Lack of pretentiousness and long-term vacation: how Ukrainians live in Australia

Photos from personal vrhiva

ForumDaily continues to publish stories of Russian-speaking immigrants who have traveled around the world. More life stories can be read. here.

Kiev resident Pavel Tubolec graduated from KPI in 2008 year and, after some hesitation, accepted the offer of the employer to move to Sydney.

The Observer asked Pavel about the relaxed attitude of Australians towards wealth and achievement, about amazing year-long vacations and why local beaches resemble bodybuilding competitions. ForumDaily publishes the text with the permission of the publisher.

Moving history

Never considered Australia as a place to live. In 2008, I was completely satisfied with the life of a programmer in Kiev, I just graduated from university and for two years worked as a programmer in the Kiev office of an Australian company. During his work, he managed to visit a three-month business trip at the main office in Sydney. Immediately after my return, I received an offer to move to the main office. I refused.

Not that something kept me in Ukraine, and there was also no fear of the move (I had already seen Australia and knew what to expect), but for some reason I didn’t really want to move. And even the beginning of the crisis did not change my attitude to the question: the salary of programmers in dollars, with the fall in the hryvnia exchange rate, the purchasing power only increased.

But the crisis affected not only our country, and the Australian company decided to close the Kiev office. Me and several of my colleagues were again offered to move to Sydney, and this time I chose to move, otherwise I would have to look for a new job.

Features of work in Australia

I continued to work for the same company, in the same team, so there was not much difference. Is that the Australians attitude to work a little different. As a rule, there is no strict control over who spends so much time behind the desktop when it comes and goes. But at the same time fooling around is not accepted, and if people have already come to work, then they are engaged in business. An employee is judged by his results, and not by some formal indicators. Usually there is no problem to work from home several times a month. Without questions they let me go on long vacations, at least they always let me go. Just look at how many Australians travel the world!

Everything is built on the balance of work and free time. Few people pursue a career and trying to earn all the money in the world, here it is not particularly necessary. People are confident in the future and know that everything will be fine with them. Dear car here will surprise no one. Virtually anyone can afford to buy a BMW for 100 thousands of dollars in credit, so little attention is paid to material gains.

Attitude to visitors

Australia is a country of immigrants. Officially, more than a quarter of the population were born outside Australia, and if you take into account those whose parents came from another country, the figure is more than half. There are sometimes signs of xenophobia, but, as a rule, in relation to immigrants from Asia. I've never noticed anything like this. Nobody pays attention to the accent at all; most have one or another accent. So Australia is very welcoming to newcomers, at least Sydney is for sure.

Medicine

Australia has a government medical program. Medicare. Each employee deducts one and a half percent of his salary on account of taxes on this program. It covers a part of medical services, but not all. For example, a typical visit to the doctor with a cold costs $ 50, and this is the maximum that covers Medicare. If you want to go to a more expensive clinic where admission costs $ 80, then $ 30 will have to be paid out of your pocket.

There is a standard catalog of prices for services, and if a particular doctor considers himself to be a higher level specialist and wants to charge more for services, then the difference has to be paid extra. Many services in Medicare do not include, for example, dentistry, cosmetic surgery, etc. Medicare Buy private insurance that will smooth out these corners.

Hospital in Melbourne

It is difficult for me to evaluate the level of medicine and doctors objectively, but everything looks qualitative, new equipment is everywhere, and in general some hospitals look unreal cool.

Once I was not lucky to get to the local hospital. I was badly poisoned, vomiting with blood began, I had to call an ambulance. I can not say that everything was so good. After they brought me in, the nurse inspected me, made sure that I was not dying, and put on an IV line, since I was very dehydrated. Took blood for analysis, gave a few pills. After that, they left us at the reception for seven hours, but sometimes they came up to see if I was still alive. All the doctors and beds were occupied, so I had to sit in the waiting room.

After seven hours of waiting, a ward was found for me, and finally a doctor came. I was left in the hospital for the night and was discharged in the morning. All costs covered Medicareexcept calling the quickest one (390 dollars).

Leisure

The main type of leisure time here is barbecue (BBQ). Almost every home has a gas grill. They throw everything on it - meat, fish, vegetables. Guests gather, bring salads, beer, meat for frying - and communicate.

In every park and on the beaches there are free electric BBQ grills. Sometimes you need to throw one dollar to use the grill.

In general, the weather in Sydney is very warm most of the year, and people spend a lot of time outside. Lots of people surf, especially in the beach areas where I live. You can swim, play tennis and golf (there are literally hundreds of fields and courts around Sydney). There are mountains nearby, where you can go hiking, ride a mountain bike, or go rock climbing. My friend and I climbed to the highest point in Australia - 2200 meters above sea level (just above Goverla).

Summer in Australia lasts from October to April (as throughout the southern hemisphere). From May to October it is cool here, with night temperatures dropping to 8-10 degrees. In winter it's about 17 degrees. When the water is +20, it’s cold for us picky people.

Sport

When I first went to the beach in Australia, I didn’t immediately understand what was happening. It seemed like there was a bodybuilding competition going on here - all around were athletes. I realized that sport in Australia is a religion.

All rooms according to local standards are available. For example, I pay for a monthly subscription of 104 dollar. It includes classes in martial arts, boxing, judo, as well as various simulators, free weights, weightlifting pads, and Olympic bars.

Around the World

Like all Australians, I love to travel. In 2015, I decided that I should try a circumnavigation. I agreed at work that I would leave for a year and then return. You can do that here. I started my journey in Malaysia. Initially, I had the idea of ​​getting to Europe by land, but formal obstacles arose - for example, the lack of a checkpoint between Burma and India. So I flew from Burma to Calcutta. Then I traveled all over Europe through Iran and Turkey, flew to Mexico, traveled around South America and returned to Australia in the summer of 2016. The coolest vacation of my life.

Kitchen

It is difficult to single out some dish, calling it Australian. Locals consider steak to be their chip. I must say that in Australia is very good beef.

In general, Sydney is a paradise for those who love a variety of food. Since there are many expats here, the cuisines are very diverse. There are about six Thai restaurants in my area, there are Indian, Nepalese, and Moroccan ones. And, of course, many European ones, especially Italian and Greek.

People go to the restaurant here not on special occasions, but everyone always. It's inexpensive (sometimes the price is almost the same as if you buy the ingredients and cook it yourself). I often buy organic products; I have verified in practice that they are indeed of the best quality - from meat to oatmeal. True, they cost many times more.

Prices

A few years ago, the Australian dollar was insanely expensive (more expensive than the US dollar). The prices were crazy back then. Now, after traveling around the world, it seems to me that our prices are normal for a developed country. Products cost the same as in Europe, maybe a little more. I spend a thousand dollars a month on food shopping. Gasoline costs a dollar per liter. A cup of coffee - 4 dollars.

The only thing that is obscenely expensive, beyond good and evil: renting and buying housing. We are renting a nice house in a pleasant area, 10 minutes walk from the beach. I pay my share - $1150 a month. In total, we pay $4500 a month for it. Plus additional payment for gas, electricity, internet. This takes away a significant part of the income.

A good apartment in Sydney costs at least a million dollars. Simpler - from 500 thousand.

Summary

The first time, when I returned from traveling around the world to Australia, I was busy looking for housing, buying a car, and reinstatement. And somehow it immediately seemed to me that I did not leave anywhere. Here life is laid down, nothing happens, unlike in Ukraine. Stability, which you quickly get used to. The only thing - the traffic is getting worse, more and more people and cars around.

What's next? While the question is open. I want to travel and try some new work.

All photos from the personal archive of Pavel Tuboltsa

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