Melbourne Full Report Part One: The People and the Place

[karcy]

Coming from a city where pollution is high, crime is rising, politics is very dirty, and where many people with enough money and qualifications are making the decision to emigrate in fear of political or economic instability, Melbourne looks like paradise

Comments

[brother_dour]

I think I would probably like Australia. If the political climate in the U.S. ever pisses me off that badly, Australia is one of the places I would consider expating to...but for one thing.

EVERYTHING in Australia is trying to kill you. The spiders, the jellyfish, the crocodiles. Hell, even the cute cuddly kangaroos can eviscerate you with a kick and even the cute, cuddly little platypuses have venomous spurs! I swear, even with the massive amount of gun owners and conceal-carry laws and 80 MPH highways and brown recluses and black widows and several kinds of deadly venomous snakes, Texas is a LOT safer than the Outback!

[karcy]

I was really scared of encountering spiders too, but there weren't many bugs or animals going around this time of the year. Some were still hibernating.

Edit: with regards to its policy on migration, Australia was not always welcoming. Many years ago they were pretty resistant to immigrants. In the last decade this changed considerably following concerns about Australia's aging population, and Australia started embracing more progressive ideas: it embraced a policy of multi-culturalism, it started acknowledging aborigine history and legacy, it started planning its towns well (although town planning was, in general, always a strong Australian point) and it started to accept that the 'Australian accent' was not something to be ashamed about.

Melbourne itself receives 1500 migration applications per week.

[brother_dour]

So your life is only in mortal danger part of the year? Good to know =P

[aetherfox]

Chinatown had been growing over the years. In the evenings we mostly hang out in Chinatown and its just as busy as Malaysia would be at night, with quite a few sites open past 1am. I'm not sure if you noticed but Melbourne has clusters of ethnic restaurants and shops - I live in the Korean cluster (west/north). North east is the Italian area. East is Chinese

[aetherfox]

ah silly auto correct... parts = pays and believe = Melbourne. Trying to type from my phone since my work blocks livejournal lol.

[karcy]

The only time I went into Chinatown was on the last day of our trip when we wanted to have a family dinner. Apart from that, there wasn't much point in going to Chinatown -- for the obvious reasons.

GE13

[ext_1754488]

Previously left my comment in the wrong post.

So are you returning to Sarawak to vote?

Dont reply to my email.