Consider it a privelage...

[Bob]

We must accept that some people see their glass as half full, others as half empty.

My wife, whose great great grandparents all came to Australia between the 1840s and 1880s, doesn't like Australian sausages either for the barbecue.

After travelling around Britain each summertime (northern hemisphere) for four or five months each year, she has grown to love Pommie sausages in all their shapes and flavours . . . . . . apple and caramelised onion sausages, Cumberland sausages, Lincolnshire sausages, and so on.

She now reckons that the average Aussie snag (sausage) you pick up in the local supermarket is boring and doesn't have much flavour.

Good on her.

She's entitled to say that Australia doesn't knock out a decent sausage, but that still doesn't mean she's not an Aussie and love what Australia is and what it stands for.

So . . . . . give yourselves a bit of slack.

Rubbish Australia if you will . . . . . that's ok.

What Aussies get fed up with are those who whinge 99% about how bad Australia and how great life was back "home".

Logically, they wonder why those sort of people don't enjoy life back where they came from and why they are putting up with such an unhappy lifestyle down under.

It makes sense really, when you come to think of it.

I know Australia isn't a perfect place, but on balance, after travelling around Britain and Europe (France, Spain & Portugal last year for four months), I don't reckon it's that bad a place.

So . . . . have a bitch once in a while about Australia. Get it off your chest . . . . but don't let that negativity become a regular part of your outlook on Australia as a whole.

Once that negativity sets in, it clouds your whole perspective on life, and maybe it's time to get a reality check and go back home, to see if life there really is roses after all.

If it isn't, then come back to Australia or New Zealand with a fresh outlook, safe in the knowledge that things really are better overall for you, after all.

[SurferMan]

Some pretty diverse and strong views for all seasons and comers this blog has aroused hey?

Well, I am biased towards Aus, am grateful and barely let a day go by where I don't thank my Father for His grace in letting us into this great place. Currently unemployed, but as happy as I have ever been. I rant about SA every once in a while, but not in a manner that is negative, but rather I bemoan what befalls the people of SA. I am saddended by the rampant, endemic corruption, crime and ease with which it is perpetrated against ordinary Saffers.

I have lived in a lot of places like Bob, and have found true peace in Aus. I was just mentioning to my missus a few days ago that we are really living the dream. But spare a thought for those who cannot get into Aus for whatever reason, their gaze resting on this country's sunny shores, not never able to set foot on it.

[Mikej]

I am as grateful as anyone to have the opportunity to live in Australia.

The truth though is that Australia is not really trying to do us any favours it is purely political and economic. It costs Australia anything from $500,000 to $5mil to produce a professional be it an electrician or a doctor so any skilled person arriving is like a $5 million gift for Australia. That is why developing countries lament the exodus of skilled professionals because it is a net loss for them. The new professional lands and if they have a job and we know most do then they pay tax from day one. So for Australia so long the economy is growing there will be a skills shortage and we will be welcome.

Having said that I am still grateful for being here and Australia and Australians have made me feel welcome.

[SurferMan]

Yip me too. My Aussie mates are slowly growing. Really friendly and helpful..

[Craig01]

...not sure why some people feel they have to 'choose sides'. I am always honest about my experiences good or bad ...... my viewpoint and perceptions are MY reality

I absolutely loved living in London when I did and would not swap that experience for anything - would I go back? no way ..... there were some k@k things about the place but does that mean I should allow those things to skew MY experience and viewpoint of London? .. similarly about my upbringing and life I had in Cape Town - there are many wonderful things about living in SA that NO other country could replace - would I ever live there again? - NOT a chance.

Australia is a fantastic place to live with mostly positive things but it has some negative aspects (again my perception) to it as well .... it is a farking expensive place to live .... I was gobsmacked and sad actually to realise that Aussies do not entertain the way we do in SA .... the WEEKLY rugby braais at each others houses with plumes of smoke emanating from wood fires, dozens of cars and bakkies parked on the front lawns, kids running riot through the houses, the 'okes' standing around the fire getting sozzled and passing their 'expert' advice to each other as to why the Bulls (replace that with Sharks if you like) lost against Western Province AGAIN

What is wrong with talking openly about the good and the bad? ... I do not have to justify my decision for living here and leaving SA to anyone

I have adapted to life here but will always miss certain aspects of my life in SA ......

Am I grateful to be here? ....mmmm... not sure about that. I believe I earned the right to be here in OZ - this does not mean I am 'entitled' to be here in a brash sort of way but I sincerely reckon that Australia has and continues to get it's pound of flesh from me. I reckon Australia and myself are in a true 50/50 partnership

Live and let live is what I say