Verbatims
Selected verbatim statements by South African migrants to Australia
We have selected verbatim statements from some migrants who have made the journey from South Africa to Australia. We hope that these are able to lend perspective to prospective migrants so that they may have realistic expectations coming to Australia and so that they may give themselves and their children a good chance of settling in successfully.
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“If you are committed to immigrating then the sooner the better: Unless you are earning serious money in SA. A move can potentially put you back financially between 5 and 10 years. As younger children seem to adapt easier, where as teenagers in general seem to find it more difficult to adjust.”
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“Our Family arrived on 1 March 2007, and we are living in Hope Island
on the Gold Coast. In a nutshell we have experienced what most
SA families have... a daily rollercoaster ride.
We have been ripped off by fellow South Africans, and Australians alike. Watch out for the SA business networks, looking for your money... There is a reason why these people are so friendly. Please take note, that in OZ you get nothing for nothing. Even replacing a watch battery will set you back $15 ... R90. In SA that would be "R15 for the battery sir, can I fit it for you, there is no charge tho fit the battery"
So you might say that SA has slave labour, and therefore things are cheaper (BTW: oz also has it's low lives, but unfortunately they are not colour coded for easy identification, and they earn the same money as you!), but I will say that in OZ there is a very significant element missing, and that is human kindness.”
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“For the most part, Ozzies are pretty friendly people if you just put yourself out a little. After all, they are letting us in and immigration with its attendent woes does get them wondering just what we want from them.”
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“Why do some people still bother to work out how much something would have cost in RSA? You will just make yourself crazy in the long run or just sit at home and whine, doing nothing fun. Please, we all earn dollars and dollar wise, things are quite cheap.”
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“Here in Perth we buy a paper on a weekly basis - called the Quakka ($2.50 - R15.00), similar to the Junk Mail, but what is nice is that they have a section where they give stuff away for FREE, from Jacuzzi's to houses and you can almost furnish a house for FREE if you just get it early enough.
Don't get me wrong, I'm thankfull for having the upportunity to be here and do not want to return to RSA ever but I would have appreciated a little bit more honesty as to how expensive it really is in OZ and then I would have been better prepared when packing the container.
Oh by the way you pay per kg for watermelon about $1.00 to $1.80. Mangoes is about $3.80 ea. Honey is cheaper than in RSA and I'm very happy because we don't eat sugar and it set us back a bit in RSA and now we get it cheaper here. So not all bad. It's on special here by us now $6.00 for a 1kg and normal price is $8.00. In RSA we were used to R56.00 per kg at Fruit & Veg.
The TV is nice, so need to worry about Foxtel (DSTV). It is wonderful how safe one feels here and the people aren't all bad, but the ESTATE AGENTS are bastards, we only got our house by pure luck - or no.. WITH THE HELP OF GOD... We drove past the house and noticed that there were people working inside and just asked if we could have a quick look around and it was the owner. He then said after chatting for about two hours that he is happy with us and if we want the house we should just get our offer in with the agent and he will be more than happy to have us as tenants. Of course the house agent wasn't to happy that she was bypassed but there wasn't much she could do. Otherwise we would still be house hunting.
Otherwise we enjoying our stay in this beautiful country and the thing is we tend to forget real quick how bad things really are in South Africa, and once the honeymoon is over one tend to forget how good we have it here in OZ.”
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“Most probably if I warn people Magpies are nasty birds and watch out for your eyes in Spring time, you'll say how can I say this because I haven't been in the country long enough, and that they are loving peaceful birds that can't hurt a fly. CR@P - they are dangerous in Spring and one have to watch out for them. Maybe you are one of the many saying there is no crime in OZ and that this is EUTOPIA. There are crime that happen here and babies get kidnapped etc. All that we are use to in RSA, the difference is that the government here care enough and the criminals get cought and there is a justice system in place. The youth don't appreciate all of this and they are taking advantage of how good they have it in this country.”
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Here’s how to handle ‘Culture Shock’ - that overwhelmed feeling after a major life change without your usual support systems. Culture shock has basically 5 stages and the length of each differs from person to person. Most people won’t even reach some of the stages. It’s a good thing to prepare yourself for the possibility of reaching all these stages and decide on a plan to cope & stay realistic.
Stage 1: The Vacation Feeling
You’ve arrived in your new country. Everything is breathtaking, new & exciting. You’re having lots of fun exploring and excitingly telling the family back home all about the good time you’re having. You’re enthusiastic and full of plans. You go places & do things - more than you would normally have. Don’t let all the excitement blind reality. In all this excitement, know that you will have to go back to work, the kids will have to go back to school and you’ll have household chores, errands to run, bills to pay!
Stage 2: Denial & Doubts
Facing the reality of daily life fades the initial excitement. Negative feelings pop up over daily issues you have to deal with and you start to feel guilty for not being more hyped-up about your new life. Your kids start missing their friends, grandparents etc and demand more of your attention. You’re not in ‘vacation mode’ anymore and it does not seem to be so much fun living in your new country. Don’t let reality cloud the reasons why you took this step in the first place. Life can’t be all fun. Be realistic about your expectations. Pinpoint the real issues and ask yourself if it is worth changing your mind. It is normal to have doubts when reality of daily life kicks in.
Stage 3: Anger & Negative Feelings
You start to see & experience the negative things about your new country and it seems to overshadow all the positive things. Things that could normally go wrong no matter where in the world you are, gets blamed on your new country. Stay focused. Don’t allow your feelings to become anger. Realise that these are normal life occurrences and not aimed at you. Don’t blame the new country for everything that goes wrong. Remind yourself of the reasons why you decided to make this change. Don’t voice your negative feelings in front of your kids as they would feel very insecure and start doubting their own feelings. They might even feel guilty if they do not feel the same as you.
Stage 4: Escape
You’re seriously thinking of bailing out. You’re thinking you made a mistake. You start to withdraw from society and isolate yourself and your children. It feels like everything is falling apart. You’re asking yourself what you are doing here. You’re homesick & lonely. Be careful not to burden your children with your emotions. Take a step back and look at the whole picture. Acknowledge and deal with your feelings ‘don’t brush it off. Don’t phone home and spend hours on the phone crying. Have a good cry every now & then but do it in private. Do something positive such as volunteering and involve the whole family. Get out there and get a life.
Step 5: Depression
You realise this is your life and you have to deal with it “there’s no way out”. In the early days you were the pillar of the family, helping everyone to settle in and adjust. Now that they’re all happy and going on with their lives, you feel of no use to anyone. You feel irritable and have no energy. You don’t want to leave the house or perform daily tasks. Speak to someone about your feelings (not your kids!) - your husband is a good start, or go see a councillor. Don’t deal with this alone - if you’ve reached this stage it’s time to get help. Most of all - know that this is all part of the natural process to adjust to your new life and dealing with the grief of things that are no more.