I'm only here for ten months, I think we're still in the candy-bouquet period with Australia, so I can't say I'm pissed off. I really like the climate, the rhythm of life (slow), the priorities of society (the same work/life balance that the songs in the corporations are sung about, really works here), tolerance (because everyone is different). Only bananas at 3.5 bucks a kilo can make you mad. But I'm holding on somehow. At first, there was a lot of irritation with jokes about Russians, who are all the same, and you listen to the same thing from every new acquaintance. The list is like this: cold, KGB, vodka, the game of words Russian - rushing, Putin - put in, especially intellectual can insert something about "Beginner". What's to hide is still annoying, of course. I want to ask about kangaroos, spiders and surfing.
Rules of emigration.
The first rule of emigration: forget that you will become your own. You will always be a stranger, unless you are four years old and your parents brought you here.
The second rule follows from the first: don't stress out what you don't understand, but ask for help. If there is a person who is happy (or at least not against) to help, always ask for help.
Of course, when I thought about where I wanted to live, I dreamed of Europe, not Oceania. Still, there is an inner craving for history, for these beautiful buildings, for culture. Australia cannot offer that. On the other hand, it offers magnificent nature, the ocean, endless beaches and convenient cities for people. I don't know, and considering how I got to Australia, who knows what's going to happen next.
In Australia, it was about different questions: what kind of insurance to buy (for a Russian, Australian insurance is just a wonderful new world, and my boyfriend ended up telling me on Skype: "Now press this tick and squeeze that one"), how dangerous is blue jellyfish, which bank to open an account in, why you can't have chocolate in the morning, and all that stuff. Well, when I lived in Mongolia, I couldn't have done anything without the locals. Even for a haircut to the salon, I took a colleague from Mongolia who was negotiating the price, length and color of the haircut.
A local partner (boyfriend/gerlfriend) is, of course, a win-win solution to many issues. I recommend it. Do as I do, do better than me. For example, don't repeat my mistakes: find a boyfriend in the same city where you live (we live in different cities). Seriously, the advice, of course, is this. But it made me feel like I wasn't alone, that there were friends of the boyfriend, that I could be friends with them, and that they were even normal people. First of all, just a tinder will roll too (in Mongolia I actively used tinder, rubber surfing, networking for expats; in general, I did not disdain almost anything to feel in society). In general, no matter how, your task is simply to understand how and what society lives and to give yourself a sense of involvement.
In addition, I strongly recommend that if you move alone, you first live in a shared house, i.e. with your neighbors. I had a lot of concerns about shared living. Well, that is, I did not want to, but the cost of rent did not suggest options. Now I pay for a room in a large apartment near the center of Brisbane 220 dollars a week (all inclusive, even the Internet). I walk to work on foot, which saves about $200 a month (public transport expensive).
By settling in an apartment (house) with neighbors, you immediately get a piece of society. A stupid example: I learned from my first neighbors how massively Australians use freezing. Even bread is frozen (and their bread defrosts without losing quality). Our goal is to hook up with the peculiarities of local life and to be surprised, surprised...
Apartments in Australia are often empty. It is very expensive to fill an apartment with everything from a fridge to a wifey (and this can be an epic), especially if you have just arrived from Russia with Russian savings. Entering the room and filling the room with a bed, lamp and bedside table is much easier. If you're lucky, your neighbors can also be great dudes, and then you can really be friends with them.
A separate topic for infusion into Australian society is sport. Sport is Australia's main religion. If you're an enthusiastic boxer, runner, capoeiraist or set up a good fight, you'll find friends faster - at least you'll have an eternal small talk subject.
Russians in Australia.
There is a Russian community, but I am, you might say, swaying from it. I haven't lived in Russia for almost two years now (a year in Mongolia, a month of travel and ten months here). Neither in Mongolia, nor in Australia, I have not managed to make any significant number of Russian-speaking friends. I don't have a purpose to communicate with people just because they speak my native language. In Brisbane there seem to be even two Russian clubs, several Russian-speaking Facebook groups, and Russian shops. I buy buckwheat. I'm Russian, guys! It seems to me that all these ghetto stories, when people unite on the principle of language, are some kind of strategic failure. It's not that I'm trying to get my hands on it - that's not the case either. I still communicate a lot with my Russian friends, follow the news, write a blog in Russian after all. I just don't need to look for living Russians here to talk in Russian and share my Old Russian yearning. I'd rather call my sister or parents.
The future.
I have a work contract for four years, I don't plan to terminate it, but I don't have a formal decision to stay here forever.
Read the first part here: