Guest woods99 Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Lots of plain stupid assumptions in there. Touched a chord, did I? Actually, I have managed to live in several countries, including the UK, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Australia of course, for lengthy periods of time. I have never been called stupid before, guess there is a first time for everything. You cannot research what the ACTUAL EXPERIENCE of LIVING somewhere will ACTUALLY FEEL like. All you can find out in advance is some dry stats and stories on paper. It's not real life though - only actually doing something is real life. Errr, these days you can get a lot more information on all sorts of media. Even silly shows like Neighbours and Home and Away tell you something about life in Oz. And also whilst you might have a feeling from the outset that you are not going to like it you tend to feel that you should ''give it a fair go''. It's hard to know whether your gut feeling is correct or whether it's just nerves/teething problems that will pass once you settle in. But you said that you decided pretty much right away, that Australia was not for you? You should think about following your own advice. Frankly, if you cannot be happy in Australia, you are probably just an unhappy person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenki Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Touched a chord, did I? Actually, I have managed to live in several countries, including the UK, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Australia of course, for lengthy periods of time. I have never been called stupid before, guess there is a first time for everything. Errr, these days you can get a lot more information on all sorts of media. Even silly shows like Neighbours and Home and Away tell you something about life in Oz. But you said that you decided pretty much right away, that Australia was not for you? You should think about following your own advice. Frankly, if you cannot be happy in Australia, you are probably just an unhappy person. Are you seriously telling me that someone should decide on moving to Australia based on Neighbours or Home and Away??? You're joking right? I also knew pretty soon that it wasn't for me but I'd done lots of reseach. I totally agree that you can do all the reseach (even read all the pros and cons on PIO) but nothing is as real as getting to Oz and living that life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siamsusie Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Touched a chord, did I? Actually, I have managed to live in several countries, including the UK, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Australia of course, for lengthy periods of time. I have never been called stupid before, guess there is a first time for everything. Frankly, if you cannot be happy in Australia, you are probably just an unhappy person. :cute:I dont know whether I agree with your last statement, I have lived in some stunningly beautiful countries.....To be honest if I hadnt have met my husband Australia was the last place I would have chosen , I love ancient cities and languages, accessability to foreign travel for a pittance, its just finding your niche in the world that appeals to you as a person. Luckily I love the country and count myself very lucky to be here but I do understand why some people just dont fit in for their own reasons, its not a question of being an unhappy person its how your whole persona feels. Best wishes Susie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lifeinmono Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Touched a chord, did I? Actually, I have managed to live in several countries, including the UK, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Australia of course, for lengthy periods of time. I have never been called stupid before, guess there is a first time for everything. Doesn't make your view any more valid. Errr, these days you can get a lot more information on all sorts of media. Even silly shows like Neighbours and Home and Away tell you something about life in Oz. That is perhaps the most ridiculous thing I have heard. Neighbours gives you accurate insight into living in Australia???! What the f***???! Frankly, if you cannot be happy in Australia, you are probably just an unhappy person. Bollocks. Some places don't suit some people. Simple as that. You make the assumption that someone who is unhappy in Australia has been unhappy elsewhere. And you know that how???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest boa Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 What an absolutely absurd thing to say, what does that say about all the Aussies that live overseas permanently ? Frankly, if you cannot be happy in Australia, you are probably just an unhappy person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest37175 Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Touched a chord, did I? Actually, I have managed to live in several countries, including the UK, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Australia of course, for lengthy periods of time. I have never been called stupid before, guess there is a first time for everything. Errr, these days you can get a lot more information on all sorts of media. Even silly shows like Neighbours and Home and Away tell you something about life in Oz. But you said that you decided pretty much right away, that Australia was not for you? You should think about following your own advice. Frankly, if you cannot be happy in Australia, you are probably just an unhappy person. Wow, that's quite a statement there!. What do you base that upon?. You've lived in a number of places, what has Oz given you that prompts that assertion? I mean it's a fine country and that, but is it so much better than the other places you've named that to not like it means someone is an unhappy individual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i need stimulation Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 if you don't like living in the usa your an unhappy person if you don't like living in the uk your an unhappy person if you don't like living in france your an unhappy person if you don't like living in russia your an unhappy person if you don't like living in a shanty town in johannasberg your an unhappy person if you don't like living in alice springs with the drunken abbos your an unhappy person if you don't like living in baghdad your an unhappy person we are all miserable bastards aren't we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arlene Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 I don't understand why people have got to be so critical/nasty to each other. Having lived in Perth and then returning to the UK I could honestly live in either place. There are pros and cons to both, I don't think one place is definitely better than the other. After living in Oz I now realise that the weather is not the most important thing that some people think it is, usually people who have not lived in Oz yet!! The beaches are beautiful in Oz and I love the big blue sky but in my opinion that does not make up for close contact with family, though that doesn't seem to be so important to some people. We have settled back into the Uk and we both have jobs very similar to the jobs we had in Oz, pay and conditions taken into consideration. My children are happy here but they also liked living in Oz. They play outside a lot here and have never been affected by crime, in Perth it was often too hot to play outside. We feel safe living in Scotland but we also felt safe in Perth. If it was possible we could live 6 months of the year here and the other 6 months in Oz! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bod Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Of course there are disadvantages and advantages in living in just about any country. However, with the greatest of respect, if you really "know from day one that it is not for you", you probably should have known better than to migrate in the first place. Surely you must have had some idea about the place, the culture, the people, the things that you would be giving up, etc etc. These days we have all the access we need to information about just about everything - all we need to add is a bit of imagination and we know what other places are like. Anybody who decides in less than six months that any new place is "not for them" is wasting their time and money in coming here, frankly. I suspect that some people who come here and don't like it on first sight were looking for something that doesn't exist this side of heaven.:hug: Im going to call you Mental Woody from now on, "Because you'r Mental":jiggy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracy123 Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Im going to call you Mental Woody from now on, "Because you'r Mental":jiggy: And I'm going to call you Johno! :biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bod Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 And I'm going to call you Johno! :biglaugh: Whoops you have just reminded me concerning you and another post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MSTO Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 I don't understand why people have got to be so critical/nasty to each other. Having lived in Perth and then returning to the UK I could honestly live in either place. There are pros and cons to both, I don't think one place is definitely better than the other. After living in Oz I now realise that the weather is not the most important thing that some people think it is, usually people who have not lived in Oz yet!! The beaches are beautiful in Oz and I love the big blue sky but in my opinion that does not make up for close contact with family, though that doesn't seem to be so important to some people. We have settled back into the Uk and we both have jobs very similar to the jobs we had in Oz, pay and conditions taken into consideration. My children are happy here but they also liked living in Oz. They play outside a lot here and have never been affected by crime, in Perth it was often too hot to play outside. We feel safe living in Scotland but we also felt safe in Perth. If it was possible we could live 6 months of the year here and the other 6 months in Oz! Good post...people want and do different things. What is important for one is not always the most important for the next person. Things change too what might have been good for one person 5 years ago might not be now. Myself, Australia would have been my choice of place to live although I did miss family and friends alot I could afford the trips back...5 years 2 children later things have changed... what is important for me now is having a huge extended family around us watching our kids grow up. The world would be a very wierd place if we all wanted the same thing...no-one is right or worng just different and to say you are an unhappy person if you cannot be happy in Australia.. is absurd!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest36888 Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 Hi, I'm new to this site too but was struck by your letter. If you return to UK, Southport is a lovely town in Merseyside especially with a young family. There are also lots of Australians there who love it! We moved there from bonny Scotland 15 yrs ago when our kids were teens & none of us ever looked back. My hubby & I recently moved to Oz after a few holiday visits, he loves it, I am enjoying it but I still think UK has alot going for it and wouldn't be disapointed to find myself back there. For now it's just a bit of an adventure for me, seeing & experiencing a new continent etc., & going with the flow. I read about how good UK was 50 yrs ago but I really wouldn't have liked to have lived in it then, every generation thinks life was better back in their day! Nostalgia rules OK! Everyone world over who migrates is driven by a desire for a better life, nought wrong with that! I was born & grew up abroad in Africa due to parents work & then I went to UK in 1973 as a teen to finish my education etc. I must say no-where ever really feels like home & that sense of belonging that I felt while in childhood has never returned wherever I found myself but I have no desire to return to live in the place of my childhood. I don't dwell on that but just see each place I have lived as part of a journey through life, I have liked some places in the UK more than others but each place I lived was positive & as I was there for a reason (uni or better job for hubby) that gave my experience in each a sense of meaning & purpose. Southport was the first place I've lived where I thought... yes If I were to be here for the rest of my life I wouldn't feel disapointed! I quite like modern Britiain, I love the vibrancy that immigration brings to a place so not freaked out by recent immigration, they constitute 3% of UK population I believe! I don't think their lives are as easy as folk try to make out! BBC should do a programme on swapping places with the immigrants folk think are having it easier than they are! Would be great way of shedding some of the myths that always evolve around the most recent migrants! Anyway, good luck with your decision! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest boa Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 What a brilliant post, well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozglenn Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 What an absolutely absurd thing to say, what does that say about all the Aussies that live overseas permanently ? I was just saying that very same thing to someone the other day, were all different with hobbies and interests and lifestyles that can suit one place more than another. I know brits who hate the cold and others that hate the heat, some like OZ some like the Uk or elsewhere. If your in a particular career like tv or the film industry you have to leave OZ as a rule to get work. Rolf Harris, the Minogues, Germaine Greer, the list goes on all leave as expats and that says to me that if the UK is so bad then why on earth would they stay there????. Aspiring to a better career the same as you have to now in OZ will make for a better quality of life IMHO in the west as the opportunity is the same between the UK and Oz these days. I have friend and family in the uk with great jobs and nice homes and i have friends here who plod along and live in small units so it's all much the same. I also have lived several different places and in the west it's much the same you just have to try to better oneself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marriedtoanaussie Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 My Aussie hubby, me and our three children under 10 returned to the UK last July after sampling life in Brisbane. I have never regretted the decision although we have had some emotional struggles to deal with. We are all happy back here and our lives have pretty much picked up where they left off (moved back into our house which was rented out, back in school etc..). hubby works and I am at home (thanks to our small mortgage) The big difference is that I now see my Country through different eyes-better eyes. A few UK people have thought we were crazy to return-mostly people who have never visited Oz...but thats their problem.( I almost feel an inner smugness that I now know where I want to live) I had almost been programmed into thinking life in Oz would be better(media,people on the street and my husband were all guilty of this) and I was terrified of short changing my children by not living there when we had the opportunity... I was not naive- we have visited Brisbane 5 times in the last ten years and I love what it has to offer.It just offered us a DIFFERENT life NOT a BETTER life. My hubby agrees with me on this point and loves visiting Europe, country pubs etc-mind you he wasnt much of a beach person. Our lives have slowed down in the UK now and we have made some positive changes. I think we as a family always needed to do the move to Oz to be honest.as it was always hanging there....and I am guessing Australia will be one of the first places my children visit/live in when they are older........I am not out of love with the country by any means......good luck to everyone making these difficult decisions.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 A very good post and an interesting viewpoint from someone in a different position to most returnees. The thing that many people don't realise is that there are a great many Aussies living permanently in the UK. Our family has no real interest in beaches and my boys aren't into sports even though they are Australian :wink: The usual thing for someone in the UK is to assume you are mad and that Australia MUST be better. I had someone tell me the other day that the streets are full of immigrant gangs and it isn't safe to go out at night, it's obviously absurd but some actually believe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest31881 Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 What a great post, you give a good balanced evaluation of both countries. Now you can settle down and enjoy your life in the UK, and you have every right to feel in inner smugness. You have tried both lives and decided what is right for you and your family. Best wishes for the future:notworthy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jackie Macdonald Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 My Aussie hubby, me and our three children under 10 returned to the UK last July after sampling life in Brisbane. I have never regretted the decision although we have had some emotional struggles to deal with. We are all happy back here and our lives have pretty much picked up where they left off (moved back into our house which was rented out, back in school etc..). hubby works and I am at home (thanks to our small mortgage) The big difference is that I now see my Country through different eyes-better eyes. A few UK people have thought we were crazy to return-mostly people who have never visited Oz...but thats their problem.( I almost feel an inner smugness that I now know where I want to live) I had almost been programmed into thinking life in Oz would be better(media,people on the street and my husband were all guilty of this) and I was terrified of short changing my children by not living there when we had the opportunity... I was not naive- we have visited Brisbane 5 times in the last ten years and I love what it has to offer.It just offered us a DIFFERENT life NOT a BETTER life. My hubby agrees with me on this point and loves visiting Europe, country pubs etc-mind you he wasnt much of a beach person. Our lives have slowed down in the UK now and we have made some positive changes. I think we as a family always needed to do the move to Oz to be honest.as it was always hanging there....and I am guessing Australia will be one of the first places my children visit/live in when they are older........I am not out of love with the country by any means......good luck to everyone making these difficult decisions.. I totally agree with you. There are many hurdles you need to overcome once you return home, but you can overcome them all the same. It all depends on your mindset. In my experience, the whole journey is never completely forgotten. Whilst living in Australia, I thought of nothing but England and desperately wanted to come home. I am happy and settled here now, but I still wonder how things would have panned out had I stayed in Perth and will for the rest of my life. I believe those thoughts never leave us and it is the penance we pay for daring to step outside our comfort zone and live an alternative existence. Well done to each and every one of us who've had the balls to do it. Jackie xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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