Thread: Who's a POM?

ok i'll go next,

from liverpool (everton of course like proper scouser's )

came over in 1995 to do the backpacker thing, loved it.

moved over for keep's in 2000,

want to do the backpacker thing again, only more of a grey nomad now

loving it!!!!!

neil

Ok from the Uk Bedfordshire , rubbish football team.So follow Chelsea.
Still think of Landrovers as an English Cars.
Tony

From Jersey, CHannel Islands, moved over in 2006, rebuilding a Series 3, looking forward to driving it
Jersey has no Football team, but watched West Ham at Upton Park a few times if that counts!!

We arrived two days before xmas 2004, we left -5 degrees and arrived to 38 degrees

Lived 5 minutes from "Silverstone Circuit" home of the British Grand Prix and yes it's the only thing I really miss apart from family and friends.

Used to own a 1983 Landrover 110 with 200 tdi fitted called "Bertie" and an old dormobile with "perkins diesel" fitted. It was not good

I normally leave a hidden signature and date on work completed "The pom Down Under"

Me next then I guess!

We moved out here 1st Sept 2009. I say we, to be accurate the mrs, the 110 and our Golden Retriever.

Like Jerry I also miss our annual pilgrimage to Silverstone. By means of making up for my loss though, last year I went to Albert Park & next year (maybe this one!!) it'll be Singapore, then Susooooka

Jon

Sent using Forum Runner

I lived in Mid-Wales back in the y`UK and owned a S3 LWB Deisel for knocking about in the hills.

Came here as a Backpacker in 1988 at some time during that adventure Australia Stole My Heart - Ever since then I knew I`d come back.

Got back Got married Had kids and emigrated with family 20 years later "Better late than never"

I live in Bellingen nowadays and own a trusty D1 TD1 for knocking about in the hills.

I only just qualify to join this discussion. Came from Lincolnshire in 1976 with my folks when I was just 6.

Man United is my team - Don't blame me - Dad bought us all different scarves when we we born - I got Man U, my twin brother got Leeds, and my older brother got Everton - all picked at random. He's originally from Yorkshire, and supports Rotherham, so he didn't want to impose that on us...

Nice one guys, I knew I was not alone : )

All of your stories are extremely interesting (to me anyway : )

One recent post I saw on the britishexpats.com forum really summed it up for me and I can't help but share it with those that can relate to it ; )

25 years up, and I would do it all again.
I have been in Australian almost 25 years now. I came here via France, and before that Dubai, so I was a seasoned expat.

It was very different when I arrived. Amazingly there was no ISDN phones. To call my parents I had to go via the operator. The whole of Sydney closed at lunchtime on Saturdays. Union rules. The trains were “red rattlers”, with open doors, around which passengers would crowd to get a cooling breeze. No aircon on those trains.

Bob Hawke was the PM. I saw him in a hotel lift one night. Just me and the PM. He said “g’day Mate” when I got in. I remember thinking; that wouldn’t happen in the UK.

I was a true expat, on a company posting. Life was good. The economy was booming. The FBT was yet to be introduced, mining and minerals were pushing things along. Money seemed to flow like water, as did jobs. I remember at a party some guy offering me a job out of the blue, with a 50% pay increase.

I covered all of Australia. Sadly not the tourist bits, I spent time at places like Mount Isa, Kalgoorlie, and Roxby Downs. When I wasn’t somewhere in Australia I was in Asia. This was long before mobile phones and emails. Every morning I would collect messages, facsimiles and telexes from reception. Other than that no one in the world knew where I was, or what I was doing. And I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t admit to sometimes just laying on a beach, taking an extra day in some out the way place.

I flew all over Australia with Ansett. Now long gone. I knew most of the crews, I spent so much time on the planes. One week I had every meal for seven days on an aircraft, and slept in a bed twice. Jakarta, Perth, Singapore, Melbourne, Adelaide, KL. All one big blur of hotel rooms and aircraft seats.

I religiously called home once a week, and bought English newspapers, about 2 days old. I didn’t understand Australian politics, or culture. I remember sitting next to Malcom Frazer on a plane. When he introduced himself I said “Good God, I thought you drowned off a beach years ago”. “No you bloody fool”, he replied, “that was Harold Holt”.

I extended my contract. I still flew home regularly. One trip back I was in my local. They had just installed MTV or something. Icehouse Electric Blue came on, with its Sydney backdrop. “Wow, there’s home” I said without thinking. The darts team stopped talking and you could hear a pin drop. It was a seminal moment. I had become an Australian.

Lots have happened over the 25 years. Married. Served in the army. Started a business. Been back to University x2. Divorced. Remarried.

Lots of good memories. Standing on a boat in the harbour for the 1988 Bicentennial. Same boat, same harbour, 2000 Olympics fireworks. Drinking beer in a ghost town in WA. Standing on a North Queensland beach at dawn. Not many bad memories.

So the point of this post: A lot of BEs seem unhappy in Oz. “20 years behind the UK”, “Life on Mars”, “cant wait to get home” etc. Others seem desperate to get here, and in the desperation overlook that this is a different country. It’s not another county of the UK. It’s a bloody big, relatively unpopulated country, where life is what you make it.

For Christs sake people:

1. Think carefully before you come here. It’s a big step. It isn’t England. No corrie and fish and chips. It has good parts and it has bad parts. Its not somewhere to run away too. If you are unhappy in your life in the UK, or you are unsuccessful, then your life will be the same here. Moving here wont lose the extra kilos, or make you look like Brad Pitt. If you are a Bum in Birmingham then you will be a Bum in Brisbane.
2. If you are here, give it a fair go and think positive. Yes Australia has some down sides. But don’t fool yourself, the UK has its share of down sides too. And if you don’t like it, just leave. No shame in it, no need to make excuses. You didn’t like it, and you went home. No need to write endlessly about how bad you think Australia is.

On balance, Australia has been good to me, despite the cost. I would do it all again.