Kev

[ramot]

11 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I have coffee in Lygon Street most days, Brunetti's is like being in Italy.  

Should have met up while I’ve been in Melbourne! wedding dress shopping for daughter. Sadly leave tomorrow and chasing up family history this morning then seeing friends out of town. Been to cold for me!! Next time xM

[ali]

1 minute ago, ramot said:

Should have met up while I’ve been in Melbourne! wedding dress shopping for daughter. Sadly leave tomorrow and chasing up family history this morning then seeing friends out of town. Been to cold for me!! Next time xM

Did she get a dress (is the burning question)

[ramot]

1 minute ago, ali said:

Did she get a dress (is the burning question)

Yes a lovely one yesterday morning she had tried on over30 dresses both Sydney and here. Was getting very stressed but as they say you know the right one when you see it. She cried and I had tears in my eyes. Told her not to look at any more. It’s really hard the more you look  the more confused you get.

[ali]

2 hours ago, ramot said:

Yes a lovely one yesterday morning she had tried on over30 dresses both Sydney and here. Was getting very stressed but as they say you know the right one when you see it. She cried and I had tears in my eyes. Told her not to look at any more. It’s really hard the more you look  the more confused you get.

if there were tears then it's definitely the one !

[Paul1Perth]

16 hours ago, Toots said:

Och come on Drumbeat!  So much on here ends up being some sort of weird competition   ..............  especially amongst the blokes.  

Blokes like a bit of competition toots

[Toots]

2 minutes ago, Paul1Perth said:

Blokes like a bit of competition toots

Yes, so I've noticed.  

[Toots]

14 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I'm sorry you're unhappy in Australia.  Some people can leave their homeland and never look back - it sounds like your wife and her family are like that.  But an awful lot of people - maybe the majority? - can never be truly settled and happy unless they're on home soil.  If that's you, you don't have to justify it to us,  we see it all the time.  It's a normal and natural reaction to being uprooted from where you truly belong.    Australia could be a paradise and you still wouldn't be able to settle.

It's a pity your wife is so unsympathetic - but for people who don't feel that way, it's an awfully hard thing to explain.  But the trouble is, you only make it worse by picking holes in the place, because she's only going to think you're exaggerating or making a fuss about nothing or not trying or some such - and then she's even less likely to take you seriously.  And people like us, who would otherwise sympathise with you, get offended because you're slagging off a country that we like living in.

Britain is certainly multicultural, but so is Australia.   Melbourne has the largest Greek population outside Greece   I have coffee in Lygon Street most days, Brunetti's is like being in Italy.  I used to live in Sydney and places like Campsie and Cabramatta are like being in Korea and Vietnam. I used to live near Hurstville, where most of the Chinese restaurants didn't even have menus written in English. If you feel like some Turkish Delight, head for Auburn - all the Middle Eastern food you could want there.  Different parts of Australia are different.

I used to do a lot of fruit and veg shopping in Campsie and delicious Middle Eastern food (especially the desserts) in Auburn and Merrylands.  Yum!

[Paul1Perth]

17 hours ago, bug family said:

sorry Bulya, I have to disagree there, its not a competition or anything but far more brits, in my experience travel than Australians, its only really the recent generations of Australians that travel anywhere,  for example, the second job I had here in Australia I worked in an engineering shop, most of those working there (i was the only brit) had never been out of the state, let alone the country and the thought of getting on a plane to fly to the other side of the world was simply a crazy idea

I think it's a generational thing. My parents didn't have passports till they were in their late 40's. I was the first person to have one in the family when I went on a soccer tour to France and Belgium when I was 15. 

As soon as I started work though I had holidays abroad every year. Mostly with a group of mates to the usual Benidorm, Mallorca, Portugal. Had a ball.

These days it's almost expected that a "gap year" or travelling  is fitted in somehow. My son is 29, qualified as an electrician as soon as he could. Worked FIFO for 6 months then went travelling for 6 months. His friends that went to uni still went travelling but had to do it on the cheap as they already had loans to pay back.

That's another thing isn't it. We wouldn't dream of spending more if we had an outstanding loan. In fact credit wasn't arond and unless you had the money you wouldn't have been going anywhere apart from work.

Our eldest is in Whistler, Canada at the moment. Went to see him last year. He's having a ball snowboarding just about every day in snow season and golfing/mountain biking in summer. He had 2 jobs in the first 2 weeks he arrived. One in a bar and one as handyman in a hotel. He's working as a sparkie there too now though as it's a lot better money. Place is full of Aussies, few Brits and other nationalities too but mostly Aussies for some reason. 

Good thing about that is they look after each other and each others families. It's a really expensive place and he got us a fantastic deal in the hotel he worked in, cheaper rounds of golf, cheaper bike hire and loads of money off meals when we were with him.

Times have certainly changed but you're only young once.

 

[Paul1Perth]

17 hours ago, shaunfreo said:

Blimey go to the UK now , they are off all over the place Anywhere Easy jet or Ryan Air fly to , not just  Spain or Greece it’s all Poland Hungary Iceland ect ect , but I have to say I don’t know to what extent they experience the culture 

mind you have you seen Aussie’s in Bali , 

You don't have to go to Kuta and suffer the crowds in Bali though. It's a big Island and there are some great places. 

Best Hotels I've ever stayed in by a country mile and not that expensive. Best one was Intercontinental in Jimbaran Bay. Brilliant.

There's a surf comp on TV from Bali at the moment.

What I found when I lived in the UK you have the same problems as anywhere. Mortgage, bills to pay and if you work, restrictive holidays. We used to like warm weather and beaches so Spain, Portugal, Greek Islands were our favourites. We wouldn't have been picking Poland Hungary or Iceland to squander our 2 week yearly break.

[Toots]

1 hour ago, Paul1Perth said:

You don't have to go to Kuta and suffer the crowds in Bali though. It's a big Island and there are some great places. 

Best Hotels I've ever stayed in by a country mile and not that expensive. Best one was Intercontinental in Jimbaran Bay. Brilliant.

There's a surf comp on TV from Bali at the moment.

What I found when I lived in the UK you have the same problems as anywhere. Mortgage, bills to pay and if you work, restrictive holidays. We used to like warm weather and beaches so Spain, Portugal, Greek Islands were our favourites. We wouldn't have been picking Poland Hungary or Iceland to squander our 2 week yearly break.

Kuta has had a bad reputation for at least 3 decades.  There are a couple of other places I wouldn't go to either.  Bali covers well over 5,000 square km so there are other lovely places there to enjoy a holiday.

[Jon the Hat]

10 hours ago, Skani said:

Your opinion is not supported by the statistics.  The 2011 UK census showed 12% of the population born abroad  ( estimated to be 14% in 2017).

The 2016 Australian census showed 26% born overseas - and half the total population  either born overseas or had at least one parent who was.

61% of those born overseas live in either NSW or Victoria - so the multicultural aspect of Australia may not be so evident to someone living in W.A.

If you live or work in London it doesn't feel like that, the stats are very different by area, as in Australia.  Not a competition though, and quite different mix - I am struck in Sydney by how few black people I see; whereas commuting through Croydon on the train daily I see many.  Larger South Asian population here, and SE Asian in Sydney.

[Jon the Hat]

So we have determined that different places are different, and different people like them!  Nailed it.  Well done thread!

[Toots]

15 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

If you live or work in London it doesn't feel like that, the stats are very different by area, as in Australia.  Not a competition though, and quite different mix - I am struck in Sydney by how few black people I see; whereas commuting through Croydon on the train daily I see many.  Larger South Asian population here, and SE Asian in Sydney.

The Sydney suburb of Blacktown is home to nearly 150 different cultures.  Many migrants from Sudan have settled there and there is none of the gang culture or problems that Melbourne seems to have with youth gangs of Sudanese migrants.

[Bulya]

3 hours ago, Toots said:

The Sydney suburb of Blacktown is home to nearly 150 different cultures.  Many migrants from Sudan have settled there and there is none of the gang culture or problems that Melbourne seems to have with youth gangs of Sudanese migrants.

Having spent several years in Melbourne I can understand why 

[Marisawright]

On 16/05/2019 at 11:13, Toots said:

The Sydney suburb of Blacktown is home to nearly 150 different cultures.  Many migrants from Sudan have settled there and there is none of the gang culture or problems that Melbourne seems to have with youth gangs of Sudanese migrants.

The problems with Sudanese gangs are greatly exaggerated by the media to make sales.  

[Paul1Perth]

On Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 17:58, Jon the Hat said:

If you live or work in London it doesn't feel like that, the stats are very different by area, as in Australia.  Not a competition though, and quite different mix - I am struck in Sydney by how few black people I see; whereas commuting through Croydon on the train daily I see many.  Larger South Asian population here, and SE Asian in Sydney.

I watched a documentary a few weeks back interviewing the last Cockney people in a London street and they were trying to sell up and move out of London.

When my SIL and BIL came a few years back to Perth she said "you don't see many ethnic minorities here do you". 

They live in Tolpuddle too so it's not as if there's many there either.

[unzippy]

On 14/05/2019 at 13:39, Bulya said:

I have noticed poms are loathe to travel.  A bit of a problem that, if you move to Australia 

Bit of a logic fail there @Bulya

[Bulya]

1 minute ago, unzippy said:

Bit of a logic fail there @Bulya

Not if you actually understood what I posted.  Consider the gist of the conversation 

[Kevo]

Poms are the only ones that do Plenty of moving,as we know  we can’t for ever more lol

[Kevo]

Just letting you kids know it’s the old ones in Australia that have lived here for years and years and years that are the convicts of mother blighty