I was pregnant and heartbroken when I left my country of birth, South Africa, in 1997 to begin a new life in Australia with my husband and 18 month-old son.
Aussie, Actually, is an honest and humorous account of my new life on foreign soil – battling through endless Brisbane summers, the struggles to make new friends, coming to terms with leaving my family behind and understanding the quirks of living in Australia.
Reflecting back over the past decade, had I an inkling of the hardship, the intense home-sickness and feelings of total displacement in ensuing years, I might have high-tailed it back to the comfortable bosom of family and friends. Instead, I persevered …
I candidly reveal business blunders, my husband’s career crises and kidney removal, the trauma of my two-year-old son’s repeat circumcision and many more unexpected events.
While this is not a ‘how to’ on emigration, it does cover many pertinent issues an expat may encounter: What schools to choose? Where to live? The agony of moving – again, the old school tie connections and the ongoing split allegiance and yearning for immediate family and old friends. I don’t for a moment romanticise about life away from my familiar surroundings. If anything, I tell it like it is – even owning up to avoiding the annual Christmas letter for fear of not measuring up to my glamorous counterparts in other cities around the world.
Most of all, this short, snappy book delightfully illustrated by my daughter, Lara (10 at the time), gives established Australians a tiny glimpse of an immigrant’s impression of living Down Under. It will also strike a chord with new and established immigrants who will no doubt relate to many of the humorous episodes mentioned in the book. And for those contemplating a permanent move to Australia, Aussie, Actually will reveal the everyday experiences not covered in the emigration manual!
