One year after in SA..

[path2aus]

My wife and I along with our 3 month old moved to South Australia about a year ago. I lived in the US for 14 years (Did my masters in the US as well) and my wife lived there for around 8 years. It was a decision based on the fact that I wasn't getting my Green Card (We are from India) any sooner and I had already spent 10 years waiting for one. It was scary for me as I had a stable job in the US and was making good money and I was moving here with out work and with a new born.

1 year on, I think it was a good decision. I was able to find a job within a month and a year later got hired as a permanent employee in the same govt. sector I joined as a contractor. 

The things I liked so far:

1. The weather obviously. We lived in Illinois and the winter was brutal there. Even here the winter is little cold for our liking during winters but not as bad as what we faced in Illinois.
2. Not worrying about the visa. I lived in the US for 14 years and there wasn't a single year I wasn't worried about my visa status. It was either appearing for an interview when going on a vacation or applying for H1B extensions every 1-3 years. 
3. Less crowded and good transportation. 
4. People have been largely friendly. I don't know if this is just in Adelaide but I haven't found any animosity from the locals till now. 

Things that could be better:

1. The cost of living is little higher but again SA is not that bad when compared to other states I guess.
2. The internet. I was shocked to learn that majority of places in SA and in Australia are still on DSL with unreliable download speeds. I still get only 5-7 MBPS and the reports of NBN hasn't been very encouraging as well. I always had 20-30 MBPS in the US and even the DSL mostly will hover around 12-20 MBPS there. I am only talking about cities and not the rural areas. 

Well even though there are few other niggles, I wouldn't want to harp on that as there isn't any place which is perfect. Living in an alien country for 14 years, I have learnt to adapt and so has my wife. So I don't have too many complaints about where I live. My only expectation when I moved to Australia was a simple and peaceful life for my family. We don't have major expectations and just wanted a stable life for our daughter growing up. I am happy so far here in Australia and hopefully it will stay the same. I have taken lots of help from this site and just wanted to update how we got on after our move.
 

[Marisawright]

I'm so glad to hear it is going well.  Adelaide is a lovely city.  It's not popular with migrants because jobs can be hard to find, so I'm glad to hear you didn't have any problems in that regard.

[path2aus]

10 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I'm so glad to hear it is going well.  Adelaide is a lovely city.  It's not popular with migrants because jobs can be hard to find, so I'm glad to hear you didn't have any problems in that regard.

Thanks very much Marisa. Yes Adelaide has been great so far and I love the city. I was just lucky on the job front I guess.