Oz mumsnetters..?

[LiamsMum]

Just wondering how many other Aussies are regular Mumsnetters... I know Mollipops is one , but are there any others out there? I live in Queensland and I was just thinking the other day that it's a shame we can't take part in any of the 'meet ups'. Anyway I just thought it would be interesting to find out. Don't suppose you're a fellow Queenslander Mollipops..?

[bloss]

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[mollipops]

Hi fellow Aussies! No sorry, LiamsMum, I'm on the other side of the land in WA! I have a friend in Brissie now, but haven't got over to visit yet (tho' I have been there - Contiki tour ). I don't frequent too many other sites like this, (whereas I visit this one every day!) the only one I visit occasionally is nappybag.com.au which has some good bits but the forums are pretty quiet. Where r u again Bloss? I thought it was NSW but I could be confusing you with someone else...

[bells2]

And I'm an Aussie too although it looks as though I'll be living in the UK for ever.. Bloss, if you have a spare mo, I would love to hear how you have settled back into life in Oz and what your thoughts are on the quality of life there as opposed to here.

[bloss]

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[bloss]

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[bloss]

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[bells2]

Thanks Bloss for your thoughtful reply. So much of what you say rings true. Whenever I go home (only every 2 ? 3 years) I am always struck by how amazingly friendly the customs officials are as you arrive at the airport and how that sets the tone for the rest of the stay.

I miss my circle of school/ university female friends enormously. In Australia it seems to me that women rally around each other more than they do here (although I have to say that the women I have met through Mumsnet have been the exception to the rule!). In the UK, in an office environment, women often seem to view each other with suspicion whereas in OZ in my experience they would immediately club together.

Most women I know here are through my husband and I have slightly given up on things such as helping doing the food for their parties and frequently having them to meals etc etc as it is rarely reciprocated. But I suspect that may be a London/ South East thing rather than anything else.

I try not too dwell on life in Australia because it is just too easy to be transported to a fantasy land of good weather, good and affordable restaurants and a spacious house with a nice garden ? all rather different to the reality of life in the East End. I would however find the geographic isolation of Australia difficult now as European travel is a big part of our lives. In any event, my rather pale extremely-unsporting bookish husband would be somewhat lost I suspect.
I was also under the impression that house prices in Sydney were now almost as bad as London. Given that we both work in the City and would likely earn a lot less in OZ than we do here, that has also out me off contemplating a return.

[tigermoth]

Although I am a Brit, my husband grew up in Napier, New Zealand. I know New Zealand is not Australia, but his memories of the place reflect your messages,Bloss and Bells - the friendliness, the freedom etc.

When his family returned to England, in his early teens, he was sent to school in Oxford. He had great problems adjusting to the English way of life. He had been used to riding a horse to school, and going barefoot all day. Suddenly he was the outsider at an English public school. He hated every minute of it and joined`the navy at 16 years old.

Whether it's his New Zealand upbringing, the Navy, or his character, he is, IMO, unusually sociable for an English person, and makes friends in the wink of an eye.

Bloss, I found it so sad that you had only been inside three English homes during your three years in Oxford. But also quite believable. My home town is Cambridge, and, having lived in London, I look back on Cambridge as a staggeringly unfriendly place in comparison. IME, twentysomething university students, other students (of which there are many) and non-student long term residents mix very little. Even my husband found it hard to get past the conversation stage with strangers.

Just a question for you all. My husband loved 'Milo' as a child in NZ. As you may know (assuming it's also around in Australia), it's a vitimin-fortified chocolate mix to add to milk. Recently my husband located some in SE London, and my toddler is now addicted to it. I'm sure the sugar content needs watching, but that aside, exactly how healthy do you think this drink is?

[Marina]

Bloss, I am utterly astounded that you were invited to so few houses during your time at Oxford. Were you there in connection with the university? I only ask because university cities in the UK generally are much more sociable in my experience. In fact, parked in a dismal SE London suburb, I have been pining for such a busy social setting. Maybe I was mistaken! What a great shame for you, it's their loss.

[SueDonim]

We've moved around the UK quite a bit and have found that places vary a lot in how friendly they are. I really don't know why that should be.

The only 'excuse' (not the right word but I can't come up with another)I can think of, re Bloss's experience is that if locals live in an area with a high turn-over of population it eventually becomes too much effort to keep welcoming newcomers, when they are likely to be transient visitors and gone again in a flash.

Personally, I like meeting new people and still correspond with people I met years ago but haven't seen for 15 years, but I know not everyone is the same. My sons must both be very friendly towards foreigners as one of them met and married an American girl and the other is in a LTR with a French girl!

[bells2]

Don't get me wrong Star - I love the English!. Particularly their wonderful sense of humour and the fact that they are not afraid to be different. In Oz, in my experience anyway, people tend to be more conformist. I could go on endlessely about things that I think are truly wonderful about this country and I do find it amazing about how negative the Brits can sometimes be about their country.

BUT Australians do lead more open lives in the sense of inviting others into their homes. I'm sure that weather and space are big factors in this as it is an awful lot easier to have a dozen people around for a barbie in a large garden than a meal indoors.

In any case, there are of course two sides to everything. I stand by my remark that women in Oz tend to be more united in the workplace than here. But this probably has quite a bit to do with the fact that men in Australia tend to more bloke-ish than English men and so there is perhaps a bit more of a "them and us" feeling although this is of course a generalisation.

I wouldn't swap my quintessentially English husband for anything and certainly not a bronzed Aussie!.

[tigermoth]

suedonim, I agree with you, different places in the UK, IM(ltd)E, do vary so much in friendliness. I'm not knocking England, star, but do feel our weather works against us, as Bells says. When the sun shines here, everyone seems much more cheerful. Barbeques are so much easier to arrange than dinner parties!

[tigermoth]

Star, no worries

[sml]

I grew up near Oxford, went to school and uni there, also lived and worked there for several years. Bloss's experience, sadly, sounds pretty typical to me.

Problem with Oxford is that there isn't enough real industry. The place lives on magic dust, house prices are over inflated, and traffic's dreadful. The University doesn't care about these things because it knows that it is perfect, and is therefore beyond criticism. It works on a privilege system:

Non member/non academic worker - dust on one's shoes
Undergraduate member - a microbe
MCR member - recognisable as a human being (just)
etc. up to:
Fellows - One of Us, to be shielded at all costs from the consequences of their behaviour.
Head of colleges are God, and don't they and their spouses know it!

And then there are all the hangers on - people who aren't members of the University, but do vaguely related white collar jobs connected with it. They can be the worst academic snobs of all!

Oxford - grrrrr! don't get me started on the subject!

[tigermoth]

sml, substitute Oxford for Cambridge and I agree 100%. Yes, of course there are some lovely , friendly, non-academically snobbish people in my home town, but.....

[bloss]

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[bloss]

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[slug]

Tigermoth...Yum Milo, where did he get it? It probably is crammed full of sugar, but is as much a part of a kiwi child's upbringing as vegimite and buzzy bees (or chocolate fish...no don't get me started) We used to make Milo sandwiches, sprinkled on buttered white bread. By the time we had them for lunch, the warmth of the NZ summer would have melted it making a sort of chocolate spread. It's probably crammed full of sugar, but hey, we all survived.

[Reager]

Hhhmmm, Cold milo milkshakes after school. I am sure it is full of sugar. Found some in a deli - made in South Africa but tastes the same. Pineapple lumps, peanut slabs, jelly tips. From another kiwi....

[SueDonim]

Milo used to be a staple in hospital in the UK. I remember being offered it at bedtime when I had my first baby!

[SueW]

Is Kiwi Fruits (?) still open under NZ High Commission in Haymarket? It used to be a good source of Kiwi-ana for DH and other Kiwis I knew. Jaffas, pineapple lumps and Milo were the main things bought from there IME.

I have to say the strangest thing I encountered in Australia was Fairy Bread. Correction. DD encountered it; I didn't find out what it was until we got back and went to an Australian friend's party. Thank goodness, really, that I didn't know what DD had been consuming at the parties she went to.