We are carried around the world like autumn leaves. Where and why do we leave Kyiv and Ternopil, Donetsk and Simferopol, Lviv and Kharkiv? We look for Jewish grandmothers or Volksdeutsche grandfathers, learn German somehow, and - forward, to the Fatherland! Then something rustles in the air - and the immigrant flow sharply turns toward Argentina. Another year or two - and Canada is in fashion. We keep searching, searching...
While browsing immigrant forums, I accidentally came across a confession disarming in its frankness: '...Actually, I was also once going to Australia, but I confused the Australian and Austrian embassies. And at the Austrian one they gave me a form in German... And then things worked out well with Canada...' He now lives in Canada, don't worry, found a job, mildly complains about certain unpleasant moments for a fresh immigrant. And for some reason he writes letters to the forum, as if he wants to learn something again. But there is nothing left to ask...
They were leaving forever - Andrei, Sveta, and little Irishka. At least, they were sure of it then. After all, a long journey awaited them - all the way to Australia. Today, three years later, much is seen differently.
The journey there
In the comfort of a Kyiv home, where quiet streets of private developments have not yet displaced standard high-rises, we talk with Andrei. He came to visit relatives. We drink tea with Kyiv sweets, his daughter plays on his lap, and the topic of our conversation - about Australian life - seems to me terribly unreal.
'You know, the idea of Australia arose completely by chance - I was passing by the Australian consulate, noticed the materials displayed there, and started reading. Then I became interested and began searching for information about Australia on the Internet. Our case is actually quite atypical - we lived well in Kyiv, too. I am a mechanical engineer by profession, graduated in 1993 from the Kyiv Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers with a degree in "technical operation of aircraft and engines." My wife is a librarian; her salary, of course, was small. But I worked for a solid company, and they paid well. Well, in general, it so happened that we decided to head to Australia.
I decided to go through independent or professional immigration. I calculated my points, estimated my chances, and decided to try. The difficulty is that the list of professions required in Australia constantly changes. (Now, for example, nurses and Eastern cuisine cooks are needed.) I submitted my immigration documents in January '97, and in September I received a response and an offer to take an English language exam.
I wasn't very worried about the exam - I started learning English on my own, then the company I was working for sent a group of our specialists to courses. I studied for about eight months, and I passed the language test about two months after finishing the courses (in November '97). It cost $150. The test includes four tasks - reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking. At that time, Americans administered the exam; now, as far as I know, it all happens at the British Council.
In March '98, I received a request to confirm my professional qualifications. I filled out a form and attached the required documents - diploma, references, certificates from various courses, and everything related to professional activity. All documents were translated into English, but I did not do legalization. In September '98, I received qualification confirmation (I paid another $248 for this procedure).
I received the visa in January 2001. Such a long waiting period is explained by the fact that in October '98 our daughter was born and we ourselves somewhat 'slowed down' our immigration process.
I should note that now this process has changed somewhat. If you want to leave under the independent immigration program, you contact the consulate, and they first ask you to confirm your qualifications and pass an English language exam. Only then, if you have scored enough points, do you purchase an application form (about $500) and submit your immigration application. In my case, if I had not scored enough points, the amount paid for the form would simply have been lost. After all, money is never refunded!'
The first "five minutes" on Australian soil
'We went to a completely bare place - we had no relatives or friends in Australia. True, while we were processing the documents, I constantly gathered all possible information on the Internet. I found websites of our emigrants in Australia, corresponded with them, and received a lot of useful advice. But still, it was hard right away - no work, no housing, and, as it turned out, we also had difficulty understanding the language.
The Russian community helped us with affordable housing. They have a house where new emigrants constantly live. When my wife, child, and I moved in, two families were already living there. Especially helpful was Nikolai Shkola, a social worker of this community and a licensed immigration attorney. We paid 50 Australian dollars per person per week (hereafter all prices are given in Australian dollars. - Author's note). That's a little. Then we opened a bank account, got state medical insurance, and received a tax number.
I immediately started looking for work. Of course, I wanted it to be in my specialty. And here I need to make a small digression.
Today there are four waves of our emigration in Australia. The first is the “Harbin Russians,” those who came here after the revolution, from the Chinese Eastern Railway, and so on. The second wave came after World War II. As a rule, they have all settled in, are well established, are well disposed toward new emigrants, but keep to themselves. The third wave is the so-called Jewish emigration. These are people who left for Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, and from there dispersed all over the world. In Australia they form something like a state within a state. Many of them live in separate neighborhoods, with Russian shops, hospitals, and libraries. The old people do not learn the language at all, never leaving the neighborhood for years. They have small businesses—an auto repair shop, a gas station, a café. They can give you work, rent you an apartment. But keep in mind: if you live and work among them for a long time, it will later be hard to blend into the milieu of native-born Australians. And for young people, that is the main thing in adaptation. Finally, the fourth wave is new emigrants like us. Everyone is confused, grabbing at any job. They are often cheated, offered to slave away for pennies. There is a lot of envy, discontent, and disappointment here.
In general, my friend and I (he is also an aircraft maintenance engineer) sent out and hand-delivered about 170–180 résumés to companies. We were unlucky: just before our arrival, a major airline went bankrupt in Australia, and 15,000 people ended up on the street. About ten to fifteen companies replied: “We are sorry, but...” We had to take unskilled work.”
What jobs await us
“My wife got a part-time job in a little Russian restaurant, and I found a place in an auto repair shop run by a former compatriot. I didn’t work much and earned little (350 dollars a week), and, naturally, in cash. Officially in Australia you cannot pay less than 14 dollars an hour; that means the minimum wage is about 600 dollars a week, and after taxes about 500. But I didn’t complain...
So I worked from December 2001 to March 2002—the owner sold his auto repair shop, and I went to a construction site as a painter’s helper. Then another auto repair shop, then construction again... In short, no insurance, no prospects—just enough for housing and food. The Russian community’s employment bureau helped me with odd jobs. They don’t provide serious work, but there is a chance to make useful contacts through them. By the way, that is ultimately what saved me. Because in September 2002 I found a job.
My friend and I learned about the vacancy at the airline Forstaff Aviation from Nikolai Shkola—he gave us the phone number of a man who worked there. So, thanks to the connections we had made, we managed to get jobs in our specialty.
In general, you need to firmly understand: in Australia, your life begins when you find a truly skilled job. It is hard, but possible. From that moment you automatically move to another class: you change your housing, you get Australian acquaintances, and psychologically you begin to feel about the same as any person with a university education in Ukraine.
It is not easy to find skilled work: everywhere they require Australian work experience. My acquaintance, by the way, achieved this in a rather peculiar way: while I was “slaving” in the auto repair shop, he scraped together some money (about 400 dollars) and went to... a security guard school. He finished it and immediately got a job at a supermarket on the night shift. By the way, that is a pretty good job (15 dollars an hour), and on top of that it gives you that very Australian work experience.
In general, normal life began only after nine months. The salary is quite decent, there is insurance and a social package. At work there is a full “international.” There are five of us Russian-speakers—from Zaporozhye, Kursk, Yerevan, and Kiev. Now they have hired a great many employees from the East Asian region. Australian companies categorically suppress any “ethnic strife.” Native Australians are friendly, calm, slow-moving people.”
What is a normal life
“The most important thing in an Australian’s life is housing. Where you live and what you do for a living determines your social status. I now live in Geelong. It is the second-largest city in the state of Victoria. It is 75 km from Melbourne. Housing is very varied—some is awful, some is very good. You can rent a house or a unit. I rent a “one-bedroom” unit (one bed unit)—an apartment with one bedroom, a separate entrance, and its own little bit of yard. A building may have three or four such units. Every yard necessarily has a garage or a covered parking space.
Without a car in Australia you might as well not even try. In Kiev I didn’t know how to drive, so I had to learn and get my license here. That whole pleasure cost me about 1,500 dollars: driving lessons are very expensive—30–35 dollars an hour. If you know how to drive, you just buy a booklet with the rules, learn them, pay 25 dollars, and take the theory test on a computer. Three months later you take the driving test (another about 60 dollars).
Food is not expensive if you cook yourself. Expenses are distributed roughly as follows. The average earnings in Australia are 720–750 dollars a week. A family of three spends about 100–150 dollars on food. But, I emphasize, this is if you cook at home. Renting a decent unit or house in a good area costs 150–160 dollars a week. If at least one person in the family has a skilled job, the family can live quite normally. Of course, it is better when both work. The main dream of both Australians and emigrants is to own a home. A good house costs 230,000–300,000 dollars. A family of emigrants we know was able to buy their own house after five years, albeit on credit (for 25 years).
Clothes are available for every budget, and shoes too. But in my opinion, Australians—both men and women—dress in a way that's hard to understand. Older people are well dressed, but the young people are awful. There are, of course, certain requirements for office attire, but still, our people on the streets are dressed much better. Sometimes you wonder: what do Australians spend money on? On a house, a car, and travel. Clothes are absolutely unimportant to them. Their favorite pastime is barbecuing. Every park has special barbecue grills, and they're completely free. You bring your own meat, grill it, and relax in nature all day long.
What can you do if there’s no decent job and, consequently, no life? In Australia, begging is officially prohibited. All alcoholics and drug addicts receive government assistance. The benefit is enough for food, housing, and inexpensive clothing. But not for alcohol and tobacco. A bottle of vodka costs from 26 to 35 dollars, a pack of cigarettes—6. For comparison, a kilogram of pork costs 10 dollars.
Until 1997, anyone could receive benefits. Now, during the first two years, you cannot claim any assistance, except in case of force majeure circumstances. The exception is child benefits. Some of our emigrants manage to live on it with their whole family!”
About love and friendship in the Land of Kangaroos
...So, all the hardships of life are behind. Andrei has a job in his specialty, a decent income, the respect of his colleagues, and prospects for career growth. But... Andrei is left alone. Sveta couldn’t bear the difficulties of adaptation and returned to Ukraine with her little daughter. And a family on two continents—you understand, that’s hardly likely...
“You know, immigration is a very serious test for a family. The two of you have to endure a great many problems. And there’s no one nearby: no parents, no relatives, no friends. Many families break up. Some women find new husbands among Australians, others return home. And the most hurtful is when they leave for our emigrants who have settled better...
Marry an Australian woman? Never! They are not worse than ours—they are different. Very independent, they have a completely different attitude to life. You can’t meet someone on the street or at work—they might drag you to court for ‘sexual harassment.’ Or take housekeeping, for example. It’s not customary for them to cook at home; many do not have those skills at all. And our men do not like that. My friend rented a room from an Australian woman. Once he bought a beef tongue and was boiling it. She looks at it in horror: ‘Is that edible?’ He bought caviar and offered it to her. She started screaming: ‘How can you eat that—they’re little fish!’ In short, this summer he flew to Ukraine—to find a bride.
I find it hard to communicate with Australians. Though at work—no problem! But on abstract topics… For example, the guys often invite me for a beer after work. I’ll go, have a couple of glasses, but I don’t know what to talk to them about. Here I came to Kyiv, met old acquaintances—I can’t stop talking. You know, there are people who are fine with being alone—they will feel great in Australia. But those who are used to socializing will feel homesick.
What would I advise those who are thinking about whether to go to Australia or not? First, determine exactly why you need it. When I submitted my documents, I myself didn’t have a clear idea of what I was looking for there. And most importantly, remember one observation of mine: the worse things were for you at home, the better they will be for you in Australia. And vice versa. That is, if you literally had nothing to eat, here you will go on welfare and get by. But if you worked at home, had an apartment or a house, and in principle were not in great need, think three times before leaving. Here you will have to start everything from scratch, and in a couple of years you might manage to reach roughly the same social position you had in Ukraine. Some leave for the sake of their children, writing off their own lives. As a rule, the first generation of emigrants can look forward to little except cheap food and mediocre housing. So I came to Kyiv, met the guys I used to work with, looked at how life has changed... You know, maybe I will even come back...”