Adjusting to Life in Australia: My Experience Moving from the Philippines

I’m doing all about my move from the Philippines to Australia. If you haven’t seen the other videos that I have done on this series, then I’ll leave all of them down in the description box. For this video, I will be talking about my experience adjusting to this new place or new country.

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Adjusting to a New Place

Adjusting to a new place, a new country, is not easy. It was definitely hard when I first moved here in 2020. I had never been to Australia before, not even as a tourist. I didn’t know anything about the place and didn’t have family or friends close by either.

So, you might be thinking, why did I move? Why did I do this to myself? When we made the decision to move, we knew that it was going to be the best for our future. We knew that this was something that was going to help us get to where we want to be. When the opportunity came for my partner, I came along with him on a 482 visa. I talk about this visa in another video, so if you’re interested in learning more about it, I will link the video down below.

Observing and Immersing

Obviously, the adjusting starts when I came here. It wasn’t really a honeymoon phase for me at the beginning. The first part of adjusting is observing. I knew that everything was going to be brand new when I came here. Nothing looked familiar, so we decided to do a lot of walking around and observing.

I decided to soak everything up and observe how people interacted, how places looked, and what the lifestyle was in general. The lifestyle here is so different. I lived in Manila, which is fast-paced, and Brisbane is just so chilled. People wake up early and sleep early. Most places are closed by 5 p.m. This was a huge adjustment for me.

Observing the Lifestyle

When I first got here, I observed places and decided not to get a job right away. We agreed that I would take my time to get to know the place. Observing helped me feel more comfortable once job hunting started. It’s like marketing; you have to know who you’re talking to and how to present yourself well.

Immersing Myself in the Community

Within the first month, I knew that I needed to familiarize myself with the place. I joined a lot of gyms and workout classes, taking advantage of free trials. I did yoga, pilates, and ballet. Unfortunately, the ballet studio shut down due to COVID, but I found a pole studio that I loved.

My tip for you when you want to immerse yourself in a new place is to find an activity you like and a place where you can do that activity. Whether it’s a workout or an art class, interacting with people who share the same interests makes it easier to get to know the place and people better.

Making Connections

Working out isn’t a one-time thing, so I kept going back and interacting with people there. It helped me feel more comfortable and build confidence. Observing how people spoke and interacted was crucial. My partner is British, so I had to adjust to the accent as well.

The Job Hunting Process

Another part of adjusting was job hunting. I didn’t get my first face-to-face interview until after two months, but I was already getting phone calls. They really love calling here. This experience taught me how to interact and feel comfortable. My first job was with a sales and marketing agency as a content writer. It was a super lean team, but everyone was friendly and it was easy to adjust.

If you’re new to a place, don’t be afraid to ask questions. People are generally friendly and helpful. The Job Hunting Process helped me adjust by putting me in a place where I could interact with people and learn to connect with them.

Making Friends

Finally, the most important part of Adjusting to a New Place is Making Friends. I was always conscious about Making Friends. I pushed myself to do different classes and workouts to meet people with common interests. The pole studio I went to had a super friendly and social environment where I found my friends.

Making friends is crucial for Adjusting to a New Place. Find a place where you can do something you love. The more familiar things you have, the more comfortable you’ll feel.

Parting Words

My general Parting Words for you are to take adjusting slow. Moving to a new place is a big challenge. Don’t pressure yourself. It takes about six months to a year to adjust to a new job, and even longer to adjust to a new place. Challenge yourself to interact with people and make new friends, but don’t push yourself too hard.

I’ve been here for almost two years now, and I still find some things new. But now, I feel a lot more comfortable. I hope I was able to share some useful tips with you. If you enjoyed this, hit the like button and subscribe if you haven’t yet. If you have other questions, leave them in the comment section below. I’ll try to answer them or create a new video for it.

Thank you so much for sticking around with me today. I hope you enjoyed that. I will see you again next week for another new video on my channel. Again, my name is Megan. Bye!

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