![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This is the first part in a series of my experiences and observations here in Australia. If you want to know about areas I haven't covered, let me know. I'm still so new and have so much to explore.
So far, this nasty virus that has taken residence in my body has clouded all my experiences in Australia. Quite unfortunate. I don’t understand why I can’t shake it. I haven’t been sick since I had pneumonia a couple of years ago. I can only assume it is the stress that brought it on and the continued stress that allows it to stay.
Nothing is quite like I was told it would be. George has these memories of how it was in Australia but present reality is no longer that way. He thought we would come here, earning US dollars, and be able to purchase everything at essentially half price due to the exchange rate. He also assumed that the cost of living here was much lower. This is not the case. Not only has the AU dollar closed in on the value of the US dollar, but also we are experiencing sticker shock on almost everything. Here’s the breakdown.
Housing: A tiny little two bedroom house in a bad part of town with little or no yard is AU$400,000. That’s around US$250,000. And you can expect to be broken into every once in a while. A house comparable to Avalonne (4 bedrooms and a bit of yard) is currently hovering around AU$750,000 and up. This is steadily going up. Housing loans here are not based on one’s credit like they are in the US. They are based on actual earnings and existing equity. We have no existing equity in AU and we don’t have jobs. We really weren’t planning on having to work. The plan was to earn our US wages and stay at home to raise and school a child. Wages here aren’t any better than in the US for comparable positions, so George and I can’t figure out how a couple just starting in life can afford the $5000 per month mortgage payments of a house like this. We certainly can’t afford it. Apartment rentals are reasonable, but who wants to pump money into a black hole like that? If we plan to be here for years, we would best be served buying an overpriced house now before we completely are priced out of the market.
The result – we will probably be living with George’s parents for a couple of years.
Household goods: These are the same price if not a little more expensive than in America. Static goods (like teapots or plates, things without moving parts) are about the same price but if you add mechanics, then they are more expensive than US. I have been avoiding certain purchases for the past few months knowing that I was moving to AU and that I should wait and buy it here to avoid having to pack it. It was a good, solid notion but it didn’t pan out. Some of the things I can purchase with no problem anywhere in the US, they don’t even seem to have here. Before I left, I bought some loose leaf tea. I brought it here thinking I could purchase some of those nice porcelain canisters with the really good lever seals to preserve their freshness and flavour, nope. I have scoured a huge mall out here with at least 15 house ware shops and can’t find anything but plastic and metal. There are a few other little things I think of as common that I can’t find here or they are so ridiculously overpriced, I’d rather buy them in the US and pack them here.
The result – we shall have to pack more things from our house than we had planned for the second trip. We will probably have to even purchase some stuff to pack as it is cheaper to get it at home than here.
Medical coverage: Medical coverage is based on socialist practices. They have a program called Medicare that covers almost everything for you. There are supplemental private insurances that you can purchase that will cover almost everything that Medicare doesn’t, depending upon the package you pick. The one we are considering would cost in one year what we are currently paying in just over a month for insurance.
Result – Medical coverage is awesome. Naturopaths aren’t covered as primary care physicians, but I’m willing to pay out of pocket for that.
Cars: We haven’t really done any real car shopping yet. I’ve been too sick to even try driving in AU. I’d like to know how to drive before I try to test drive a vehicle. George is hot to get a car now; I’m asking him to wait until I can test-drive it as well. It seems like cars are generally less expensive here than in the US. The entire family is currently at odds about what kind of vehicle we should buy. They all love Hondas and they want us to get a small SUV so there is room for all 5 of us and a future baby in one car. I am opposed to this. I want my primary vehicle to be tiny, 5 door and very fuel-efficient. The driving lanes here seem narrower than in the US and the drivers are big city drivers. I want a little thing with a 2.2 litre engine to get me out of people’s way quickly. Parking is at a premium here and a small car would be the best. Poor George is stuck between what his family wants him to buy and what I think is best for us.
The result – time will tell. First step is for me to try my luck at driving on the wrong… ahem, I mean left… side of the road.
Food: I haven’t gotten to a natural food store yet, so all these comments are based upon conventionally raised food. It’s actually quite tricky at first because they are weighing their food per kilo and pricing it in AU dollars, so it takes a bit of calculating in the head to compare the prices. Pound for kilo, AU is less expensive for conventional food. The Tran family, being in the wholesale garlic business, has a lot of wholesale connections in other food areas. They shop every Friday at Flemington Market. This is a large (and I mean large) warehouse area filled with wholesale food vendors. I’m so used to shopping for two, watching them shop almost gave me a heart attack. I am used to hopping on my bike and riding to the Kiva every 2-4 days and picking my fresh fruit and veggies for the next couple of meals. I might buy one cucumber, one pound of lettuce, one or two peppers, 4 tomatoes… you get the picture. This family buys food by the crate. Seriously. As a sample of what they bought for 5 people last Friday (and this is an incomplete list) they walked away with a crate of papaya, a crate of mango, 25 pounds of cherries, 20 pounds of bananas, a crate of corn on the cob, 2 pounds of Asian pears, 2 pounds of lemons, some tomatoes, a red pepper, a bunch of cilantro… jeepers, the list goes on. Personally, I don’t see how we are going to eat all this before it goes bad. I’m not helping much as I don’t have much of a stomach with this virus. I also am trying to keep up with my protein. Good news, the water quality here is quite tasty. Even before we bought a Brita filter, the water tasted good.
The result – Despite not knowing the organic food situation, we won’t starve here. We may be homeless, but we’ll be full. I’ll have to write another post later concerning organic food prices. I also need to research how AU grows its conventional foods. Rumour has it that AU uses fewer pesticides than US in commercial farming. I’ll have to do some digging and find out. Either way, right now I am stuck with conventional. The only grocer within walking distance from this house has no organic goods and I can’t drive yet. To be continued…
Recycling: Not so great here. It’s even less great within this household. I’m going to have to do a little work on the family and see if I can start composting in the back yard and get some recycling receptacles here in the house.
The result – I’ll have to do further research on how extensive recycling is throughout Sydney. Perhaps it’s just this area that is limited. Right now, it’s not really high on my priority list compared to healing myself and finding the right food sources. I do, however, cringe each time I throw away a banana peel.
Language skills: Just because I speak American fluently doesn’t mean that I understand Australian. I’ll elaborate on this in my Subtle Differences notes. The biggest language barrier I have is learning the family language. Conversing with the parents in English is challenging. They understand me fairly well if I speak slowly and use lots of gestures (think Clan of the Cave Bear). They have a harder time coming up with the English words to speak which makes them communicating with me hard. Also, they have such a heavy Chinese accent that English words don’t necessarily sound all that familiar. It’s very frustrating on both sides. We try to talk but most conversations end up with at least one party getting a glazed look in their eye and the other person trying to find either George or Belinda to translate. I am trying to learn Chu Chow but it is very slow going. The parents learned English by both immersion and listening to the TV and radio. They also could have taken ESL classes. I don’t have anything but the immersion option. Chu Chow is a dialect of Cantonese. There are no classes, no textbooks, no cassette tapes, no TV stations, movies or radio programs. Even if I ever become fluent in the family language, this will not help me if I travel to China, nor will it help me in a Chinese restaurant or grocery store. It’s a totally different language using completely different words. And the worst part of all is that all the words sound the same. I don’t mean that glibly, I mean that literally. To my ear, I have a great deal of difficulty distinguishing different words because they have the same basic sound, just with slightly different inflections. For example, I’ll take the word “gao” which means the number nine, a sail, dog and a few other definitions depending upon how you say it and the context. The inflection is very subtle and I don’t know enough vocabulary to figure out the context. A typical scenario works like this: The family is speaking. I listen attentively trying to find one or two words I think I recognize. I poke George when I hear one and ask if it meant what I thought it meant and I inevitably either heard it incorrectly or it was one of the 4 other meanings of that similar word.
The result – I’m feeling rather remedial. I tend to think that a rich portion of my charm is based in my flair for language, which avails me naught in this family. They are very understanding, but I feel exceptionally stupid here. I’m learning slowly. It has been a week and I’ve learned to count to 10 and I know my left, right and straight. I’m also learning the dog’s commands, but I’m afraid the dog understands Chu Chow far better than me.
Environmental Conditions: The weather here isn’t quite what I expected. It’s windier than it seemed the last time I came here. It also isn’t quite as hot. I only brought one long sleeved top thinking that I wouldn’t need warm clothes. Live and learn. We are currently (along with most of the rest of the world, it seems) in the midst of a drought. Water is a sensitive issue here. There are all kinds of water usage bans on and I’m having to change the way I shower and wash dishes. Not that I wasted much water before, but now it is even scarcer and I feel I need to adjust further. There are also the brush fires. It seems like every year arsonists get their jollies by lighting the outskirts of Sydney aflame. People on the fringes are losing their homes on a daily basis and the environment is burning to a crisp. It’s all very frightening. The air quality here suffers greatly from the burns. If we leave the windows open we wake with a thin layer of ash on the bedclothes and us. If you keep the windows closed, no air circulation. Not a good choice to have to decide between.
The result – I need to adjust to this environment. Learn extreme water conservation, acclimate to the heat and try to live a little more lightly on the land to compensate for the overpopulation and the idiots. Sometimes I hate being responsible. It is a heavy burden to carry at times, but at least I sleep at night.
Summary thus far: Baby steps, baby steps. I must keep reminding myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day. It just seems so hard going from a perfectly established household, just the way I want it in an area I know like the back of my hand, to a mysterious, large new place where I know nothing. I feel like the big fish in a small pond that has been displaced to this huge ocean where I am but the tiniest of creatures. I’m learning a new aspect of patience. Just when you think you have your personal stuff together, life pulls open a new door and thrusts you through it into the vast unknown where all you knew is irrelevant. Life here is like starting over in almost every respect.
I need to learn to speak and communicate.
I am dependent upon others for housing and must learn to do things their way so as not to disrupt the flow of their home.
I have to rely upon others for transportation.
I have to begin all over making friends locally.
I need to find out about this area and learn where to find what I need to live.
I need to find a job and have some kind of income to contribute to this household while trying to save toward fulfilling the needs of George and myself.
I need to find my niche here. I feel like the fifth wheel that is throwing the balance off. I need to find a happy place here for myself so I can grow to accept and love my new home.
I feel like a teenager struggling to leave the nest for the first time. The big problem with that is that I've done that at least twice so far in my life. I'm feeling like I need to be settled at this age and here I am starting fresh again, living with parents, trying to find my footing in a strange, harsh land. This is where that new kind of patience comes in. I look to the Earth to give me strength and endurance.
There is more to come. Stay tuned.
So far, this nasty virus that has taken residence in my body has clouded all my experiences in Australia. Quite unfortunate. I don’t understand why I can’t shake it. I haven’t been sick since I had pneumonia a couple of years ago. I can only assume it is the stress that brought it on and the continued stress that allows it to stay.
Nothing is quite like I was told it would be. George has these memories of how it was in Australia but present reality is no longer that way. He thought we would come here, earning US dollars, and be able to purchase everything at essentially half price due to the exchange rate. He also assumed that the cost of living here was much lower. This is not the case. Not only has the AU dollar closed in on the value of the US dollar, but also we are experiencing sticker shock on almost everything. Here’s the breakdown.
Housing: A tiny little two bedroom house in a bad part of town with little or no yard is AU$400,000. That’s around US$250,000. And you can expect to be broken into every once in a while. A house comparable to Avalonne (4 bedrooms and a bit of yard) is currently hovering around AU$750,000 and up. This is steadily going up. Housing loans here are not based on one’s credit like they are in the US. They are based on actual earnings and existing equity. We have no existing equity in AU and we don’t have jobs. We really weren’t planning on having to work. The plan was to earn our US wages and stay at home to raise and school a child. Wages here aren’t any better than in the US for comparable positions, so George and I can’t figure out how a couple just starting in life can afford the $5000 per month mortgage payments of a house like this. We certainly can’t afford it. Apartment rentals are reasonable, but who wants to pump money into a black hole like that? If we plan to be here for years, we would best be served buying an overpriced house now before we completely are priced out of the market.
The result – we will probably be living with George’s parents for a couple of years.
Household goods: These are the same price if not a little more expensive than in America. Static goods (like teapots or plates, things without moving parts) are about the same price but if you add mechanics, then they are more expensive than US. I have been avoiding certain purchases for the past few months knowing that I was moving to AU and that I should wait and buy it here to avoid having to pack it. It was a good, solid notion but it didn’t pan out. Some of the things I can purchase with no problem anywhere in the US, they don’t even seem to have here. Before I left, I bought some loose leaf tea. I brought it here thinking I could purchase some of those nice porcelain canisters with the really good lever seals to preserve their freshness and flavour, nope. I have scoured a huge mall out here with at least 15 house ware shops and can’t find anything but plastic and metal. There are a few other little things I think of as common that I can’t find here or they are so ridiculously overpriced, I’d rather buy them in the US and pack them here.
The result – we shall have to pack more things from our house than we had planned for the second trip. We will probably have to even purchase some stuff to pack as it is cheaper to get it at home than here.
Medical coverage: Medical coverage is based on socialist practices. They have a program called Medicare that covers almost everything for you. There are supplemental private insurances that you can purchase that will cover almost everything that Medicare doesn’t, depending upon the package you pick. The one we are considering would cost in one year what we are currently paying in just over a month for insurance.
Result – Medical coverage is awesome. Naturopaths aren’t covered as primary care physicians, but I’m willing to pay out of pocket for that.
Cars: We haven’t really done any real car shopping yet. I’ve been too sick to even try driving in AU. I’d like to know how to drive before I try to test drive a vehicle. George is hot to get a car now; I’m asking him to wait until I can test-drive it as well. It seems like cars are generally less expensive here than in the US. The entire family is currently at odds about what kind of vehicle we should buy. They all love Hondas and they want us to get a small SUV so there is room for all 5 of us and a future baby in one car. I am opposed to this. I want my primary vehicle to be tiny, 5 door and very fuel-efficient. The driving lanes here seem narrower than in the US and the drivers are big city drivers. I want a little thing with a 2.2 litre engine to get me out of people’s way quickly. Parking is at a premium here and a small car would be the best. Poor George is stuck between what his family wants him to buy and what I think is best for us.
The result – time will tell. First step is for me to try my luck at driving on the wrong… ahem, I mean left… side of the road.
Food: I haven’t gotten to a natural food store yet, so all these comments are based upon conventionally raised food. It’s actually quite tricky at first because they are weighing their food per kilo and pricing it in AU dollars, so it takes a bit of calculating in the head to compare the prices. Pound for kilo, AU is less expensive for conventional food. The Tran family, being in the wholesale garlic business, has a lot of wholesale connections in other food areas. They shop every Friday at Flemington Market. This is a large (and I mean large) warehouse area filled with wholesale food vendors. I’m so used to shopping for two, watching them shop almost gave me a heart attack. I am used to hopping on my bike and riding to the Kiva every 2-4 days and picking my fresh fruit and veggies for the next couple of meals. I might buy one cucumber, one pound of lettuce, one or two peppers, 4 tomatoes… you get the picture. This family buys food by the crate. Seriously. As a sample of what they bought for 5 people last Friday (and this is an incomplete list) they walked away with a crate of papaya, a crate of mango, 25 pounds of cherries, 20 pounds of bananas, a crate of corn on the cob, 2 pounds of Asian pears, 2 pounds of lemons, some tomatoes, a red pepper, a bunch of cilantro… jeepers, the list goes on. Personally, I don’t see how we are going to eat all this before it goes bad. I’m not helping much as I don’t have much of a stomach with this virus. I also am trying to keep up with my protein. Good news, the water quality here is quite tasty. Even before we bought a Brita filter, the water tasted good.
The result – Despite not knowing the organic food situation, we won’t starve here. We may be homeless, but we’ll be full. I’ll have to write another post later concerning organic food prices. I also need to research how AU grows its conventional foods. Rumour has it that AU uses fewer pesticides than US in commercial farming. I’ll have to do some digging and find out. Either way, right now I am stuck with conventional. The only grocer within walking distance from this house has no organic goods and I can’t drive yet. To be continued…
Recycling: Not so great here. It’s even less great within this household. I’m going to have to do a little work on the family and see if I can start composting in the back yard and get some recycling receptacles here in the house.
The result – I’ll have to do further research on how extensive recycling is throughout Sydney. Perhaps it’s just this area that is limited. Right now, it’s not really high on my priority list compared to healing myself and finding the right food sources. I do, however, cringe each time I throw away a banana peel.
Language skills: Just because I speak American fluently doesn’t mean that I understand Australian. I’ll elaborate on this in my Subtle Differences notes. The biggest language barrier I have is learning the family language. Conversing with the parents in English is challenging. They understand me fairly well if I speak slowly and use lots of gestures (think Clan of the Cave Bear). They have a harder time coming up with the English words to speak which makes them communicating with me hard. Also, they have such a heavy Chinese accent that English words don’t necessarily sound all that familiar. It’s very frustrating on both sides. We try to talk but most conversations end up with at least one party getting a glazed look in their eye and the other person trying to find either George or Belinda to translate. I am trying to learn Chu Chow but it is very slow going. The parents learned English by both immersion and listening to the TV and radio. They also could have taken ESL classes. I don’t have anything but the immersion option. Chu Chow is a dialect of Cantonese. There are no classes, no textbooks, no cassette tapes, no TV stations, movies or radio programs. Even if I ever become fluent in the family language, this will not help me if I travel to China, nor will it help me in a Chinese restaurant or grocery store. It’s a totally different language using completely different words. And the worst part of all is that all the words sound the same. I don’t mean that glibly, I mean that literally. To my ear, I have a great deal of difficulty distinguishing different words because they have the same basic sound, just with slightly different inflections. For example, I’ll take the word “gao” which means the number nine, a sail, dog and a few other definitions depending upon how you say it and the context. The inflection is very subtle and I don’t know enough vocabulary to figure out the context. A typical scenario works like this: The family is speaking. I listen attentively trying to find one or two words I think I recognize. I poke George when I hear one and ask if it meant what I thought it meant and I inevitably either heard it incorrectly or it was one of the 4 other meanings of that similar word.
The result – I’m feeling rather remedial. I tend to think that a rich portion of my charm is based in my flair for language, which avails me naught in this family. They are very understanding, but I feel exceptionally stupid here. I’m learning slowly. It has been a week and I’ve learned to count to 10 and I know my left, right and straight. I’m also learning the dog’s commands, but I’m afraid the dog understands Chu Chow far better than me.
Environmental Conditions: The weather here isn’t quite what I expected. It’s windier than it seemed the last time I came here. It also isn’t quite as hot. I only brought one long sleeved top thinking that I wouldn’t need warm clothes. Live and learn. We are currently (along with most of the rest of the world, it seems) in the midst of a drought. Water is a sensitive issue here. There are all kinds of water usage bans on and I’m having to change the way I shower and wash dishes. Not that I wasted much water before, but now it is even scarcer and I feel I need to adjust further. There are also the brush fires. It seems like every year arsonists get their jollies by lighting the outskirts of Sydney aflame. People on the fringes are losing their homes on a daily basis and the environment is burning to a crisp. It’s all very frightening. The air quality here suffers greatly from the burns. If we leave the windows open we wake with a thin layer of ash on the bedclothes and us. If you keep the windows closed, no air circulation. Not a good choice to have to decide between.
The result – I need to adjust to this environment. Learn extreme water conservation, acclimate to the heat and try to live a little more lightly on the land to compensate for the overpopulation and the idiots. Sometimes I hate being responsible. It is a heavy burden to carry at times, but at least I sleep at night.
Summary thus far: Baby steps, baby steps. I must keep reminding myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day. It just seems so hard going from a perfectly established household, just the way I want it in an area I know like the back of my hand, to a mysterious, large new place where I know nothing. I feel like the big fish in a small pond that has been displaced to this huge ocean where I am but the tiniest of creatures. I’m learning a new aspect of patience. Just when you think you have your personal stuff together, life pulls open a new door and thrusts you through it into the vast unknown where all you knew is irrelevant. Life here is like starting over in almost every respect.
I need to learn to speak and communicate.
I am dependent upon others for housing and must learn to do things their way so as not to disrupt the flow of their home.
I have to rely upon others for transportation.
I have to begin all over making friends locally.
I need to find out about this area and learn where to find what I need to live.
I need to find a job and have some kind of income to contribute to this household while trying to save toward fulfilling the needs of George and myself.
I need to find my niche here. I feel like the fifth wheel that is throwing the balance off. I need to find a happy place here for myself so I can grow to accept and love my new home.
I feel like a teenager struggling to leave the nest for the first time. The big problem with that is that I've done that at least twice so far in my life. I'm feeling like I need to be settled at this age and here I am starting fresh again, living with parents, trying to find my footing in a strange, harsh land. This is where that new kind of patience comes in. I look to the Earth to give me strength and endurance.
There is more to come. Stay tuned.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
From:
Awwwwwwwwwwwwww
I am sorry that you took a bit of us with ya in the form of a virus, though. I have it too. Nasty business, I tell ya. Can't even imagine being on a plane for as long as you were with this much (uh.....) SNOT resting in my sinuses.
Anyhoo.... much love to you, my friend. We are all pulling for ya!
M