Chat?

[septembre]

Over in Oz, have to speak perfect English. haha. But sometimes I let loose abit of Lah and Lehs in Perth too.;D

[Janny]

i am married to a 100% australian prime beef
eh.. share your cultural shock here, would be fun for laughter

[Fern]

Nope...I went to a few Xmas and New Year's Party with my hubby and met quite a few of his old time friends from highschool and all that...

I'm an outgoing person, but friendships are sometimes not forged at the snap of a finger. i had a lot of friends in Singapore who are from school and previous workplaces, who i miss dearly now...

I'm working now, but feel that i dun completely fit in here, due to the differences in cultures all that...

[Fern]

i find that the aussies brand of english not that perfect either...they also have a lot of slang words that we don't get...
My hubby used to speak with an Aussie accent when we met in singapore. After being w me for so long, he started speaking singlish, and we still do not at home...

i don't get on with the aussies completely cos i find a lot of them very superficial. the women at my work are mostly arund late twenties and early thirties. (1'm 25 this yr) and i find them very pregnant dogy, superficial, materialistic. In other words, i can't really stand them.

[septembre]

But I applaud you for having the courage to assimilate yourself into their workforce. I duno if I can fit it myself.

[septembre]

Fern! I thought Singaporeans are like that. Impatient and pretentious.

[Fern]

I'm being forced to! my hubby's income alone is not enough for us to pay rent and feed ourselves, save up for future etc.

It hasn't been easy.

in the other forum i see ppl saying that singapore sucks and all that...but it's not a bed of roses here either.

[Janny]

errr...
don't mean to be rude, but fern, i think you shouldn't be too judgemental also hor....
i have to admit it is hard to blend in in a new group, especially if they already have their own clique. you have to be patient and be your nice self and hopefully one day you will be accepted.
i have friends who felt frustrated at work because they feel they do not fit in also. like you said, the culture is different. one of my friend happens to be a very quiet and introvert girl. she found it hard to socialise with her colleagues because as you know, socialising here mainly mean drinking in pubs.
but hang on there, dear....

[Janny]

septembre said:

Fern! I thought Singaporeans are like that. Impatient and pretentious.

;D ;D ;D

touche!!!

[Fern]

Sep, not all the australians are superficial, but a lot of them i know are.
Try driving here and you can see how impatient some of them are! there have also been news paper reports of road rage, shopping carpark rage, pedestrian rage, blah blah...
there are a lot of social problems here cos the rules are not strict enough.

i realised how much i took singapore's safety for granted...like over here, i dun feel safe being out and about by myself after say 8pm? Wheras in Singapore i can go home by myself at 4am after clubbing...

[septembre]

Jan how did you friend fit in then? I'm actually quite queit myself when I'm with strangers or in unknown environment.

When I was in Perth, the people there are generally friendly and cheerful. I mix with Aussies of my school more through projects. But I don't hang out with them though cos they like to go pubbing and all which I don't. Oh also sports is their world.

[Janny]

wow..
you sound deeply unhappy there, fern. do you feel 'forced' to come to australia? for me, this permanent move here is entirely my own choice. i am lucky to have been lived in 3 countries before, so i can compare and make my own choice.

let me tell you this... now you are missing home. therefore you feel unhappy with australia and you start to think sgp is much better. believe me, after a few years here (if you do hang on that long ;D), try living in sgp again and you will complain about sgp. i will put my money on that one.

you are right about the rules not being so strict, ie. not as strict as in sgp. but are we all not responsible people and not animals that need to be led and control and dragged by the nose all the time by the govt?

[Fern]

Ouch Janny! I wasn't being judegemental...like i said, not all aussies like that. i'm sure yr hubby not like that. mu hubby is also Aussie (he considers himself 100% aussie too cos he was born here...) and also not like that...

it's not a case of sour grapes where i say bad things cos i cannot get into their cliques. i don't wanna be in their clique cos we don't share the same values and all that.

I can accept differences in cultures, but i have seen everyone having a really good lunch, and everyone starts gossiping str after someone leaves the table.

[septembre]

Fern yar true alot of things singaporean take for granted here. The gov here think ahead of everything for us. So we are so pampered. Maybe you are in brisbane, it's diff. Perth is like 1:1 Asian and Aussie from what I see. So many of us here. haha.

[Janny]

fern
my friend eventually leaft her job and join another, smaller firm with people she although not getting on very very well, but she can tolerate. i think she is much happier now.

maybe after a year or two you can consider a move?

it is hard if you don't like drinking and sport here
i don't drink because i am allergic to it, and i don't play any sport at all.