One year in Australia and how my views have changed

[followmylead]

Today marks 1 year since we left SA to arrive in the Promised Land of Australia. We have achieved a monumental amount on the last 18 months and life had now finally settled into a new normal.

Before we left, we thought Australia is crimeless, Now we know it is not remotely like SA, but that does not mean there is no crime. We were so nervous when we applied for the visa/car licences/home loans etc...how were we going to prove we are decent people. Now we know - they don't care - do you meet the requirements - if yes then you will get it. If not, no matter how nice you are, you wont get it.

When we first arrived we marveled at the clean parks/beaches, the prompt municipal services, the fantastic public health care. We still think it is great but we are kind of used to it now.

Our kids now speak of 'meence and leed' instead of mince and lid. And no more Bro's but lots of mates. We don't take screen shots of 40+ degree weather - it happens to often. And we did not realise how many shark attacks there are.

I am no longer used to riots and lazy apathy from public servants. I get nervous when I have to drive at 110km/h.

I still miss Woolworths clothes and jelly tots. I miss the bushvelt and the big 5. I do miss cheap labour at times. I miss eating out. (cant afford it to often here). And I miss my friends.

I thought everything was so cheap (when I forgot that $40 is not R40), then when I converted I fainted at how expensive everything was. Now, I learnt that you can save heaps by a bit of planning and taking your own food and drinks to places instead of buying there.

I love this place. It is my home now. And in just 3 years from now I am applying for that passport!

[Mara]

Good on you, so glad you have settled well and that you are happy to be here!

[Alida]

Aaaah follomylead, I love your post !! It's not about coming to a perfect world, it is about coming to a country where humans are respected and valued !!

[Crossedover]

What a lovely post... I can't wait for it to feel like home for us too!

I hope my kids mince and lid a little longer though

I do hope that Auz continues to grow on you and that you and your family blossom.

Wishing you lots of happy and special times.

[Jordy]

Nice post. Lovely to get that one year later update when life is almost getting back to normal and you can review Australia honestly

[MyAusJourneyIB]

When I first read the title of your post I was prepared to read how you had made a mistake... It was so nice to read that you still love it even though you see things as I guess a Aussie would. Things can clearly only get better!!

[AlmostAnOzzie]

Well done Followmylead

You're 2 months ahead of us and I feel exactly the same. SO blessed to be here, so enjoying the freedom. BUT there are still things we long for and miss. But I wouldn't move back now, this is my home, my country and my people :-)

[SurferMan]

Good on you Almostanaussie,

So happy that you are fitting in and enjoying the good life/living the dream. I love it here and wont go back even for a holiday.

[acmac]

Hey followmylead,

Congrats!!! We've been living in Mebourne for the past couple months now, and all great, but things are so ridiculously expensive.

I'm not sure how it is there in Busselton, but here in Melbourne things don't seem to be how everyone made it out to be prior to us arriving here. We're not leaving and going back to SA, but I just want to air how I'm feeling at this point in time just so others out there know not to expect everything to be 100%.

I don't know if it's just me, but I feel there is quite a bit of deception here - when walking around and seeing sale sign after sale sign in the windows of shops, and you go in to have a look, the prices are far from being bargains. And almost every second shop (if not all) seem to have a sale sign up. On top of that, some companies here expect you to have "Oz experience", which I find incredibly immoral and a way for a few (NOT ALL) companies to exploit immigrants. Also, although I do feel safer, it's not as safe as I thought it would be - there is a big drug problem here, and often my wife goes with the kids to the parks and often times encounters some dodgy characters and leaves due to feeling a little unsafe. Also, I find the youths don't have as much respect as the youths in SA - I often times hear youths talking among themselves at the top of their voices swearing like you won't believe, and I don't know if it's just the way I've been brought up, but when there are elderly people around you, you mind your language. I do feel the quality of things here is terrible - the houses aren't of the good quality you find in SA and one feels like you're living in a cardboard box that you've paid the equivalent of R5-6mill for. The process of buying a house here is over complicated and quite a bit different to how SA does it, and I just feel when things are this complicated, there is more opportunity for the buyer to be cheated - I hope I'm wrong, but close friends of ours here have already been cheated into thinking they were buying a property, only to find out, once all papers were signed, that it was only half of the property that they were buying, and there most probably was some fine writing, but when you're talking about a $650,000 property, how could the real estate agent not explicitly disclose that. And finally, my last point, we're catholic church goers and that has been one shocker coming here, not many people go to church here in Melbourne. We've gone from church to church, trying to find a more active and younger congregation, and it seems that people our age just don't go to church here. We've finally settled on a church where the congregation is pretty big, but out of probably 100 people, there are 2-4 couples our age, while the rest of the 90% of the congregation seem to be 60+ years of age.

That aside, the public transport is awesome, and beginning 2015, it costs me about R1,200 to take train into and out of the CBD a month, which isn't bad at all, considering no maintenance costs on car, etc. We have been easily able to manage with just having 1 car. The parks are great and we take our kids almost every weekend to the skate park to scoot around on their scooters. The roads I find safer, and no taxis . It's a good democracy here, and parties need to work hard to stay in power, and as a result, things work and there are constant improvements, which is a really good thing and something SA desperately lacks. We like the weather. People are quite different to what we're used to in SA. There is also so much to do here in Melbourne, but again, so very expensive.

I don't mean to be discouraging anyone, but I want people to know my experiences. I hope I haven't offended anyone, and my intention is just to tell it how it is from my point of view.

All the best!!

Edited January 10, 2015 by acmac

[Jordy]

Acmac, I couldnt agree more with your observations. The things you mentioned still get me today after 7 years. Although I would add one - drinking excessively among teenagers and young adults.

[Mara]

I also agree about the teenagers, and often children as well.. you wonder what values they are being raised with.

With regard to the park and unsavoury characters, you do not say in which suburb you are staying.. could it perhaps just be the area that has unsavoury characters? The thing is, Melbourne is so big, that what you experience in one suburb, could be totally different in another.

Prices, mmm, of course a lot depends on where you shop and for what you are shopping... however... in another year's time you may well be thinking differently. The thing is, when you are newly arrived you are inclined to convert everything back to Rands, and that is our downfall, then all of a sudden the prices are astronomical!

With regard to your friends finding out after everything was signed that they had only bought half a house, that genuinely surprises me, as they would have viewed the house. I am guessing that it was a semi-detached home? Well if they only viewed the one side, then that means they only bought the one half... Perhaps they should have asked? If you are going to be spending $650,000 then surely you do not just make assumptions, but ask the hard questions. Contained within the contract would have been a complete description of the property... if they had read that then they would have known. The moral of the story is peruse everything you are asked to sign with a fine tooth comb. I honestly do not know what you mean by buying a home here is over complicated.. you discuss the price and agree on it, you agree on a transfer date, you make sure that the offer contains everything that you are buying and expect to get when you take occupation, you sign the offer.. the owner accepts, you pay your deposit .. on the transfer date, you make sure your lawyers have the funds to pay the balance of the property.. you take occupation.. pretty straight forward to me. The only thing that is completely different in Australia is that you do not generally take occupation before the transfer takes place... and to me that is the best part of buying or selling property in Australia.

[RYLC]

We've been living in Mebourne for the past couple months now, and all great, but things are so ridiculously expensive.

This will pass once you stop thinking in rand and have been here long enough that you don't know what it would cost in RSA. "Expensive" is a relative thing too.

On top of that, some companies here expect you to have "Oz experience", which I find incredibly immoral and a way for a few (NOT ALL) companies to exploit immigrants.

South Africans are not the only migrants and "Oz experience" means that you have been broken in so to speak, know how things work here and are less likely to keep saying "but we don't do it like that back in xyz country". So as a general rule of thumb that first job is a step down at lower pay than you would like - I think it's called "proving yourself".

Also, although I do feel safer, it's not as safe as I thought it would be - there is a big drug problem here, and often my wife goes with the kids to the parks and often times encounters some dodgy characters and leaves due to feeling a little unsafe.

New migrants often settle in suburbs that locals of equivalent socio economic background wouldn't be caught dead in. My in-laws moved from Zim to RSA and choose a suburb in Jhb based on price. It was not a good suburb but they had no idea until much later.

Also, I find the youths don't have as much respect as the youths in SA - I often times hear youths talking among themselves at the top of their voices swearing like you won't believe, and I don't know if it's just the way I've been brought up, but when there are elderly people around you, you mind your language.

Yes this is true but not exclusive to Australia. We have found America, New Zealand, Canada and the UK to be the same. I have found that in first world countries children are treated more equally than in RSA (which I think is a good thing because respect is a two way street). I get the impression you have not traveled much overseas before moving to Australia?

I do feel the quality of things here is terrible - the houses aren't of the good quality you find in SA and one feels like you're living in a cardboard box that you've paid the equivalent of R5-6mill for.

Compared to what? Houses in Japan are made of paper. Houses in RSA (a higher proportion than we allow ourselves to think about) are made of mud and sticks and tin). Also you're thinking in rand again Houses here are constructed to suit the speed at which they need to be built, cost, etc. If you want double brick then you'll have to buy an old "character" house or move to Perth.

The process of buying a house here is over complicated and quite a bit different to how SA does it, and I just feel when things are this complicated, there is more opportunity for the buyer to be cheated - I hope I'm wrong, but close friends of ours here have already been cheated into thinking they were buying a property, only to find out, once all papers were signed, that it was only half of the property that they were buying, and there most probably was some fine writing, but when you're talking about a $650,000 property, how could the real estate agent not explicitly disclose that.

DUE DILIGENCE! It's not the process that has a problem it was your friends not reading the contract. We have bought and sold a number of times in a couple of states and it has been a smooth process. Each house we bought we went over with a fine toothcomb, opened cupboards, crawled into the roof space etc. We didn't walk in the front door, look at the front room, say I love it and sign on the dotted line. Your friends need to do their research.

Actually you've reminded me about a RSA friend I have here who was the same about everything in the beginning. I heard all the time "but nobody told me!" No because they didn't know that she didn't know so it was her job to assume nothing and to ask questions.

And finally, my last point, we're catholic church goers and that has been one shocker coming here, not many people go to church here in Melbourne. We've gone from church to church, trying to find a more active and younger congregation, and it seems that people our age just don't go to church here. We've finally settled on a church where the congregation is pretty big, but out of probably 100 people, there are 2-4 couples our age, while the rest of the 90% of the congregation seem to be 60+ years of age.

It really does depend where you settle - city by city and even suburb by suburb. Brisbane for instance has a young and lively catholic community. Adelaide has a strong mix of ages at the Uniting Church we go to. Sometimes you need to look further than "catholic". For example I was brought up Anglican. Well there is no Anglican (exactly the same as I knew it) here so we have adapted and now go to Uniting which is probably a mix of Methodist and Anglican. It's important to look, think and then decide rather than going for a carbon copy of the life you had in RSA.

That aside, the public transport is awesome, and beginning 2015, it costs me about R1,200 to take train into and out of the CBD a month, which isn't bad at all, considering no maintenance costs on car, etc. We have been easily able to manage with just having 1 car. The parks are great and we take our kids almost every weekend to the skate park to scoot around on their scooters. The roads I find safer, and no taxis . It's a good democracy here, and parties need to work hard to stay in power, and as a result, things work and there are constant improvements, which is a really good thing and something SA desperately lacks. We like the weather.

Glad to hear.

People are quite different to what we're used to in SA. Ummm you've moved country. I think the mistake a lot of us make (especially the English speaking ones) is that people will be the same. They have had a completely different upbringing and will definitely be different. Migrants need to pretend they have moved to say Sweden where EVERYTHING is different and then slowly get to know how things work.

I'm glad you posted because it is important to be able to give voice to things we find not as we thought they would be. It gives those of us who have been here a while the opportunity to say "hey yes that's the way it is here" or "no that doesn't sound right - did they do their homework". And none of my replies are intended as "don't you go bagging Australia" because there are things we still don't like (after 15 years). It's just that the first year in particular with struggling to make head or tail of things, bagging that first job and still thinking in rand that make it seem more difficult than it is. You will find your comfort zone again in time.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Crisplet

[Sunnyskies]

Acmac, to add some more views:

1. Yes things are expensive even when earning dollars. Upside is that you are more careful in how you spend your money. I definitely have made fewer "what were you thinking?" purchases. I also have become much more savvy with Internet shopping and can track down a good deal. I personally think that this is why it is a good idea to bring a container if you can afford to.

2. Youths - behaviour is symptomatic of neighborhood, school and parents. We do spend the extra on private catholic schooling and I believe it does make a difference in the way the children treat others and their elders and possibly reinforces what we teach them at home.

4. Church - yes not great. Find out when your church has a youth mass or when the children's liturgy is held. Both are better attended and we connected with people whose children also attended the parish school.

5. Parks - never had any issues. Could be your neighbourhood. You may want to think about moving. Scout around different neighborhoods on weekends and look for young families.

6. Buying property - in Melbourne it is hard. There is a lot of competition for property. Before you buy or try to buy make sure you have savvied up on the process. Work out what the true price for a property in your chosen area is before getting emotionally involved in the auction process. It is fast and cut throat. It is expensive to have a property inspection undertaken by a professional. Speak to locals about what they looked for. Houses are built differently in Melbourne.

7. Housing - yes we also despaired of paper houses when we arrived but we came to appreciate them and landed up buying a weatherboard house. Much easier to heat and cool than a brick house, easy to put a hook in to hang a picture, easy to repair walls. They actually work well provided you have a good heating and cooling system. You will get used to that slight hollowness on the walls and that when your washing machine is on spin cycle you can feel it in the next room.

Its a wonderous new world, have fun exploring it.

[DXB2OZ]

Funny, soon after I landed I wandered into a shop that was having a sale and I was absolutely astounded to discover that absolutely everything in the store was 40% off! Not some measly rack in the back full of the stuff that nobody wants, but everything. And I could actually get to it without risking losing my arm up to the elbow!! Isn't it amazing how two people in the same city can have such completely different experiences? Just goes to show how important it is to shop around.

We had the reverse experience when trying to buy a house. Because there was a half finished extension on the property and the owner "couldn't remember" if there had been a permit (the builder had gone bust 18 years earlier) we asked the council about it. Within a matter of days, they had inspected the house, the was a notice issued which had to be clearly displayed to every person viewing the house stating that the extension had no permit and the rear boundary of the property had "accidentally" included part of a communal lane. I found the estate agents that we ended up dealing with sent straight from heaven (and they went above and beyond so many times), although the lawyers seem to have crawled out of the depths, but that's the balance of life for you.

Regarding local experience, how quick would you be to hire someone in SA who had never worked there before? Wouldn't you feel more comfortable hiring someone who knew the lay of the land a bit better. You have to spend so much time training up any new employee anyway, do you really want to have to hold their hand and explain the difference between a traffic light and a robot?

It's not all roses and it is very important that people realise what a long, hard slog you are in for. But also realise that people's experiences differ wildly and you need to look around for yourself.

Have just realised that six months in and I felt immediately defensive when my new town was criticized. That must be a good sign. ☺️

[rozellem]

My parents spent Dec here with us in Sydney and my mum could not believe the amazing sales here. At Myer she shopped like a fiend. Among other things, she bought 3 smart t-shirts (100% cotton, 73 year old lady style) for a total of $40. I asked if that was a good price, all things considering, and she answered that the t-shirt she was wearing that day had cost R270 recently. She found the shops "beautiful", the selections "huge" and was not to phased by the prices. Even the food prices she found to be on par with RSA. The meat often cheaper.

[joweni]

On the surface the kids seem very different from their compatriots in SA but scratch a little deeper and as in any society there are lots of great kids out there. I am teaching at a relatively low socio economic school and thought most of the kids were bad mannered,disrepectful hooligans but I had to have a HUGE rethink. I have learnt to loosen up and appreciate young people for their individualism-there sense of fair play, justice and humour just blows me away on a daily basis. The roughest looking students, complete with long hair, beards, backward caps and baggy longs, are often the friendliest of kids-quick to laugh at themselves and happy to lend a hand. I am SO hoping to get another contract at the same school this year-I think there is still much for me to learn about this new generation.

[followmylead]

Hi ACMAC. I visited a friend in Melbourne in October and it felt a bit like another planet. Busselton is a quaint, beautiful medium sized town and as such less exposed to some of the big city problems. Melbourne was exciting and different and interesting - but Busselton is homely - which I enjoy.

Many people have shared how hard it is to find and a sound church. I can't speak from a catholic perspective, but what I have heard is that the

More traditional churches are 'dead' and the new ones very liberal. There are some good churches, but you have to search for them.

Edited January 11, 2015 by followmylead

[SurferMan]

I prefer my old little church, barefoot and all. Somedays we are as little as 15, other almost 80. We been going strong for years, through all the ups and downs. My only gripe is they don't teach from the King James Bible.

[followmylead]

Surferman, you know you can only be in the 2nd best church in WA, because we take first place ?

[SurferMan]

:ilikeit:Lol,

So long as you serve Jesus, who am I to compete?

[elleneo]

Out of interest sake acmac which suburb do u live in? We lived in point cook and the alone and point cook Catholic Churches were always full with loads of young families ? In Pymble most of the time I have to walk to church because of so many cars!

[acmac]

In highett. I see point cook is on Western side while we're on the eaten side of the bay.

[Bob]

At the latest census, about one in twelve . . . . 8% . . . of Australia's population regularly attend church (at least, once a month)

I go each year to Britain, where the regular church attendance (at least once a month) has fallen to one in fifty . . . . 2% . . . of the population.

If you reckon Melbourne's churches are empty, check out London's churches.

Western people in general don't need God nowadays. There is social welfare to pick the pieces up when you fall flat on your face, there is the National Health Service (or Medicare in Australia) to fall back on when you get crook.

In short, our world is quite different culturally to what our grandparents grew up in and what the expectations in life were.

Consumerism is much more in your face today, with advertising all over the place, even in the homes thro the TV screen and radio.

I still think it's still a beautiful world though, even if a number of dark clouds are on the horizon, such as living with terrorism and climate change happening nowadays.

Edited January 14, 2015 by Bob

[SurferMan]

I'm with you Bob,

But I will still serve my Jesus come what may, and kids do too. But I have also seen what you say about the steady attrition as satan feeds people with right here right now consumerism.