Eyebrow Posted May 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 Was listening to the radio yesterday and thought about how far we've come. They were on about the special bargains at the EOFY sales. Pronounced "eeoffey". When we just got here, I had no idea what that meant. I thought they said toffey . We feel settled here and part of things. People at work are nice and grateful to have me. I feel wanted and needed. But the government's immigration rhetoric makes me feel NOT wanted. Like we are somehow personally responible for Australia's budget deficit. It is in such contrast with the people we meet in our day to day life. We went walking in the rainforrest the other day and I remarked to an Aussie friend that I hoped nothing will happen to any one of us. (This is on the background of going to a live snake show, where some crazy aussie dude pulled out live snakes from bags. King Brown and coastal taipan and others. Giving us a run down of how many fatalities each has caused in the last decade. ) My friend found that funny and said just go to the emergency dept and you'll be fine. Well, said I, that would cost us $1500 per person. So say all 5 got into trouble, that would be, $7500 to attend the hospital. She could not believe it. She was very much under the impression that all immigrants are the same and get medicare like the refugees do. So I explained as a 457 holder I have to have private insurance. And they only pay if you are admitted. If you just go to casualty with no actual hospital admission there is a surcharge of $1500. (That is with BUPA. Read the fine print guys... It is not the case if you have PR and private insurance. ) 9 months left before we can apply for PR. Wonder what else the government can throw ut us before then? Making what is already an impossible journey even more so... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottg Posted May 13, 2017 Report Share Posted May 13, 2017 10 hours ago, Eyebrow said: under the impression that all immigrants are the same Not the first time I have heard this. Some often think that the so-called Centrelink safety net is available for anyone. Also, some don't know about the means testing criteria. On the other hand, there are also those immigrants that rort the system and because of the media, it seems as the norm. 10 hours ago, Eyebrow said: 9 months left Nearly there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 Come on lady, you have kids.... longest 9 months ever??? You can do it!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 The day you have PR you can breathe a sigh of tremendous relief: you are safe here, and they cannot send you "home" anymore. Net vasbyt! Kom gee ons elke maand 'n klein 'count down', ons sal saam met jou tel! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel-B Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 On 5/16/2017 at 9:53 PM, RedPanda said: Come on lady, you have kids.... longest 9 months ever??? You can do it!!! LOL!!! I choked on my coffee that was so funny! Having 2 kids, I remembered the swollen ankles and the nausea and the heartburn and the endless suffering and then I thought wow immigrating to Oz was easy in comparison, it is totally true!!! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyebrow Posted May 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 (edited) I just had a thought... I am happy here. I generally like the Aussies. (But there is an exception as you may remember of course). Especially here regionally. I am getting used to their ways. Very direct in real life, call a spade a spade. But strangely indirect in the business environment, where no one gives a straight demand, always sugar coated in a question form. I like their sense of humour, but what I like most is that THEY like MY sense of humour! I worked in the UK for 10 years and if I made a joke at work, They would roll their eyes and say I am just silly. They never found me funny. Today I asked someone at work whether they knew that Bruce Lee had a brother who worked in a cereal factory. When she said no she didnt know, I said yes, his name was Mues. It took her a while, but she laughed and thought it was hilarious. I felt validated. I am still funny. Yes, I can still make people laugh and that makes me happy. She once came and asked if I wanted cake. I said no I am on a diet. She said not too worry, it is "diet cake". I said there is no such thing. She brought a Cheesecake Shop box and opened it with big fanfare. It had nothing in! See, she said, you get no lower calorie diet cake than an invisible one. She went round and offered it to everyone in the office. Now if anyone says they are hungry, is it lunch yet. Someone else will offer them "diet cake" to tide them over. It has become a running joke. So they make me laugh too. Edited May 31, 2017 by Eyebrow 6 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karools Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 It is the little things in life that make the biggest difference. It brought me some joy to see you noticing and enjoying such little things. Many blessings for you, hope to see some aussie little things for myself in 2017. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromDurbs Posted June 1, 2017 Report Share Posted June 1, 2017 I know it is silly, but I also feel terribly unwanted everywhere. South Africa makes all those noises about whites not belonging and they should just leave and go back to where they came from (as if they would “take” us). And Australia don’t like immigrants. I know it is not personal and I am just silly. We were having dinner at church and everyone asked us about South Africa and Australia and differences between the countries etc. It was clear that I was a recently arrived immigrant. Then the really sweet lady, who told me 30 minutes earlier that we would love it here, it is the best country and we will be so happy, goes on a rant about the immigrants stealing their children’s jobs. I kept smiling, but was thinking inside: “Do you not realise that is me????” The same person you were trying to convince 30 minutes ago that she made the right decision to choose to move to the best country in the world? This woman is fairly old and has several grand children who are struggling to find work, so it is a real issue for her, not just rhetoric. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterthe1 Posted June 1, 2017 Report Share Posted June 1, 2017 22 minutes ago, FromDurbs said: Then the really sweet lady, who told me 30 minutes earlier that we would love it here, it is the best country and we will be so happy, goes on a rant about the immigrants stealing their children’s jobs. I kept smiling, but was thinking inside: “Do you not realise that is me????” The same person you were trying to convince 30 minutes ago that she made the right decision to choose to move to the best country in the world? This woman is fairly old and has several grand children who are struggling to find work, so it is a real issue for her, not just rhetoric. I wouldn't worry about comments like this. What I've noticed with the majority of these comments is that the people whose jobs we "apparently" are taking use this as an excuse to stay on the dole and not look for work. Maybe also ask this "sweet old lady" where her sense of goodwill is and to stop being a hypocrite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted June 1, 2017 Report Share Posted June 1, 2017 You might also find that they use the term 'immigrant' as a euphemism to hide racism (which is alive an well here, don't be fooled). She might just have meant "those other immigrants" the ones that 'aren't like us dear'. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitchie Posted June 1, 2017 Report Share Posted June 1, 2017 1 hour ago, RedPanda said: You might also find that they use the term 'immigrant' as a euphemism to hide racism (which is alive an well here, don't be fooled). She might just have meant "those other immigrants" the ones that 'aren't like us dear'. I'm pretty sure that is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyebrow Posted October 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 It is now a little over 4 months before we are eligible to apply. I am watching the changes that has been so rapidly implemented recently with trepidation. But, as always with this process, it is just wait and more wait. I have not been on the forum much recently, as I find it hard to read at times. People applying and briefly waiting and then getting PR. So many have started after us and are now happily living in Oz as PR's. I also see people writing how they have made the decision to come a week or two ago and now they are so "impatient"... We started our process in 2012. And we still dont have any guarantees. I feel slightly battered today. The last push, but I want to run away. I still have fallout from my previous job. Some integrity of my previous research has been questioned and I dont have any documents to prove what I did. This is all still kept at my previous workplace. So I had to email my ex-boss for those and he is just not answering back... 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErnaC Posted October 2, 2017 Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 Just stay positive!! It WILL work out!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elna57 Posted October 2, 2017 Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 Whilst being in Brisbane on holiday in June, I met a construction worker from the Phillippines who has been in Australia many many years. We started chatting and he wanted to know whether we will be immigrating to Australia. He was very friendly and suggested a few options for jobs over there. He made a clear distinction between immigrants and refugees and for the first time ever I realised that there ARE people over there who appreciate our contributions as immigrants. Even if he was a bit biased because he once immigrated as well, it doesn't matter to me. He was an Aussie and he wanted us to succeed when we eventually get there. That was all that mattered to me at that moment. The rest of my holiday, I would chat to him everyday and on my last day him and whole lot of co-workers wished me all the best as well as the coffee shop guy where I never bought any coffee from. Good people, the Aussies, once you get to know them. So don't worry about it, there are others who feel differently. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted October 2, 2017 Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 3 hours ago, Eyebrow said: I still have fallout from my previous job. Some integrity of my previous research has been questioned and I dont have any documents to prove what I did. This is all still kept at my previous workplace. So I had to email my ex-boss for those and he is just not answering back... Is there any chance you can get someone higher up at your current workplace to email your previous boss? From what I remember he's an absolute *ss, and will probably ignore you on purpose. You'll probably need bigger guns for this one. Baie sterkte!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tntaglia Posted October 2, 2017 Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 I second @RedPanda's suggestion - try to move away from this being you asking your ex boss a favour. Either get someone else to ask, or ask someone else at the company. I've had that at my current job, with someone who had left asking for a specific piece of information that his old boss wouldn't respond to. I asked the old boss, got it quickly, he just didn't see the request as a priority until someone was in his office asking for it. 4 months to go though, it's really close now! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyebrow Posted November 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2017 So... things are clicking along. I am feeling quite settled in my job and really enjoying not being in the big city. I am also teaching people to say "Ja-nee" at work. Well, not on purpose! If they ask me something that I have mixed feelings about I would say: yeah (like I am actually thinking about it), but no (and shake my head). After a while I have shortened it to yeah - no. and now they are saying it too! Am actually killing myself whenever I hear that! I am also bringing in home made beskuit. At first a lot of disbelief. "Aren't those the things that you use when your child is teething?" No I say! Let me show you how it is eaten. Dunked in coffee. First the tip , then wait till it softens and then nibble that off and then the next piece. Everyone (bar one) loved it and asked for more. I realized then that I had created a monster!! The one who didnt like it, said "It is just gross sticking your hands into your coffee cup". Anyway, you cant please them all right? We sent out fingerprints to RSA registered mail. Tracking shows it has been at customs in OR Tambo for 3 months now.. So we had to re-do them and $124 via DHL (for 2x A4 pieces of paper) later, it is now in Pretoria. So we muddle along. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TamTam Posted November 17, 2017 Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 (edited) On 5/31/2017 at 8:46 AM, Eyebrow said: I worked in the UK for 10 years and if I made a joke at work, They would roll their eyes and say I am just silly. They never found me funny. I am glad to see that you've found OZ to be an improvement in this regard. My hubby is a really funny guy, however he has found it really hard to engage with the Dutch/Scandinavians etc (Northern / Western Europe). So much so that it has actually affected his confidence. He's stopped making jokes and being himself because he's colleagues don't "get" him. Don't get me wrong, the Dutch are funny, but it's a dry sense of humour that I don't seem to understand (the language barrier doesn't help ) Best of luck with the rest of your wait and your PR submission. Edited November 17, 2017 by TamTam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 18, 2017 Report Share Posted November 18, 2017 How many days now, Lady??? It must be sooooooon! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyebrow Posted November 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 On 18/11/2017 at 7:34 PM, RedPanda said: How many days now, Lady??? It must be sooooooon! 79. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 1 hour ago, Eyebrow said: 79. Yay! You'll get there. Less than three months to go now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Hey, I just realised, it could be your best yet Valentines activity! You'll remember that one for ever. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErnaC Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 Great news!! Everything will work out in your favour!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonny Posted November 29, 2017 Report Share Posted November 29, 2017 @Eyebrow I am personally going to buy and drink a bottle of bubbly when you get this! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TamTam Posted November 29, 2017 Report Share Posted November 29, 2017 @Eyebrow I just read through this whole post and you may not realize but you have certainly changed (in so many wonderful ways, so much more positive and upbeat!). Don't think you're alone - the forumites are counting down the days with you!! I am definitely going be following your progress till you get your PR!! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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