Julie

Julie is a consultant who came to Australia with Axis five ago. She has been working in Melbourne.

I arrived in Australia from the Slovak Republic (ex Czechoslovakia). I can confirm that my first impressions were correct and Melbourne is a wonderful place with very nice, friendly people.

Being a social person by nature meant that leaving home also meant leaving a very close family and lots of friends on the other side of the world and prior to departing this was a major concern. I need not have worried. I was met at the airport by a local AXIS representative who drove me to my accommodation. After four days of settling in and shaking off jet lag I started my assignment. The staff are mostly 'aussies' along with a number of international contractors and all are great. They made me feel very welcome right from the start both at work and socially.

Australia is very different for me. The first shock was trying to understand the Australian slang, they call it English but I'm not so sure (only jokin' mate). Already I have had the opportunity to travel through lots of Victoria and it is beautiful. One of the best things about my time here has been the chance to bring my parents here for a holiday (their first time out of Europe) and they too fell in love with Australia.

I arrived right at the start of what the locals tell me was a very hot summer but I loved it. It was wonderful to be able to go to the beach each evening after work and relax.

The opportunity to experience a new country and culture while also developing professionally is truly unique and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. I really have to thank AXIS for both the opportunity and the support they have provided during my stay so far....

Mary

Mary is a first-time international contractor from Johannesburg. This letter was written after Mary had been with Axis for five months, working in Melbourne.

Moving to Australia from South Africa was the greatest adventure ever undertaken by my family and me. Packing up all our possessions and watching them being loaded into the container, together with the final rush around of finalising all our affairs is not for the faint hearted. Saying goodbye to friends and family was the hardest task of the lot. To ensure you have the easiest transition to a new country we found it was essential to plan properly for the trip.

Arriving was like a dream come true. We had been planning for this day for years and we felt as though we were on holiday. I had a few days to settle in before starting work, which we used to sight see and to get our bearings. We rented a "banger" and headed for the beach. Much to our confusion and a little disappointment the local bay (Port Philip Bay, upon which Melbourne is located) had no waves but was so clean and beautiful that we enjoyed the outing anyway. The first trip to the supermarket to stock up on food was an experience, as from habit we looked for familiar brand names. Although it was great to see that there were Weetbix and Rice Crispies, we searched in vain for Gem Squash, which I believe they don't have here. Weighing the veggies and fruit and expecting a label with the price to spew out of the machine caused much humour and we were very impressed to see that they could weigh the goods at the till. It has been amusing to find that things are so similar, but yet not same. As asking the attendant for rusks promptly took me to the baby department! We find the food here of very good quality with the meat being especially good. We never ate steaks like this at home!

It is such a treat to walk around the shopping malls and have people actually smile at you. We have found people to be wonderful and so trusting. We were helped to settle by people we had just met and found people here still have the good old fashioned trust in everyone's good nature. The parks are beautiful as are the bike tracks. We dashed out and bought bikes for the entire family, and now head off happily in a different direction each Sunday. Seeing the beautiful bird life flying overhead as we pedal along the tracks is still a great thrill.

Coming here has almost been a step back in time, not with technology as Australia is as up to date if not ahead of South Africa with that, but its basic values and freedom. Leaving Johannesburg, which was like living in the "Wild West", and coming to a country where even the smallest crime makes headlines, it is great to know that people really do care about law and order and they are able to uphold the laws and not just talk about it.

We have not regretted for one minute our decision to move and now, after five months, feel we have really made the best investment not only in our futures, but also that of our children."