GraGra247:
This is a difficult situation and I have a relative of mine doing this exact same thing to his married younger brother. Everyone is bitter but he won't leave for over 10 years now.

My advice: That elder brother "must not" come into your home. Stop this by every sensible means possible.

Once he comes in its not possible to go out. Since he's idle he might end up doing bad things to your daughters and househelp.

Let him go stay with his sister in the one bedroom. Enough said !!

Let me tell you what my hubby did when he wanted a friend to move out when hubby was still single.
One day after his friend went out,he packed all his friends" property into big bags and went to drop them at the friend"s family house.
After dropping it,he sent a text to friend telling him where to find his things as they were no longer in his house.
That was it o.No fight,no discussion,no arguement.
Tell your relative to do same.

emaxjey:
I guess banky as paid d mods ..coz in a day at least 15 news on banky alone must grace front-page

Actually seun osewa and banky w both went to Home Science Sec.School.
I was classmates with Seun and Banky W was 2years our junior.
That could be part of the reason for multiple updates

WellEndowed:
@Tyosho

Bia, is it crab I am seeing someone disrespect anyhow in the last picture?

Abeg has anyone seen snail in this obodo Australia? please help a sister out before she dies from withdrawal

My sister it's crab o.It looked properly spiced but it was served cold so it didn't come off well.
As for snail,I don search google tire .pls I'm interested if you come across

At Bellong's get together yesterday .

Vinsmuft:
Hello all,
One of the reasons why many of us decided to come to Australia is "because of our kids". We want to give our children the kind of education and opportunities that are just not there back in Nigeria.
For this reason, I want to share some information about extra curricular activities that you can engage your child in here in Australia.

1. Australian Girls Choir. http://ausgirlschoir.com.au. This is a very popular choir where girls from the age of 5 and above are taught to sing, dance and perform on stage. It can build confidence and boldness into your daughter. Last month, I attended a concert organised by my daughter's primary school and I was awed to see young children performing on stage and displaying acting skills that I have not seen anywhere before. My mind was made up.

2. Little Athletes. http://www.littleathletics.com.au. This is a program where your children from the age of 5 can participate in sports. They have centers all over Australia. Sometimes we watch on Olympics how other countries get medals and wonder where Nigeria is. We all know that the key to this is catching them young. I plan to register my kids at the nearest center. You never can tell where this will take them to.

If anyone has experience in these programs or in other ones, kindly share please.

Our children must excel.

Thanks a lot for this info.I have been looking at how to register my kids in sports programs.Anyone else can share more info

So this is the church I worship at.Its in kew,it's called melbourne life.After service,we have light snacks,coffee and then interact with one another which is the aim of the light meal after service.

WIZGUY69:

Then definitely... the suburb of Australia can be compared to the most developed areas in Africa . Jesu

Where most nigerians that i have met live(even those of us that have been here less than a year) is the kind of house people that "have arrived" live in Nigeria.I pray we start helping ourselves back home.
Cars,good food,quality education,excellent medical service,efficient emergency response,going on vacations etc are not exclusive to the rich and mighty

WIZGUY69:



Just thinking... is this the high brow area of Australia?

It's not a highbrow area.Its just an area that's still been developed and like most other places here,is well maintained and clean

WellEndowed:


What suburb is this?

.

Its Lynbrook.Its a fairly new neighborhood

On culture shocks-
Calling everyone by name did not come so much as a surprise because i worked in an industry that encouraged that in Nigeria.
What however shocked me is how people here feel so comfortable with a habit like smoking.Almost everyone in my office smokes and they do not seem to think anything is bad with it.People call their ogas to go with them outside for smokes.Man o,woman o,team leader o,manager o,new recruit o,everybody go gather smoke the smoke .

Unlike back home where smoking is seen as a vice for miscreants and irresponsible people,here the most intelligent and brightest people smoke and its not a sign of bad character or a character flaw.Makes me wonder whether we have priorities misplaced at home.

Another thing here is its normal for colleagues to invite you out for drinks(you pay for yourself of course).Fridays,weekends,start of training,end of training,promotion,etc etc, na drinks bar e dey end.

My friend who i met here told me its not a bad idea to go along with them once in a while and i think so too.I went once and it was fun!!!.I do not smoke or drink but i had plenty fun all the same.

Another thing too is they like to talk a loooooot.MY gawd!!!!!
How are you is met with a lenghty response of how last night went,what happened on the train,what happened outside the office so so so.
How was your weekend nko?Looong story too .

At first it was strange for me because when they say "ty how are you",im like "fine" and they have this look of "is that all?",some will even be like "just fine?"" why just fine ?" and in my mind im like "what else again ooo?".

But now me too don dey cram stories give them make i no carry last.

We have team huddles everyday and on random days my team lead is like everyone must give an interesting fact about themselves or just tell us something interesting that has happened to you today and you must respond o.The mata dey just tire me sometimes.

My elder kid too has caught the talking bug.This is someone that could barely sting 2 sentences before we left Lagos 7months ago but now,he gets disciplined (sent to bed) for talking too much.When he wakes up,i ask "do you still want to talk or you go back to bed ?".

The boy will keep quite o.
For 15MINS and start again.
Lots of interesting experiences.Will share more later

More pictures

Fizzywah:


Nice one Oknee. Melbourne truly is beautiful. Please if you don't mind I (we) would appreciate photos of the suburbs as well. I think it helps those of us yet to get there..... to cure our "What to expect" worry. Many Thanks.

Coming up

catchdwind4rmkd:
Hi Bro,

hope you're coming around for the Buffett next Sunday?
Let's use the avenue to finally meet.

Sorry I've not been able to reach out since the last communication.
It's been quite a busy month for me.

Cheers!

Thanks for the info bro.Its such a great read especially the info about mortgage.
Just like most people think as well,oknee is actually female .
Meanwhile Hordunayo says I missed meeting you by just a couple of minutes on Saturday.Hopefully we will all see on Sunday.Cheers

Kayla10:


Hi Tyosho,

Did not receive an email.

Please send me a mail on tosho28@yahoo.com

stepo707:

Pls how did u get nominated? I need to understand how to get nominated.thanks in anticipation

Not on this thread please.This thread is solely for questions and experiences of people that have gotten the visa.There are other threads that can help respond to that.

Kayla10:


Hand raised. Please send the deets.

Sending you a mail.kindly respond

suurutu:
"How easy was it to settle in, with your kids? How did you go about finding the right schools for them? What is their school system like for toddlers (age 5 and below)? Will kids already in primary school continue with their classes or get reshuffled?"

Biko, my people with experiences on the above should comment on this too to quell a mother's fear

Gracias!

My kids are below five and they settled in very well.
Use careforkids.com.au to find daycare centers around your neighborhood.
For kids above 5,I'm not aware if a comparison site exists for schools.
My first kid will be 5 in dec and the school I'm choosing is based on word of mouth.
Public schools are free and around where I live,private schools charge from 5k upwards.

einsteino:


wait. ur office has a games room? as in are you saying you play at work abi ayam not understanding..?

Yes we play at work .
It's supposed to be for during breaks but you know human beings now,people still make use of it during work hours.
Why that's easy to do is because we have like 3 break times and the times vary daily and different times for everyone.

kennystones:
Any form of racism in the country?
I black well o

Salford"s answer is apt.Subtle racism does exist.They don't tell you of course but you sense it.

Teejah80:
@tyosho thank you for doing Justice to this quest,all the above information will help we coming to OZ in few weeks to know what to do.Oga bellong,I greet you.am also seizing this opportunity to beg you guys in Queensland to come and share your experience about regional areas in Queensland.I and my family would be coming with visa 489,I know we are not entitle to Medicare, how about centrelink,can we register for that and what is the cost of taking health insurance,I have a child who is just five years old,when does the new session resume and what is the cost of school fee in Queensland state and how easy to get a job in regional areas as I and hubby wouldn't mind any job for a start.cc Uchenna2017.

I'm not an authority on 489 but I know you are not entitled to any centrelink benefits just yet.New sessions begin Jan ending/Feb.
Since you're going to Queensland,try to read up and find out if the state has certain benefits for 489 holders,in case you don't get the response you're looking for.
For health insurance,use iselect.com.au to compare prices(go for the one that provides ambulance cover).

rinzylee:
Chai.... Bellong no get chill o.


Australia was built by Criminals so they easily catch criminals o.

Abeg shift make I faint.
Bellong is right though.If you try to stay here with tourist visa,your suffer go pass niger own.Its super tough.Its best to just go back

Pictures I took at the southern cross station this evening

First picture is the games room in my office.there's the table tennis table,Xbox and that table for mini footballers(don't know what it's called).
Anyone can go there during breaks and there's presently a FIFA competition going on across our floor for football fans

Second picture is us getting ready to celebrate the Indian Diwali festival with our Indian colleagues tomorrow.We had something for Ileya too.

3rd and 4th pictures are me heading to the train station

views from within and around my office

kamotisha:


Ok. Thanks. Will explore this option. I'm just a little sceptical because it's a health centre. Not so sure about them keeping data. Will go there anyways. Thanks

I'm thinking though not sure,if you grease some palms,even you sef will get immunization records

Thanks for coming onboard Bellong and Debsty.
We hope more people will join in

Jamson I can see you viewing this thread,abeg contribute

@salford,what kind of pictures would you like

salford1:
It would be nice if contributors can post pics once in a while to bump the thread. Thanks.

Thanks for bringing up my previous posts.i had even forgotten about it.

The aged care/disability matter didn't happen again as we both got other jobs.

Bellong is coming to Melbourne this month end so we are all planning to have a meet.We go get plenty pictures to upload then.
Please if we have any melbourne nairalanders that Bellong is yet to contact,please raise your hand so details can be sent to you for our groove

samge:
Thanks for creation of this group & for the valuable insight given already.

Is it necessary/worthwhile to apply for a job before leaving Nigeria? Is there any chance of getting a job when you have a definite date of arrival?

Thank you.

It is doable to get a job before you arrive in Australia but I don't think it happens very often.
But pls start applying for jobs before you leave Nigeria if you wish to.

Mcslize:
tyosho wow that's quite a fascinating narration. I am intrigued. Thank's for sharing. I am wondering if it possible to get Garri over there. If not is it Semovita?

Almost all Nigerian food items are available for sale here so don't worry so much.They are just a little pricey that's all but it's nothing you can't afford.

edoman2016:

How much is average salary for entry level graduate jobs in Australia? And what is the average total expenditure for a single guy in a month in Australia? Kindly help with my enquiries.

This is my opinion but you can look at around $24 -$26 per hour starting.It can be way more than that though or just a little less.
Your expenditure will depend on how you live.