Is it really good to immigrate to Australia?

I have lived in Australia for 11 years since I immigrated to Sydney in 26. When I think about coming to Sydney from Shanghai with my wife and children, I am really filled with emotion along the way.

I remember when I first came out of the airport, I was conquered by the blue sky and comfortable environment here.

I landed in Australia with my family on April 28th, p>6, and settled down with the help of the intermediary. Then, according to the guidance and the introduction of friends, I chose a shop in Hurstville, where there are many Chinese, and I did a small business for two years. In early 29, I successfully moved to a permanent residence, and then I settled down in Australia.

Later, I lived a relatively leisurely life and learned a slow-paced life from Australians. Open the store at 1 am every day, close it at 2 pm, and spend the rest of the time with my wife and children. There are many holidays here, and the time for serious work every year is only eight or nine months. The rest of the time is basically either on vacation or on the way to vacation.

The Christmas holidays here are relatively long. Our family usually go back to Shanghai to see their parents during this period, and then during the Chinese New Year, their parents will come to Australia to see their grandchildren and experience the local life. The festivals in China and Australia will not be delayed.

My old father is old. Every time he comes to Australia, he has to travel a long distance. It is actually very hard for him, but every time he comes, he is full of praise for the environment and life here.

After coming to Australia, it may be the reason for being in a happy mood. The old man talks more than at home. I have roughly summarized his feelings, and combined with my life experience in Australia for so many years, I think the following points can be shared with you.

▎ Impression of Australians

With the development of the city and the quality of the population, uncivilized phenomena such as spitting, smoking in public places (especially this is the most intolerable), talking loudly, jaywalking, traffic fighting, changing lanes at will and dirty streets in some areas can be seen everywhere in China.

The quality of Australians is not to say that they are good everywhere, but they are indeed much better than those in China in the field of public morality. Most Australians are relatively well-behaved in public occasions. People who spit everywhere are basically not seen in the streets. People who get up in the morning to walk their dogs will also bring shovels and take away their dog's excrement. People who litter can't say no, but they are very rare, and everyone is relatively self-disciplined. Therefore, the streets in Australia are generally cleaner.

tobacco control in Australia is strict, the price of cigarettes is very expensive, and there are fewer people smoking in public places. If you are a non-smoker, or have children around you, if you are affected, let the other person know, and the other person will cooperate to stop smoking, or go to a distant place to smoke. In this respect, foreigners are still more polite.

unlike smokers in China, reminding them to pay attention is not only ignored, but also arrogant, and they will come to you with enthusiasm and deliberately spray at you, which is very unprofessional.

▎ natural environment

naturally, there is nothing to say about the environment, and I don't need to say more. You must have heard a lot about it from the news or from friends who have traveled to Sydney.

Sydney's harbor, blue sky, white clouds, fresh air, and vast forests, parks and lawns are worth having for you and your family.

Especially the parks and lawns here are really children's paradise. Every weekend, the children can't wait to take me and his mother by the hand and go to the park to play.

When I was in China, my wife and I were usually busy with work and business. My children spent most of their time in various cram schools except at home. Now that I think about it, I really owe him a lot.

Every time he comes to Australia, his favorite place is also the park near his home. Every morning, he gets up, goes for a stroll in the park and takes a walk. When he gets home, he talks about all kinds of things about foreigners, and he feels very happy all day.

▎ Work and income

Sydney is the leader of the Australian economy. After living here for more than ten years, it seems that it is rare to hear about Chinese unemployment. Unless you are particularly lazy and don't want to go to work, there are still many job opportunities as long as you are willing to do something.

The average annual salary in Sydney is relatively high in Australia. The average blue-collar worker can get about 65, Australian dollars a year, which is nearly 4, RMB. However, the prices here are more expensive, and the daily consumption and expenditure are higher than those in Melbourne, Victoria, Brisbane and Gold Coast, which is one of the reasons why many Chinese friends of mine prefer to stay in Melbourne instead of Sydney.

at this income level, if both husband and wife have jobs, buying a house is hardly a problem. There are many Chinese couples around me who have struggled in Sydney for a few years and then started buying houses. Many people have bought more than one set.

The down payment of Australian real estate is relatively low, generally only 1% down payment is required, and the rental return rate is relatively high. If you have ample funds on hand, you can buy a small apartment and pay 2% down payment to realize the monthly rent payment, which greatly reduces the pressure on housing supply.

Many friends around me especially like to invest in small apartments near those schools, and then rent them to China students studying in Sydney. On the one hand, students are easy to manage, and it is safer to rent them out, on the other hand, the rental income is relatively stable. Ordinary apartments, two-bedroom units, can rent about 35-6 Australian dollars per week, and HOUSE are generally 5-7 Australian dollars per week.

However, many Chinese in Sydney are now beginning to like to buy that kind of single-family House. Although the price is higher, the pressure of housing supply is greater than that of buying an apartment. However, if there are children at home, the spacious House and the independent garden can give children more room for activities and the atmosphere of family life is much better.

In terms of price, fruits and vegetables, fresh food and other foods in Sydney are still relatively expensive. The vegetable price of 7.99 Australian dollars per kilogram is normal, but in general, it will not exceed 1 Australian dollars per kilogram, and some low-priced vegetables can be bought at .99-2.99 per kilogram.

Immigrants like me have a high income in China, but when they first landed in Australia, because their business didn't start and there was no new source of income, they still carried forward the spirit of hard work, thrift and a little restraint when they saw this price.

After that, my business got on track, my life was more stable, and I had a source of income. I quickly got used to these prices and didn't feel expensive.

▎ children study

When I first arrived in Australia in p>6, my child was only five years old. From kindergarten to high school students now, he has grown into an adult. Looking at this little adult, I am both happy and worried.

Happily, the way of education in Australia in the past ten years has made him more rational about himself, and now he has his own plans for his future career development.

Compared with many of his peers in China, this is still a little ahead, which is where I agree with Australian education.

The school here emphasizes taking children to experience social life and natural environment from kindergarten, and cultivating children's practical ability and practical skills. From a very early age, children begin to realize which field they have advantages in and what kind of career they are suitable for in the future, which is undoubtedly very helpful for him to embark on the society in the future, and can reduce a lot of time for social practice and exploration.

His little friends who played together in China when he was a child now spend most of their time in reading and training classes, and most of them are in a state of ignorance about society and life.

Mentally, I think he is a little influenced by the Australian concept now, and he doesn't have to go to college. In the future, he can live well by learning his favorite technology and taking the professional route.

This is also my concern. Maybe Chinese immigrants of our generation can't get rid of the old educational concept. Although they have lived in Australia for more than ten years, they still think that their children should take the elite route, and they can get into a better university and make academic achievements in the future.

Because of this, when I chose to attend public and private schools, I decided to send him to private schools in the hope that he could get a better education.

Speaking of this, I have to mention the private education in Australia. In fact, judging from my children's learning experience, the competition among students in private high schools in Australia is not worse than that in China, and it is not as easy as expected. Many students will be eliminated in the second year of high school, and the academic pressure is still quite great.

In fact, no matter where you are, if a child wants to live a good life in the future, he must make extraordinary efforts. As a father, I still hope he can stick to it.

▎ Transportation

The public transportation in Sydney is very developed, and most areas are connected to the subway. It is convenient and punctual to commute to work and go shopping on weekends, which is no different from Shanghai and other first-tier cities in China.

If you are doing business here or have children at home, you'd better buy a car, otherwise it will be inconvenient to go out to talk about things or go shopping in the supermarket. Although it is a developed country, it is still sparsely populated. It is normal to go out to buy a dish and drive for more than ten minutes.

Fortunately, the traffic management level in Sydney is relatively high, and the roads are dense. It won't take 1 minutes to drive and 9 minutes to get stuck on the road like Shanghai, so there is no limit in Sydney. Large trucks can drive to the city center, and there is no limit on the number, let alone the purchase.

The car culture in Sydney is also very good. Generally speaking, drivers and pedestrians are very polite and obey the traffic regulations. For example, if you enter the roundabout and make way to the right, as long as there is a car on the right, you must stop and make way, without looking at the left-because the car on the left will definitely let you. So Sydney has thousands of roundabout, not traffic lights, but orderly.

when two teams of vehicles merge on the second line, they must automatically merge alternately, and one vehicle on each side takes turns, which is fair and reasonable. If a car wants to "jam", it will usually give way, and Gasser's car will usually raise its hand to show its gratitude. When a vehicle meets a pedestrian crossing the road, stop and make way.

In short, I like the traffic management there very much, but when I go back to Shanghai to visit my relatives, I am not used to it. I also hope that the domestic traffic management departments can learn some advanced experience in this field.

▎ Medical treatment, social security and taxation

It is no exaggeration to say that everyone in Australia has a tax number. The phrase "consciously paying taxes" is not as simple as lip service in Australia. Whether you pay taxes truthfully or not will be related to all aspects of your life in the future, such as applying for loans, receiving benefits, paying employees and receiving wages, etc., all of which will involve tax issues.

Therefore, the first two major events for new immigrants to land in Australia are to open a bank account first, and then apply for a tax number in official website of Australian Taxation Office.

▎ Simply talking about welfare

Australia is sparsely populated, so the government will encourage women of childbearing age to have more children, and will give considerable childbirth subsidies.

After the child is born, there will be a milk payment, which will be paid once every two weeks. Each child has about 5-3 Australian dollars, depending on the income of the parents. The lower the income, the higher the subsidy.

There are many single mothers in Sydney. They can support a family by having more children, and they don't need to rely on work income.

▎ Medical treatment

Australia is a country with universal health insurance, and it is limited and free to go to public hospitals for medical treatment. If you want to see a doctor for free, you must first apply for a Medicare card. After you get the Medicare card, you can reimburse the outpatient fees for treatment at GP (which can be understood as family doctor, community doctor or general practitioner) and 85% of the fees at specialist. If your specialist directly charges Medicare, you don't have to pay the treatment fee (also known as BULK BILLING).

if you want to go to a private hospital with better medical conditions, you can buy private medical insurance, so the scope of reimbursement is also larger.

in Australia, the family/general practitioner first visit system is implemented, that is, if there is any outpatient need, you should go to the family/general practitioner first. Every community medical center has GPs, and patients can freely choose to make an appointment at any GP, and show their Medicare cards when they see a doctor. Some GPs are bulk billing, and some GPs will charge you consultation fees and then give you invoices and bills to go to the branches of Medicare for reimbursement. The difference you pay is referred to as gap for short. So it is also possible for GP to charge. Remember, not all GPs are bulk billing.

Before seeing a doctor, be sure to ask clearly the expenses that need to be paid and the expenses that can be exempted in person, otherwise, the illness will get worse after seeing the doctor and receiving the bill.

▎ Daily consumption

Prices in Sydney are relatively expensive in Australia, but the income is also high, so, on the whole, the quality of life is acceptable.

My wife usually buys clothes, which is not my strong point and I am not sensitive to the price, so I don't have much say. However, according to my wife's description, it seems that the price is much cheaper than that in China.

In terms of food, China people can't get rid of their inherent eating habits wherever they go. Unfortunately, there are not many good Chinese restaurants in Sydney, which may be due to the large number of people in Hong Kong. The restaurants here cook more Cantonese food, and the price is relatively expensive. It is normal for a family to eat or entertain friends and customers, and it is normal to spend a few hundred Australian dollars for an ordinary table.

Don't expect too much from the dishes and tastes, which can't be compared with those in China. Therefore, we usually eat at home.

It is worth mentioning that the seafood here is not only rich in variety, but also cheap. Especially lobster, 3 Australian dollars can eat about 1 kg of big lobster in the restaurant. Don't be surprised if you see abalone, oysters and salmon in Australian homes. It's simply too common!

Sydney fish market, as well as the fish market in chinatown, all kinds of chilled marine fish, a basic 2 Australian dollars of about 2 kilograms per kilogram, and some stores only sell a whole piece for more than 2 Australian dollars. Fresh fish such as salmon, cod meat and other large pieces of fish are generally 1 to 2 Australian dollars per kilogram, and the prices of fresh shrimps and shellfish are mostly 16 to 22 Australian dollars per kilogram.

in some fish markets, you can buy them now, and then directly process them on the spot, and then add beer. Only those who have been there know how cool they are.

Once I took my old man to eat and drink at the emotional place, he just planned to take off his shirt and go into battle with bare arms, trying to eat seafood like a food stall in China, but I stopped him, reminding him repeatedly that this is not China, so I can't do this. Although I am happy to eat and drink, I can't be too rude.

I don't know much about other aspects of consumption, such as entertainment and amateur culture, so it depends on my personal situation. Many Australian natives like to go to bars, surf and keep fit, but China people don't like it very much. Chinese friends around them usually get together for BBQ, eat hot pot and fish.

Mahjong and Poker, the quintessence of our country, are different from each other.