to give it a go so we spent around 5-6 years getting to a position where we were able to do it and went for it. Had never been here until we filmed WDU and moved here six months later. Four years later we have applied for citizenship and are sitting the test in March. We do have a better lifestyle here, but only because we have forced ourselves out of the trap we had created for ourselves and don't sit in front of the tv as much. If we had had our wits about us in the UK we could pretty certainly have done the same there but it seems that moving here gave us the spur we needed. Sometime a change is as good as a rest as they say. Mrs T has been back once and Jakey and I have not been back yet. We are going back in a few weeks as a result of one of the dreaded calls from home but if that hadn't been the case neither of us had any urge to visit the UK for at least a couple of years. Saying that, except for the circumstances for our return, Jakey and I are looking forward to the visit and seeing our friends and family for a bit. On the flip side I have agreed that Trude returns every year to see her mum as it seems to have helped her to finally settle here. We landed here with $11,000 in the bank and no job or home to come to so have not had an easy path to it. We have been successful so far down to sheer hard work, being able to talk as a family if something is bothering us and a great deal of compromise. My career stalled for a while as I took the prerequisite backward step just as the economy started dipping in WA but have now started my own SME consulting business and am getting back to where I was in the UK. A brief example of the change in lifestyle for us. Jakey and I are both keen footballers. I play Vets and he plays NPL for ECU. In the four years we have been here neither of us has had a single game called off due to the weather so have been able to train and play every week and have the social interaction and develop friendships off the back of it. I contacted one of my close mates this week at home to find out the fixtures for Jakey's old team so we can go and watch them and the comment was that they haven't played since November due to the weather. That is 8-10 weeks of not being able to get out on the weekend to play sport. Even the senior sides have only had one weekend where games have been on in that time. Please bear in mind that this is only an example of how it has been an improvement FOR US and I don't expect it to be the same for everyone. On the flip side, I have been lying awake at night worrying about my mother being on her own in the UK once my stepdad has gone as all three of us son's either live in Australia or spend up to 9 months of the year outside the UK. That is a very real issue and something that people should also be aware of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.