Unexpected but here I am

[Tntaglia]

Hi all

 

I'm Linda. New to the forums - from Johannesburg, might be moving to Sydney.

 

This whole thing is pretty surreal to be honest, we've talked very lightly about moving away over the years but never made any real plans and always assumed we would go UK if we do go. And then a couple of months ago a work opportunity came up for Sydney, which would be a permanent relocation for me and family. So we've only really been thinking about Sydney for a short while - obviously getting super excited with everything we're reading but part of me still can't believe that this may actually happen.

 

I'll probably know within a month or so whether the job opportunity is going to happen or not, the plan is after that to work from SA with some trips to Sydney and then at some point (when visa comes through and when the work makes it obvious that it's the right time) make the shift. We haven't told many people yet, kids don't know, only a select few family members. So it's great to have a place to chat and ask questions etc.

 

Thanks everyone for all the help already, I've been obsessively reading the forums for the last week or so and many of my questions have been answered. And of course many new ones came up that I had not thought of before... 

 

Cheers

Linda

[WayneAndMel]

Hi Linda

 

Welcome. I realise that your potential move to Oz is dependent on a specific job offer coming through but I think you're also looking at it as an opportunity or direction in life to look at Oz.

 

I encourage you to keep doing so and to interact with many of the regulars here. Sometimes direct interaction yields more than passive observation. 

 

Wayne

[Tntaglia]

Thanks @WayneAndMel - and you're right, it started off as "maybe this is a good opportunity job-wise" and now (for me at least) it's more "maybe this is a good move country-wise".

 

Hubby is not fully on board in that sense yet - we'll see what happens. Initially he wasn't very excited at all, now I think he's pretty on board if the job comes through. But we're very close with his parents and he'll struggle to make the choice to see them very rarely if it's not for a very good opportunity. He may still come around though 

[Shellfish]

Just my two cents but as I have lived in both I will say that I would recommend a move to Australia over a move to the UK. 

[WayneAndMel]

@Tntaglia , I've admittedly been the brake on Mel and my move, including taking longer to accept we had to emigrate. Your husband might have to work through the same process as me but without being pushed too hard. Otherwise the natural human reaction is to close up or feel resentment towards the person pushing them. 

 

It's not an easy cut and dried process where you say goodbye easily but the emotional tipping point eventually arrived for me over the course of several events.

 

Some people will experience that through seeing or being on the end of violence or crime locally while others will have it from an opportunity or the promise of going abroad. 

 

Mine was partly the promise and realising I'll never attain some things I want here in SA, but more so from seeing trends in the news, the economics and similar when I know some global history of how nations fall or slowly fall apart.

 

@Shellfish, I also recall a Fin Week article years ago that stated that 50% of SA emigres to the UK eventually return to SA while for Australia it was less than 10%. That article was also well before the 2008 financial crisis so I suspect both rose over the last few years.

 

My brother who emigrated to the UK also recently admitted that he's not entirely happy and Oz would have been a better choice. 

 

I however realise we're all going to beat the Australia drum and there are some people who actually do fall in love with the UK way of life.

[Tntaglia]

It's actually strange, we've never REALLY thought about Oz as an option prior to last year. So I have to do so much research now, but it's a lot of fun! I'm pretty sure the lifestyle in Australia will fit us better than the UK, and the weather is way better too. We moved to Johannesburg from Cape Town and fell in love with the thunderstorms and sunny winter days etc. So all in all Oz is sounding better and better, every day I find more articles and stats etc that just show how stupid we would have to be to ignore this opportunity.

 

[Peterthe1]

My brother who emigrated to the 

22 minutes ago, WayneAndMel said:

 

My brother who emigrated to the UK also recently admitted that he's not entirely happy and Oz would have been a better choice. 

 

I however realise we're all going to beat the Australia drum and there are some people who actually do fall in love with the UK way of life.

I can safely say that after living in the UK for 10 years, moving to Australia was the next best thing I've done after leaving SA. I've been here for almost 5 years and have never looked back.

[Tntaglia]

That's helpful to know, thanks! Would you say I'm right that the Australian lifestyle is closer to South Africa?

[WayneAndMel]

Yes, definitely but don't expect exactly. 

[Shellfish]

21 hours ago, Tntaglia said:

That's helpful to know, thanks! Would you say I'm right that the Australian lifestyle is closer to South Africa?

South africa and Australia are similar a lot of ways i.e. they have the same seasons, similar weather, same school year, similar sports, celebrate similar holidays, both speak english. Although obviously many things about SA come from British colonialism, they are different in many ways - weather, seasons, school years/holidays. It's quite an adjustment. I would say that we have settled into Aus so well because we were in UK first and they was quite the learning curve...