How To Search People In Australia?

Moving to Australia, part 2 of living in australia...?

• Hello, A few days ago I asked about moving to Australia to study. Well, i was asked to pick a city, so you all can provide me more help. I was hoping for Brisbane, but i read and saw in you tube that Brisbane got among all rare kind of meteorological phenomenon’s, like lots of hail of the size of a pea, rain, thunderstorms, rainstorms, ice storms, random fire, well, I was scared at first, how’s it really?, does people get killed by that, or houses do get very damaged?, what about the winter, its it very cold? i watched some videos of the university of Brisbane, they were rather aggressive, but well I cant say we don’t have violence, actually here a school is like surviving a subculture war. You know I have never been the popular guy at school, and that gets you troubles for free. But well, how tolerant are the people over there?, you get troubles only if you search for them? I’m rather quiet and calm; I will call myself an easy target :( In all case I might need a house and a job... Well here in Mexico I’m used to live in a very calm street, but it’s close to everywhere, my work in 25 minutes and to school in half an hour. I will like a nice and calm street, but not far away from everything I have searched a lot of houses in the suburbs, but well I have not an idea of where or how they are. Could you recommend me a few? Oh and for last I read there’s a lot of expression and language changes you have, I suppose like in any city =) So it’s true I should speak like “hello mate!” and when making a picnic you say: “bring your plate”. And “pot” instead of glass, it sounds very cool, but I don’t want to mess it at all, when saying hi to the first Aussie I meet on real life, You all like to be called Aussie’s?, I want to know as much as possible and be kind :D By now I think that’s all, I will bother you again if more questions pop out, you know its big change, I want to be sure I’m up to it. As far and good as now, thanks to all. I really need a lot of help!

• Answer:

  I live in Brisbane Queensland but think we must be talking about two different Brisbanes if you're scared of coming here because of extreme and dangerous weather. We do get the occasional hailstorm, but remember, that if it was worth putting a storm on Youtube, it must have been something out of the ordinary and the one I think you probably saw was a once in a lifetime event. We get rain, but so does everywhere else and our thunderstorms aren't anything special, just a lot of thunder and lightning with a bit of wind and rain and I've experienced similar ones in other Australian cities and overseas. There has NEVER been an ice storm in Brisbane, and I don't know what you mean by random fire. We have house fires like everywhere else, but no more and no more serious than anywhere else. Other Australian states have far worse bushfires than you'll ever get in Queensland, mainly because our hottest season is also our wettest. Re temperatures: Brisbane is in the sub tropics. It's about the same distance from the Equator as Tampa (Florida) and Chihuahua in Mexico, but has a better climate than both because of its proximity to the warm Pacific Ocean currents to the east and the huge, hot Australian land mass to the west. So, no, it isn't very cold in winter. It gets a bit cool very early in the morning (never below 0C) for a couple of months, but the days are almost always sunny and pleasant. What we don't have is earthquakes or hurricanes (our equivalent cyclones are a very long way further north and never affect Brisbane) or tornadoes and our last flood was in 1974. Don't worry about learning our slang before you get here. Just say Hi! or Hello (most young Aussies say Hi) and leave the 'G'day mates' and other Australianisms until you know how to say them without sounding like an idiot. And we don't mind being called Aussies (pronounced Ozzies), but don't get upset if we find some equivalent to call you. It won't be meant as anything other than a friendly nickname. We call New Zealanders 'Kiwis', British people 'Poms', Americans are 'Yanks' and I'm sure we'll find something to call a Mexican - hardly anyone will have ever met one before, but don't be offended whatever we come up with. Even if it sounds a bit strange to you, it isn't meant to be offensive and you shouldn't take it as such! Oh, and it's 'Bring A plate' not 'Bring YOUR plate. An important term that any uni student needs to know is BYO. It means 'Bring your own' and is used by many restaurants and for parties and other places and functions. It means that you're expected to bring your own alcohol with you rather than buying it there or drinking your host's booze. Brisbane is a peaceful and safe city and I can't imagine what you saw that was aggressive about any Brisbane university. We have nothing like the subculture wars you seem to be accustomed to and university students in Brisbane are too busy having a good time and studying to hassle anyone. Australians as a whole are very accepting and friendly. If you don't go looking for trouble, it won't come to you. Wait until you get here and know your way around a little before you find somewhere to live. There are no bad 'no go' areas here so you'll have a very wide choice of suburbs and types of accommodation. Come with a friendly smile and an open mind and you'll have a great time here.