Why She Moved to Australia

Map of Australia
Sarah Britten, contributor to Thought Leader, posted an article Monday on taking a new and exciting job in Australia and choosing to leave South Africa.

I thought I’d link to it here because she writes eloquently about the many reasons she decided to step across the ocean.

An excerpt:

“My reasons for leaving South Africa for Australia are both complex and obvious, generic and personal. As they are, perhaps, for most of those South Africans who leave.

For a start, I was offered a great job, one to which I could not say no. I get to work on one of Australia’s biggest advertisers, in one of its biggest and most successful advertising agencies, with a friend I have always liked and respected. I never did take the gap year or do the London stint in my twenties, like so many other South Africans of my generation. I’ve felt for some time now that I have missed out, that I need to experience working in a different country, a different culture.

Johannesburg had become such a comfort zone, its roads rutted by memory. Even the ambient fear had become oddly comforting in its familiarity, in the rituals of panic button, locking doors, checking the street for lurkers as I approach my garage and scrabble in the dark for the opener. If I did not make the leap now, as I remind myself that in a couple of years’ time my biological clock is going to start screaming for attention, then when?

Of course, there are the attractions of living and working in a country that is for the most part without the constant possibility of personal harm; I won’t lie about that. There’s the usual whinge about Eskom and Jacob Zuma yada yada, but for me it’s the relative freedom that is a huge attraction. That, and the chance, not only to step outside of the familiar, but to enjoy an element of anonymity. I like the idea of being an observer for a while, rather than a participant.”

Many of you have mentioned that you are considering a similar move. I thought you might like to read Sarah’s thoughts. The full article is on Thought Leader.

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Posted: May 14th, 2008

Categories: Politics & society, Living abroad, Living in South Africa, From South Africa


3 Responses to “Why She Moved to Australia”

  1. hanlie says:
    May 15th, 2008 at 11:07 am

    I love Sarah Britten and read her blogs daily. The piece was well-written, but as usual when these matters are discussed, the comments provide the most entertainment. South Africans can be a hateful lot!

  2. Georgie says:
    May 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pm

    If I left SA, it would be for the same reasons AND to be nearer my children and grandchildren. As a pensioner, I realise, that not too many countries are willing to allow old codgers like me, with limited means, to move into their greener pastures. I wish I’d moved out years ago, when I was younger and had more to offer an adopted country.

  3. kat says:
    May 20th, 2008 at 10:59 am

    I also came across this post by Sarah. She has a great blog ‘voice’.

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