Any other Ping Pong Paddies out there?

lufties

Hi All,

Just wondered if there are any Irish that did some time in Oz, said it wasn't for them and left?

Personally, I did a year and a half there but couldn't take to the place or the people for the most part, and left a few years ago. I guess it comes down to individual experience, but having lived in a few countries since, I wonder if leaving was a mistake on my part.

catbear

You're not alone, i was in oz 10 years ago and it didn't impress me then. We're here again just to make money and will probably leave next year.
I was actually very taken by mew zealand, maybe that'll be our next port of call!

lufties

catbear wrote: »

You're not alone, i was in oz 10 years ago and it didn't impress me then. We're here again just to make money and will probably leave next year.
I was actually very taken by mew zealand, maybe that'll be our next port of call!

m


I'm going back uk soon,

coolbeans

lufties wrote: »

m


I'm going back uk soon,[/quote

I was there for a year, found a professional position, all the hard stuff behind me but I just couldn't warm to the place. The expense, the lack of cultural difference after travelling so far, the drinking, the numerous drunken Irish, the distances and the lack of history put me right off Oz. I've since worked in France and the UK and love them.

Zambia

lufties wrote: »

m


I'm going back uk soon,[/quote

I was there for a year, found a professional position, all the hard stuff behind me but I just couldn't warm to the place. The expense, the lack of cultural difference after travelling so far, the drinking, the numerous drunken Irish, the distances and the lack of history put me right off Oz. I've since worked in France and the UK and love them.

I have been here 5 years and have met very few drunken Irish. I have seen no excessive drinking in fact bar a few occasions.

Saying you don't like oz is fine but at least see past the Irish haunts. Imagine hating Ireland after 2 nights in temple bar.

Plus it's not Australia's fault it's not older and it has no 500 year old buildings.

coolbeans

Zambia wrote: »

I have been here 5 years and have met very few drunken Irish. I have seen no excessive drinking in fact bar a few occasions.

Saying you don't like oz is fine but at least see past the Irish haunts. Imagine hating Ireland after 2 nights in temple bar.

Plus it's not Australia's fault it's not older and it has no 500 year old buildings.

I'm not having a go, that was my experience limited as it was. No need to get defensive.

catbear

In fairness I've come to appreciate Bogan culture in it's beautiful simplicity and can honestly say that Australia has added something unique to the greater firmament of human endeavor!

It elevates all others!

lufties

catbear wrote: »

In fairness I've come to appreciate Bogan culture in it's beautiful simplicity and can honestly say that Australia has added something unique to the greater firmament of human endeavor!

It elevates all others!

The bogans are like scumbags in Ireland, For me it was the isolation from the rest of the world and just felt that living there was a big disappointment in general.

The_B_Man

I spent 2 years there about 3 years ago and I still miss it.
Its like an ex-girlfriend that you thought you were gonna marry, but it didnt work out for some reason. In my case, distance (and visa ran out).


I've spoken to a lot of people who didn't like it, due to difficulty assimilating into the culture, or difficulty finding a job. It doesnt suit a lot of people. I know a girl that hated it due to how brash or rude the locals were, for example.

I think some people get off to a bad start in the place. Same happened to me with Bangkok. First time I hated it, second time I knew what to expect and absolutely loved it. Experiences are what you make of them, but sometimes you just have some bad luck.

lufties

The_B_Man wrote: »

I spent 2 years there about 3 years ago and I still miss it.
Its like an ex-girlfriend that you thought you were gonna marry, but it didnt work out for some reason. In my case, distance (and visa ran out).


I've spoken to a lot of people who didn't like it, due to difficulty assimilating into the culture, or difficulty finding a job. It doesnt suit a lot of people. I know a girl that hated it due to how brash or rude the locals were, for example.

I think some people get off to a bad start in the place. Same happened to me with Bangkok. First time I hated it, second time I knew what to expect and absolutely loved it. Experiences are what you make of them, but sometimes you just have some bad luck.

You lived in Bangkok? lucky man;)

maryishere

coolbeans wrote: »

I was there for a year, found a professional position, all the hard stuff behind me but I just couldn't warm to the place. The expense, the lack of cultural difference after travelling so far, the drinking, the numerous drunken Irish, the distances and the lack of history put me right off Oz. I've since worked in France and the UK and love them.

easy to cure that...find yourself in some place in Oz away from the usual Irish pubs / haunts in the cities. That what I done for the past 5 months and I hardly ever heard an Irish accent, never mind a drunken one.
Yup, distances are not what I was used to in Ireland but its a great place to spend a year or 2 anyway. Many Irish do not assimilate well when we move overseas. Move away from the usual haunts. Think outside the box.

coolbeans

maryishere wrote: »

easy to cure that...find yourself in some place in Oz away from the usual Irish pubs / haunts in the cities. That what I done for the past 5 months and I hardly ever heard an Irish accent, never mind a drunken one.
Yup, distances are not what I was used to in Ireland but its a great place to spend a year or 2 anyway. Many Irish do not assimilate well when we move overseas. Move away from the usual haunts. Think outside the box.

My job there didn't allow me to move outside of Perth and as I was there for work, not a good time so to speak I just couldn't up sticks and go somewhere ''better''. I assimilated pretty well in other countries, even learned the lingo but Australia was never going to be for me.

catbear

maryishere wrote: »

Many Irish do not assimilate well when we move overseas. Move away from the usual haunts. Think outside the box.

Got a link for that?

lufties

coolbeans wrote: »

My job there didn't allow me to move outside of Perth and as I was there for work, not a good time so to speak I just couldn't up sticks and go somewhere ''better''. I assimilated pretty well in other countries, even learned the lingo but Australia was never going to be for me.

Yeah I just read an article on the journal about irish pubs, you'd never get that in Oz. The oldest pub in Ireland is Sean's pub in Athlone is 900AD. Australia was found some 900 years later. The point being, as a people we are very steeped in history,that to go and stay in Australia, can be a huge change. This is not meant to be a 'whinge about Oz thread, but the lack of culture and vibrancy can prove too great for some.

Batgurl

lufties wrote: »

The bogans are like scumbags in Ireland

Bogans aren't scumbags, that's the Westies.

Bogans are culchies.

lufties

Batgurl wrote: »

Bogans aren't scumbags, that's the Westies.

Bogans are culchies.

Ok wrong choice of words, they're the people that go Bali ,get sh1tfaced and sing the national chant, 'Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie, Oi Oi Oi facken Oi', :pac:

The Aussie

lufties wrote: »

but the lack of culture and vibrancy can prove too great for some.

vi·brant (vbrnt)
adj.
1.
a. Pulsing or throbbing with energy or activity: the vibrant streets of a big city.
b. Vigorous, lively, and vital: "a vibrant group that challenged the . . . system" (Philip Taubman).
2. Exhibiting or characterized by rapid, rhythmic movement back and forth or to and fro; vibrating.
3. Produced as a result of vibration; resonant or resounding: vibrant voices.
4. Relatively high on the scale of brightness: a vibrant hue.
vibran·cy, vibrance n.
vibrant·ly adv.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vibrancy

Poor choice of words maybe?

There are only about 5 streets in Ireland I would describe as vibrant, how could the lack of "vibrancy" prove to great, compare the whole of Ireland to say Melbourne.

lufties

The Aussie wrote: »

vi·brant (vbrnt)
adj.
1.
a. Pulsing or throbbing with energy or activity: the vibrant streets of a big city.
b. Vigorous, lively, and vital: "a vibrant group that challenged the . . . system" (Philip Taubman).
2. Exhibiting or characterized by rapid, rhythmic movement back and forth or to and fro; vibrating.
3. Produced as a result of vibration; resonant or resounding: vibrant voices.
4. Relatively high on the scale of brightness: a vibrant hue.
vibran·cy, vibrance n.
vibrant·ly adv.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vibrancy

Poor choice of words maybe?

There are only about 5 streets in Ireland I would describe as vibrant, how could the lack of "vibrancy" prove to great, compare the whole of Ireland to say Melbourne.

Firstly maybe if you compared like with like it might be a start, perhaps Australia and western europe? If you are talking size that is of course.

The Aussie

lufties wrote: »

Firstly maybe if you compared like with like it might be a start, perhaps Australia and western europe? If you are talking size that is of course.

Yeh "like for like" 200 million(?) to 20 million :rolleyes: LOL

Is there a Secondly, or just a Firstly

lufties

The Aussie wrote: »

Yeh "like for like" 200 million(?) to 20 million :rolleyes: LOL

Is there a Secondly, or just a Firstly

So with the risk of going around in circles with you, A big massive country/continent isolated from the rest of the world. 20million or 200 doesn't make a difference,It does lack vibrancy, ok sydney or melbourne are good cities, and I enjoyed perth, but thats as far as vibrancy goes IMO.

Oh yeah the population of Ireland is under 5 million, so maybe if it was 20, things might be different.

The Aussie

lufties wrote: »

It does lack vibrancy, ok sydney or melbourne are good cities, and I enjoyed perth, but thats as far as vibrancy goes IMO.

So even one of those cities have more vibrancy than the whole of Ireland (would not know about Perth as I've never been) so back to my original point, how can it be to great for some when it's more than where they are from?

lufties wrote: »

the lack of culture and vibrancy can prove too great for some.

:rolleyes:

lufties wrote: »

Oh yeah the population of Ireland is under 5 million, so maybe if it was 20, things might be different.

Yeh 68% unemployment and full of Ghettos :eek:

lufties wrote: »

So with the risk of going around in circles with you

Don't worry, I've got plenty of time...

lufties

The Aussie wrote: »

So even one of those cities have more vibrancy than the whole of Ireland (would not know about Perth as I've never been) so back to my original point, how can it be to great for some when it's more than where they are from?

:rolleyes:



Yeh 68% unemployment and full of Ghettos :eek:



Don't worry, I've got plenty of time...

Dublin, Cork, Limerick, waterford, kilkenny, galway... All good cities, and there is always something going on, for a country the size of Ireland it does quite well.

Anyway, my OP has nothing to do with Ireland, its to do with Irish people that got sick of Oz/aussies and left LOL

The Aussie

lufties wrote: »

Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Galway... All good cities and towns, and there is always something going on, for a country the size of Ireland it does quite well.

Fixed... If you can stand on one side of a city town and see cows in a field on the other side it ain't a city :pac:...

lufties wrote: »

Anyway, my OP has nothing to do with Ireland, its to do with Irish people that got sick of Oz/aussies and left LOL

Yes, I was just pointing out your poor choice of words until you got precious :rolleyes: LOL...

lufties

The Aussie wrote: »

Fixed... If you can stand on one side of a city town and see cows in a field on the other side it ain't a city :pac:...



Yes, I was just pointing out your poor choice of words until you got precious :rolleyes: LOL...

As far as I can see you started bangin' on about Ireland

The Aussie

lufties wrote: »

As far as I can see you started bangin' on about Ireland

Nah, was pointing out how laughable the word "Vibrant" was, once again how can it be too much for some, some bloke from Co Galway is really going to miss the "vibrancy" of Tuam, or maybe the bloke from Dripsey in Co Cork......

Will re-cap for your benefit.

lufties wrote: »

the lack of culture and vibrancy can prove too great for some.

The Aussie wrote: »

Poor choice of words maybe?

There are only about 5 streets in Ireland I would describe as vibrant, how could the lack of "vibrancy" prove to great, compare the whole of Ireland to say Melbourne.

lufties wrote: »

So with the risk of going around in circles with you

As before, I've got plenty of time to explain in the morning.

Kiith

I'll be leaving in 5 weeks, after the guts of a year spent in Melbourne. Loved my time here, and had a great laugh. Had the chance to go for a longer term visa, but decided against it. Not sure i'd have stayed for more than another year or so, though i'm not really sure why. So instead i'm off to scratch my travelling itch again, and will be in NZ for a while.

catbear

Personally i find Perth to be very dull and is less lively than your average regional Irish town on a wet tuesday night in November.

jackbhoy

I would be interested in hearing a bit more detail on where in Australia people lived/left.

I love living in Melbourne but doubt I would ever want to live in Brissie/Perth/Darwin/Sydney etc, just personal preference, not bagging those places in particular.

I do find it funny when people who spent a few months in some Irish ghetto or red neck town then say they don't like 'Australia', as if that small sample size is completely representative of the entire nation. Even in Melbourne, there is huge variety in type of lifestyle experience you get from suburb to suburb, let alone interstate.

Xavi6

catbear wrote: »

Personally i find Perth to be very dull and is less lively than your average regional Irish town on a wet tuesday night in November.

Having lived here for nearly seven years and spent a Sunday night in Westport last January, I respectfully suggest that you've stepped into hyperbole with that one

catbear

Westport is closer to civilisation than Perth.

Xavi6

catbear wrote: »

Westport is closer to civilisation than Perth.

From hyperbole to facetiousness. For the sake of the thread I'll bow out before we go too far down the Perth-bashing road yet again.

gdawg87

Spent 3 years there. Very hard to avoid the Irish. They make fools of themselves when they're drunk. As for the Aussies, met a lot of nice people but I met so many racist aussies there too. I would have to say that I encountered more openly racist people in Australia in 3 years than I have all my life in Eire. That being said, I miss the weather, the bbqs, the good wages and the women. Aussie women put Irish women to shame as far as attractiveness goes, but Irish gals are better craic.

lufties

jackbhoy wrote: »

I would be interested in hearing a bit more detail on where in Australia people lived/left.

I love living in Melbourne but doubt I would ever want to live in Brissie/Perth/Darwin/Sydney etc, just personal preference, not bagging those places in particular.

I do find it funny when people who spent a few months in some Irish ghetto or red neck town then say they don't like 'Australia', as if that small sample size is completely representative of the entire nation. Even in Melbourne, there is huge variety in type of lifestyle experience you get from suburb to suburb, let alone interstate.

I spent 6 months in Newcastle, met 2 Irish people in that time. Its a nice spot, good surf beaches etc, A bit too rough for my liking though. Always fights going on and didn't find it to be a friendly place, in fact it is quite cliquey there.

Zambia

jackbhoy wrote: »

I would be interested in hearing a bit more detail on where in Australia people lived/left.

I love living in Melbourne but doubt I would ever want to live in Brissie/Perth/Darwin/Sydney etc, just personal preference, not bagging those places in particular.

I do find it funny when people who spent a few months in some Irish ghetto or red neck town then say they don't like 'Australia', as if that small sample size is completely representative of the entire nation. Even in Melbourne, there is huge variety in type of lifestyle experience you get from suburb to suburb, let alone interstate.

There are several suburbs in Melbourne you will never meet another irish person.

Batgurl

Lived in South coast NSW during my regional work and my god it was amazing. Friendly people who treated you like family. People rocking up to the house inviting you for dinner, out fishing, horse riding, the pubs and cafés all knew your name and would chat away to you.

These weren't small 'bogan' areas or out bush either. Think towns like Loughrea, Kells or Roscommon. I honestly think the culture and authenticity people are talking about wanting here can be found out among these folks.

gdawg87

South West WA is beautiful. Margaret River, Dunsborough, Yallingup. Great wineries and some of the best beaches in the country.

lufties

gdawg87 wrote: »

South West WA is beautiful. Margaret River, Dunsborough, Yallingup. Great wineries and some of the best beaches in the country.

and did you leave Oz then?

gdawg87

Yep, 6 months ago

gdawg87

lufties wrote: »

and did you leave Oz then?

yep, 6 months ago

The Aussie

Batgurl wrote: »

Lived in South coast NSW during my regional work and my god it was amazing. Friendly people who treated you like family. People rocking up to the house inviting you for dinner, out fishing, horse riding, the pubs and cafés all knew your name and would chat away to you.

These weren't small 'bogan' areas or out bush either. Think towns like Loughrea, Kells or Roscommon. I honestly think the culture and authenticity people are talking about wanting here can be found out among these folks.

It reminds me of the Irish who I bump into over here in who have done their 2 year WHV who just go over to Northbridge, St Kilda, Bondi or some other micro hub of their home town and all they do is hang around people they knew back home, not making any effort to know anyone other than their own cliquey group, then they come back and profess to know all about Australia :rolleyes: that's all the sort of stuff they missed out on, although a different culture is/was lost on the most of them, no real loss to be honest...

catbear

Perhaps "drinking and working holiday visa" would be more apt!

lufties

The Aussie wrote: »

It reminds me of the Irish who I bump into over here in who have done their 2 year WHV who just go over to Northbridge, St Kilda, Bondi or some other micro hub of their home town and all they do is hang around people they knew back home, not making any effort to know anyone other than their own cliquey group, then they come back and profess to know all about Australia :rolleyes: that's all the sort of stuff they missed out on, although a different culture is/was lost on the most of them, no real loss to be honest...

Yea because you'd never meet an Aussie in the walkabout:rolleyes:, the'd be more refined than that.

I remember a young aussie lad was gonna head westwards to get off the big empty red rock for a year. One of the older lads said 'yeeeeeah, that Kant, he'll be back to work for us once he's done blownin' he's fackin' load all over Europe'. A classy fellow:pac:

g5fd6ow0hseima

I was there for almost two years on a WHV. I was impressed with the country, its infrastructure, governance and so on - really is one of the best run places in the world. Ireland may as well be Mozambique when it comes to comparing out health system to theirs. The only thing I loathed was the constant funeral insurance adverts on the television.

I had a fair knowledge of the country before going there, was a big fan of NRL & AFL, had met plenty of sound Aussies in the past, had imagined them to be fairly brash, humourous and carefree folk. Yet I struggled to find sound Aussies my own age (early 20s), I feel it's down to the fact that young Aussies take themselves ridiculously serious, shaved chests on lads, and so on (and i'm not talking about a nation of Gold Coast heads).

At first - in all my naivety - I thought it might have been something against the Irish as I had envisaged an Australia invaded and torn asunder by Irish pissheads - but then realised that no other WHV holders were making friends with Aussies. I made quiet an effort, lived in Newtown in Sydney, West End in Brisbane, and Northcote in Melbourne, spent my time in local pubs, and found that it was only the older Aussies (30/40+) who I got on with, the only ones you could have a decent chat with.

The younger ones just switched off once they heard an 'overseas' accent. I feel that a lot of it is down to the media, and the lack of exposure to the wider world. Enormous and undue pride is taken in Australian music which is, by the standards of the wider world, ****. If it's not Australian it wont be listened to, 'Aussie Hip-Hop' and all that. Saying all this, I do have massive respect for the such a vibrant homegrown music industry, but for outsiders it's hard to get on board.

The Aussie

lufties wrote: »

Yea because you'd never meet an Aussie in the walkabout:rolleyes:, the'd be more refined than that.

Is the Walkabout a Suburb? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

lufties wrote: »

Yea because you'd never meet an Aussie in the walkabout:rolleyes:, the'd be more refined than that.

I remember a young aussie lad was gonna head westwards to get off the big empty red rock for a year. One of the older lads said 'yeeeeeah, that Kant, he'll be back to work for us once he's done blownin' he's fackin' load all over Europe'. A classy fellow:pac:

Another nothing about nothing story, about the norm though :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Although it's not lost on me how you don't get a lads joke, the same style of joke told word wide when some young fella goes abroad for a year or two.

lufties

The Aussie wrote: »

Is the Walkabout a Suburb? :rolleyes::rolleyes:



Another nothing about nothing story, about the norm though :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Although it's not lost on me how you don't get a lads joke, the same style of joke told word wide when some young fella goes abroad for a year or two.

Ah it was supposed to be funny, I must've forgotten to laugh, I cringed instead.

Well I hope he picked up some culture while he was in europe all the same, perhaps even a second language god forbid :eek:

Batgurl

lufties wrote: »

perhaps even a second language god forbid :eek:

Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, German and French.

A quick scan of my office reveals these are the second languages just a sample of my Australian colleagues speak ... fluently ... that they learned in high school. Highly practical don't you think?

Please don't knock Australians as lacking culture or knowledge based off your limited interaction with a select few.

The same could easily be said of Irish people who can barely do the 'Ta me', 'Ta tu' etc but I certainly don't go around telling people my countrymen are uncultured or unknowledgable.

Nelson Muntz

lufties wrote: »

Ah it was supposed to be funny, I must've forgotten to laugh, I cringed instead.

Well I hope he picked up some culture while he was in europe all the same, perhaps even a second language god forbid :eek:

You seem quite bitter towards Australia. Makes it hard to take any notice of what you have to say.

The Aussie

lufties wrote: »

Ah it was supposed to be funny, I must've forgotten to laugh, I cringed instead.

Was that a joke? Sounded like it was made up If I told jokes like that I would cringe as well.

lufties wrote: »

Well I hope he picked up some culture while he was in europe all the same, perhaps even a second language god forbid :eek:

Don't you mean a different culture?

I can see why you failed in Australia to be honest.

jackbhoy

Jazmine Tight Wolf wrote: »

I made quiet an effort, lived in Newtown in Sydney, West End in Brisbane, and Northcote in Melbourne, spent my time in local pubs, and found that it was only the older Aussies (30/40+) who I got on with, the only ones you could have a decent chat with.

Totally agree with you around older Aussies being more laid back and easy to talk to, have said the same on here before as pretty much all my close Aussie mates are either similar age or older than me.

Having said that, you did live in 3 of Australia's hipster ghettos The try hard, self-consciously cool thing is quite amusing to me at this stage. Everyone is an individual which is why every bloke has a tatt sleeve, black skinny jeans, beard and/or coiffured moustache, wears retro Rayban sunnies and a "vintage" shirt and rides his fixie to his job as a barista or his evening gig as a poet/lead guitarist/video artist etc...these are the spoilt middle class kids that we called Celtic Cubs back home so I often struggle to engage in any sort of interesting conversation with them...

The Aussie

jackbhoy wrote: »

Having said that, you did live in 3 of Australia's hipster ghettos The try hard, self-consciously cool thing is quite amusing to me at this stage. Everyone is an individual which is why every bloke has a tatt sleeve, black skinny jeans, beard and/or coiffured moustache, wears retro Rayban sunnies and a "vintage" shirt and rides his fixie to his job as a barista or his evening gig as a poet/lead guitarist/video artist etc...these are the spoilt middle class kids that we called Celtic Cubs back home so I often struggle to engage in any sort of interesting conversation with them...

You make me want to vist these places so much

g5fd6ow0hseima

jackbhoy wrote: »

Totally agree with you around older Aussies being more laid back and easy to talk to, have said the same on here before as pretty much all my close Aussie mates are either similar age or older than me.

Having said that, you did live in 3 of Australia's hipster ghettos The try hard, self-consciously cool thing is quite amusing to me at this stage. Everyone is an individual which is why every bloke has a tatt sleeve, black skinny jeans, beard and/or coiffured moustache, wears retro Rayban sunnies and a "vintage" shirt and rides his fixie to his job as a barista or his evening gig as a poet/lead guitarist/video artist etc...these are the spoilt middle class kids that we called Celtic Cubs back home so I often struggle to engage in any sort of interesting conversation with them...

Hipster ghettos they are, but they were the only decent areas for nightlife. I thought the Inner West as a whole was a great area in Sydney, liked Glebe too, I regret not getting a room somewhere around there for a few months.....

Northcote wasn't as bad for hipsters, it was a slightly older crowd knocking about there, mainly late 20s and upwards. Some serious vegan vibe going on around there.... plenty of pystrance heads and what not. Take the West End away from Brisbane and you have some serious cultural abyss..... shocking for a city of two million really.