AUSTRALIA - Expat Contests

Expat Culture Shock

Culture shock: why living upside down means Christmas in July

‘Culture shock’, two words with a big meaning. I’ve lived in both the UAE and Australia over the past few years, and one would presume that the UAE would be the bigger shock in terms of culture, but it’s not true, Australia is every bit as foreign at times. I recall during my first week in Abu Dhabi wandering about in search of a...

Expat Blog Awards 2013

How to Be as Laid Back as an Aussie in 9 Easy Phrases

Even those with merely a passing acquaintance with Australia from, say, The Crocodile Hunter or those “throw another shrimp on the barbie” tourism spots know that Aussies love their clever turns of phrase. Picking up a few useful slang terms is a great way to quickly initiate oneself into the culture, and no matter how hard you resist,...

Expat Blog Awards 2013

Know Before You Go: Top Ten Insider Tips for Melbourne, Australia

Know Before You Go:  Top Ten Insider Tips for Melbourne, AustraliaThree years of passionate exploration have convinced my family that Melbourne is indeed one of the great cities of the world.   In addition to the expected world-class shopping malls, department stores and historic landmarks, Melbourne boasts a series of unique laneways and...

Writing Contest October 2012

Moving to Australia

I’m not sure when the love affair started. Some people profess to have been struck by love at first sight. Ignominiously struck by Cupid’s arrow. And it may well have been that way. However, when I try and think back to where it all started, I really can’t answer. Was it the very first trip, when I came and saw through young...

Working Abroad

What Australia did to an uptight advertising chick

A year ago, at the age of 29, I discovered I had a condition I thought only happened to middle-aged men with drinking problems: I had an ulcer. The cause? Either the stress of the advertising business or my own neurotic personality or, more than likely, the lethal mixing of the two. Not only was I working too many late nights and dealing...