Need some moving to Australia advice? I’ve learned so many new things about Australia since moving down under on a work visa earlier this year. I can wholeheartedly say that packing up my bags and moving here was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Here are 7 lessons I’ve learned since moving here:
1. The two scariest things most people face when moving to a new country is actually getting the courage to move and fears about finding employment.
I was so scared to move across the world and not find a job and run out of money. Finding employment as a foreign worker was more challenging than finding work in Canada (for obvious reasons) but once I found a job my worries and anxieties about failure went away.
Before I moved here I thought I would have a typical backpacker job, but I was extremely lucky and found a professional job in my field. The economy in Australia is good and there’s opportunities here in a variety of fields.
2. The weather in Australia is not always sunny and warm, and can be unpredictable. Yesterday we had a huge rainstorm in Queensland that flooded parts of Brisbane and stranded thousands of people on their commute back home. Roads became rivers in a matter of hours and so many cars got stuck in the water.
I’ve never seen rain like that before. It was an end-of-the-world pouring rain kind of rain. We literally got 2 months worth of rain in a matter of 24 hours.
3. Actually seeing kangaroos or koalas in Oz is not as common as most foreigners think. You can still see them in the outer suburbs and definitely in the outback but they don’t wander around the city like most stereotypes lead us to believe. The first time I saw a kangaroo and a koala was a week ago when I visited an animal sanctuary.
4. Australians are warm-hearted people with a blunt sense of humour. If an Australian likes you, they will definitely make fun of you. Being really sensitive over little things doesn’t fly here. They won’t be mean about it but they will definitely mock you a little – with love, of course.
5. I’ve noticed that Australia has a much stronger connection to Britain than Canada. The British way of life is still very strong here. Culturally, Canada is very much influenced by the United States and that’s something I’ve never fully realized until moving here.
6. The food here is much better quality than Canada’s. Almost everything tastes better and fresher, and the veggies and fruits here are not genetically modified like they are in North America.
Most fruits and veg here isn’t grown with harmful pesticides either. The beef is grass fed and chicken is free range. Local tropical fruits are really abundant here, which is another huge plus!
7. Australian slang takes a while to get used to. There’s so many words and expressions out there, but here are the most common ones: afternoon is arvo, avocado is avo, fries are chips, a washroom is a dunny, a cars hood is a bonnet, appies are nibblies, McDonalds is Macca’s, and a rat bag is a bratty little kid.
I love living here and I’m already thinking about ways of extending my stay. If you’re thinking about moving to Australia I really encourage you to do so. You can always shoot an email and I’ll be more than happy to tell you more about it!
Outfit Details
LOFT shirt, Tokito pencil skirt, Enzo Angiolini booties.
