Oz the place for a friendly face

December 12, 2008 - 9:49AM

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/new...a-friendly-face/2008/12/12/1228585079904.html

Australia has been ranked the third most friendly country for expats, according to a global survey of those working overseas.

Ninety-one percent of expats in Australia said they had been able to make friends with locals, one of the key factors used by HSBC to determine the world's friendliest nations, Forbes magazine said.

Canada was ranked the most welcoming country, with 95 per cent of expats surveyed saying they'd befriended locals.

Ninety-two per cent found buddies in Germany, which came in second ahead of Australia.

The United Arab Emirates, increasingly popular with Australians pursuing careers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, was found to be the most difficult for expats.

Only 54 per cent of expats in the UAE said they'd made friends with locals.

The study surveyed 2155 expats in 48 countries between February and April 2008, Forbes magazine said.

Countries were rated for their friendliness based on four categories: how easy it was for expats to make friends with locals, how many had joined a local community and social groups, how many learned the local language and number that had bought property.

While many expats in Australia made local friends, the country ranked last in the number of expats joining local groups.

"That's because expats in Australia tend to be younger, with 51 per cent in the 18 to 34 age group, and may not need organised groups to facilitate meeting new people," Forbes said.

smh.com.au

QXD said:

Living in Perth, I find that most of the Ozzies here have adapted to Asian accents. At least now they are able to discern whereabouts I come from, better than back in the 90s when if you were "Asian" you basically came from "Asia" or Japan".

And an improvement too, since I have yet to hear "Gooks go home" or its like since landing here. I attribute it to the Vietnamese "Asian" generation who lived and grew up in this system and have done well enough to put the rest of us "Asians" in good stead.

Not to mention that Australia's wealth has much to do with China's (another "Asian") growth in recent years.

So I'd say that there's an improvement, but I wouldn't put too much gloss on saying that it's easy to make friends with the white local ozzies.

Click to expand...

QXD, I think you are new to Perth. There has always been a subtle tensions among Perth's culturally diverse communities. At the same time, the sandgropers have came a long way since they thought the Greeks and Italians are wogs.

But the acceptance at this time and age has been observed. Italians are respected in the community and Greeks are following close behind. As for the Vietnamese, there is a mixed reaction. You have those who are respected as professionals and they are those who are looked down upon. Acceptance for Vietnamese has been slower in Perth compared to Adelaide. But Adelaide has always been a free state whereas the history of Perth settlers worked against progress of this state (want to know more, let me know)

But Asians are gaining a lot of respects, there are a lot of inter-racial partnerships/marriages, even the state treasurer's wife is of Straits Chinese origin.

Having mentioned that, Asians do face a lot of challengers in the past, the older war-scarred Viet community in the outer northern suburbs of Mirrabooka, Koondoola and Girrawheen are still coming to terms with their loss of homeland. And they are not helping the later generation who turn to gangsterism to seek identity for themselves.

Overall, we are seeing geniune acceptance of a culturally diverse Perth, with more migrants and childen of migrants doing well and gaining the kind of acceptance that they may not receive from their land of origin.