Pauline from Australia Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Hello, some of the old timers may remember me - Pauline from Australia. Back after 10 years (been travelling, without computer, doing other life things and thought I would look you guys up again. I always enjoyed these forums ... anyway good to be back. Cheers Pauline Link to comment
Darlene Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Welcome back! This is such a wonderful surprise. You'll have to fill us in on more details when you get time. Cat should be around soon with her cart of coffee, teas, juices and morning danishes. In fact, now that I think about it, she's running a little late this morning and I'm hungry. lol Link to comment
Cat Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Wonderful!!! So glad you found us again!! We love our Aussie friends! And I always enjoyed your common sense approach to life. Your comments about your Muslim neighbor and what he told you about jihad has always stuck with me. It reminds me that there is always an "agenda" in the end. So... catch us up! Where'd you go, what have you been filling your life with, how are you now?? What do you see in your part of the world economically now? People here are quite pessimistic these days. Welcome back! Link to comment
Ambergris Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Welcome home--nice to meet you! Link to comment
ANewMe Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Welcome back!! So nice to meet you!! Link to comment
snapshotmiki Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Welcome back Pauline!!! It will be nice to see you around!!!!! Link to comment
Pauline from Australia Posted October 30, 2010 Author Share Posted October 30, 2010 Thanks everyone and here is a brief catchup to Cat's questions. Generally life is good here, our dollar is strong and on par with yours and we are spending like there is no tomorrow. The foreclosures that seem to be happening in the States are not happening here. Unemployment is low, our hospital system needs work with the main problem being waiting lists for elective surgery. Medical care is free in Australia and if it is urgent you are treated quickly as a Category One. Our medical system does not cover dental though. Aussies in general are welcoming of diversity but a small number still hold racist views. As we are a multicultural society our kids are growing up in a melting pot and sometimes seem to be more tolerant than their older family members. We seem keen to adopt the soft cultural differences like food etc. but it rears its ugly head from time to time. Muslims were most feared or loathed for “not belonging”, and followed by indigenous Australians and Africans. It is something akin to the new kids on the block, where as before it was the italians, then the Greeks etc. We have an appalling record of treatment of our own aborginies, though this is improving. The goverment has adopted an affirmative action towards them and they are getting more "handouts" than white Australians and this causes a bit of a division between whites and aboriginies. A couple of years ago there started to be increasing racist attacks against Indians with many Indians in Melbourne fearing racist attacks and lynchings were increasing. It even led to the Indian government issuing an advisory warning about the dangers of traveling to Melbourne. My personal view is that I am tolerant of any nationality providing they don't act in an anti-social manner and are respectful of others in the community. On another note, we have tough gun laws and our crime rate using guns is low. The weapon of choice seems to be knives. Some choice! The stats of homicides per capita compared to the States is a lot lower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence#Homicides_by_country. I could rave on for ages but overall, Australia is a great place. I looked at the cost of your real estate and early died it was so cheap compared to ours. A VERY ordinary 3 bedroom house 30-40 kilometres from a major city like Melbourne costs about $350,000. I'd love to live there for the real estate cost alone. Green card for me? Cheers and all the best Pauline XX Link to comment
Amishway Homesteaders Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 OK everybody .................. Lets all sing the theme song from 'Welcome Back Kottor'- Welcome back, To that same old place that you laughed about. Well the names have all changed since you hung around, But those dreams have remained and they're turned around. Who'd have thought they'd lead ya, Back Here where we need ya. Well there you go -Welcome Back! </FONT> Link to comment
Becca_Anne Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Welcome back Pauline! I remember you Link to comment
themartianchick Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Hi, Pauline! Interesting information about Australia! I had always heard that there were racial issues with the Aborigines, but didn't realize that it also applied to other ethnicities, too. I found the information about the healthcare to be interesting,too. With the passing of the healthcare bill here in the states, many folks are saying that countries with socialized medicine have long waiting lists for emergency treatments. It is nice to know that it isn't like that in your area. I have also spoken to Canadians who report findings similar to yours. Anyway, I look forward to reading your posts from Down Under! Link to comment
pauline Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Welcome back Pauline look forward to seeing many posts from you and getting to know you better ~pauline Link to comment
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