Hi from Australia

Dear Dmscvan,

welcome on the expat forum!

I am a bit curious, what's your field research? (I may read it on your blog )

Thanks! I'm doing my PhD in linguistics. Writing a grammar of an undescribed language. It's lots of fun!

Has it been complicated to move from Canada to the other side of the planet?

What do you like in Australia/Papua New Guinea?

What do you hate in those countries?

(lots of questions but I am very interested in that part of the world )

I wouldn't say it's been complicated to move to the other side of the country - the whole process went pretty quick, because I didn't really have any time between degrees, and I was really busy with schoolwork right up until the move. But there have definately been some surprises since moving.

In Australia, I like the friendliness of the people. I thought we were friendly in Canada (maybe it's just a comparison to the Americans), but they are even more so in Australia. In stores, banks, etc. And I like the easy-going nature of Australians - very down to earth (of course, these are all generalizations).

I like a lot of the food here - the dairy is so much better than in Canada. They have some nice, cheap wine here too - perfect for a student (I was never much of a wine drinker before moving here).

I like some of the older architecture in the city. For a European, it probably seems funny - but for a western Canadian, it all seems so old to me, and I love it. I also like all the brick houses.

I also love the environment here. The trees and birds. The eucalyptus smell wonderful and the birds are so colourful!

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of things I hate about Australia. The first is that everything closes early and not much is open on Sundays. Coming from North America, I guess I'm used to shopping and doing errands in the evenings/weekends. Here you have to take time off to do it.

And it's too cold here! I know it's crazy coming from a Canadian who's used to -40 weather, and it never really goes below zero here - but they don't prepare for the cold at all. Houses aren't insulated, very few have central heating. I hate having to dress warm just to be inside! (But luckily, spring is here!).

I thought Australians were supposed to be beer drinkers - but most of the beer is terrible! I'd almost rather buy a beer in the States than in Australia (the States has notoriously bad beer). I miss Canadian beer.

Banking services are much worse here. Although bankers are usually more friendly, they seem to be a bit more incompetent. I've had so many frustrations with them here, never getting a straight answer to anything!

I miss watching hockey and football. I'm not a big fan of rugby, Aussie Rules Footy and cricket (what kind of sport has everyone dressing in white anyways?).

The world news coverage here is very poor - it's almost all local (which rugby/cricket player is in court now - that type of thing).

I think some of my disappointments about Australia stem from always being told how similar it is to Canada. And it is in a lot of ways, but in some ways it's very different!

It gets dark too early in the summer - about 9:30 pm. I miss long summer nights.

These are just a few things that come to mind about Australia. Papua New Guinea is a whole different story! When I'm in PNG, I live in a small village - no electricity, running water, etc. It's much different. So my experiences there are much different than most expats to PNG.

I love PNG, the people are so incredibly friendly. They make you a part of their family - this is extremely common in PNG villages. I love having my eyes opened to a vastly different culture. I can't really begin to explain the differences here, there are so many.

The connections I made with people in PNG are much deeper than any I've made in Australia. Of course, I lived in a village in PNG, and a city in Australia. But it's really nice being a part of a community. And I liked the challenges of learning to live a completely different lifestyle, learn a new language (or two), etc.

But I missed the fact that I am so completely out of touch with anyone outside of my little world in PNG. There are no phones or anything where I live, so I have to travel into town to make a very expensive phone call, or even more expensive internet connection. I don't do it very often.

I get tired of having to wash fully clothed in a river with water up to my ankles and lots of kids staring at me. I get tiring of drawing a crowd because people want to look at me/hear me talk.

And amazingly, it's too hot for me in the village - I never thought I'd find a place that was too hot,  but without any breeze or fans, being just a few degrees off the equator is too much.

It gets dark way to early here - about 6:30 year round. It's a bit strange.

Well, this is getting a little long, so I'll stop. But I just want to say that I love both Australia and PNG, and I wouldn't trade my experience for the world!