All Your Questions Answered

I must say I am really pleased to find out that AmFam reads my blog! And I'm enjoying your questions. So, here goes:

Tamara asked about my idea of a perfect day: Well first it would involve sleeping in (anything after eight o'clock qualifies). The day would involve spending time with my little family - you know the kinds of moments where you get all glowy looking at your hubby and kids and life seems perfect. I'd also get to work on some kind of creative project like designing a new garden or completing a sewing project. Then of course there would be lots of delicious food which I wouldn't be responsible for. Actually that's a big theme - not being responsible for anything except what I want to do!

AmFam asks "why have you chosen to move to Australia? Also, how do you think the racial/cultural mix of your family will be accepted there?"

We are moving for a couple of reasons. First of all, we never thought we'd stay in Nashville after we finished school. We always planned on leaving. The Captain wants to live in the Pacific Rim area or anywhere in the Asian continent. After starting and growing a successful business in Holland, with clients across the EU he has conquered that career front. Now he is enjoying a very successful career here, schooling mini-nerd right and left. For him, moving to a place like Japan, China, or Singapore is like heading out to the wild West. For a programmer, it's where everything big is happening.

We spent several years pursuing jobs in China and Singapore (Japan was too hard a market to break into), only to have them dissipate at the last interview because of language issues. The Captain has been studying Japanese for several years but that didn't help anywhere else! So, long story still long, we can get a great (although processed at a snail's pace) visa to Australia where we can live in Sydney, surrounded by a huge Asian population. The Captain hopes to land a job that will post us for 2 year assignments around the Pacific Rim. The Australian tech market is really linked to Japan and Southeast Asia so this plan is pretty feasible.

As for how the racial and cultural mix of our family will be accepted, I think there will be pros and cons. Australia has a significant inter-country adoption history so in that regard our family won't be an oddity. There are also many Dutch nationals who have migrated over the years so we've got that covered. What I've read is that Sydney in particular is a very diverse metropolitan city, and that mixed race families are not anything unusual. So I think it will be a good place for us. I think Muslims and perhaps Indians face some discrimination and I'm sure that it's not all roses. The one thing I can imagine might be an issue is that Small Sun might be perceived as mixed race Aboriginal. I'm not sure how people would respond to our family if they believe that to be the case, after Australia's dark history of forced adoption and assimilation. (They did to the indigenous Aboriginal population what we did to First the First Nations peoples).

Okay, I am officially long-winded. Alice, I'll answer your question next. And thanks for de-lurking!

Comments

[AmericanFamily]

Hey Thanks for answering my question! Very interesting!

[Tamara Cosby]

Thanks for answering! :) Your ideal day sounds like my ideal day...it HAS to involve good food I didn't fix ;)

[louise]

I think Australia sounds fascinating!

Have ya'll thought about Indonesia at all, after Australia? I think their tech sector is growing a lot too. We have some friends who live there now and absolutely love it, and the people.