Two Plus Two Newer Archives - Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

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- - Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia (http://archives1.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=312478)

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

Hawklet,

Damn. I just wrote a lengthy response to your questions, and 2p2 lost it.

That sucks.

Anyway, the short version is ('cause I'm annoyed and don't want to re-write 1,000 words on it):

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I'm leaving in February to study in Australia for the next few months. I'll be in Brisbane at the Australia Catholic University.

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ACU is not a great university.

Australia's leading universities are www.groupof8.edu.au

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Is there any information you can tell me that would be of interest to an American student traveling to Brisbane soon?

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High stakes player TeddyFBI studied at Sydney recently.

His story starts here: http://zbasic.com/2006_07_01_archive.html

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What are the big social differences? Are laws very different (especially in terms of alcohol consumption)?

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Info on drugs & alcohol legality in Queensland: http://www.police.qld.gov.au/services/drugs/

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I'll be receiving an internship while of there so any other information in regards to work etiquette would also be very helpful.

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Meh. No different to US, I imagine.

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And obviously, how is the night life? Thanks a lot.

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My city nightlife ratings:
1. Melbourne
...
...
...
2. Sydney
...
...
...
3. Brisbane/Gold Coast
4. Adelaide
5. Canberra*

(*Canberra's very good if you're a little older and you like highly educated public servants. Not loud music, but lots of decent, quieter bars for a more "refined" demographic)

I don't know about Perth.

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

Hi Josem,

I've spent quite a lot of time in Australia & am thinking of emigrating there; however, having been there at Xmas I realise that Sydney is probably out of my price range, where would you recommend moving to? Pertinent information:
1. I have a wife & 2 daughters under 10
2. I have a steady income from real estate so I don't need to work
3. I have friends & family in Sydney so I would like to be within a couple of hours drive.
4. I would like to be close to a good beach

Cheers.

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Josem,

I've spent quite a lot of time in Australia & am thinking of emigrating there; however, having been there at Xmas I realise that Sydney is probably out of my price range, where would you recommend moving to? Pertinent information:
1. I have a wife & 2 daughters under 10
2. I have a steady income from real estate so I don't need to work
3. I have friends & family in Sydney so I would like to be within a couple of hours drive.
4. I would like to be close to a good beach

Cheers.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not a fan of living outside major cities. Be aware that my own demographic (25 year old, single, mobile, etc.) is not reflective of yours, so my view of the world might be biased.

If you want to live outside Sydney, in a decent sized town (I'm going to exclude country towns simply because they're unlikely to have the services and schools and facilities you want) but within driving of distance of Sydney, you have two main options:

1) Newcastle region, north of Sydney.

2) Wollongong region, south of Sydney.

Co-incidentally, I currently live in Newcastle. Newcatle (and surrounds) have some sensational beaches, and I reckon they're better than Wollongong's. I also suspect that Newcastle is likely to grow more in the future than Wollongong, and is currently a city of over 500,000 people.

I took a photo of the beach at the end of my street; it is here: http://www.michaeljosem.com/uploaded...ach-789928.JPG

Other possibilities include the North Coast (4 or more hours north of Sydney; literally the best weather in the world; smaller cities/towns than Newcastle/Wollongong); the NSW Central Coast (which to me seems like a suburban extension of Sydney without the excellent services you get in a main city).

Some more info:
www.nsw.gov.au (State Govt Website)
www.realestate.com.au (Real Estate)
www.domain.com.au (More Real Estate)
www.education.nsw.gov.au (State Education Dept)

Hopefully this is a start - if you have more specific questions let me know.

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

Did you ever figure out why there are so few fat guys compared to fat girls?

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

How would you solve the crisis of the aborigines?

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

I'm not interested in answering questions about my own political views - while I'm sure they'd make for an interesting discussion, they don't fit here with the purpose of answering questions about people visiting/living in Australia.

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

where wer you 6 mos. ago? :-p

Have you ever been up to cairns?

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

I assume there was some discussion about Australian aborigines 6 months ago - I dunno what forum it is, and obviously I missed it.

I have never been to Cairns.

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia

No, 6 mos. ago I was getting ready to go to Aus. for a month

Re: Ask Josem about visiting/living in Australia