The Displaced African » How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week

Australian Dictionary: Words and Expressions You Will Often Here While Down Under

Mwangi — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:48:42 +0000

Below is a list of words, expressions and institutions that you will regularly hear about once you land in the land down under. I expect this list to expand as you guys send me words that you often use within your Australian experience. For more information on Australian slang words check out Koala Net

Oz/ Aussie: Australia

DIMIA: Until and unless you become an Australian citizen, and to a lesser extent when you become a permanent resident, DIMIA (meaning The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs) is like a traditional African father: remains pretty much in the background when you’re in line. Step out of line and they come down on you with fury and viscous anger.

Have you heard stories of people who were picked up from their homes and deported on the spot, from out of the blue? These are the guys that did it.

Detention centres: These are places where people who the government thinks shouldn’t be in the country are kept. Otherwise, mess with DIMIA and their rules, this is where you get locked up. Avoid this place!

EFTPOS (pronounced Efft-Poss or Eff-Poss): This is when you use your debit card to make a purchase as opposed to using cash. When a business says EFTPOS is allowed, that means you can use your savings/debit card.

Goon bag: Goon refers to really really really cheap wine. A Goon bag is an even cheaper box of this far-from-dear wine. Usually 4-5 litres of goon is sold for less than $20. This stuff messes you up, I know many vomit stains can be attributed to the goon bag.

A root: (Usage: I am going to get a root) Sex or sexual intercourse.

Footy: Depends on which state you are in: refers to either rugby or the Australian sport, AFL Football. The use of the term depends on which of the two sports is more popular in the State

Btw: And to think they call football, or soccer or whatever Americans call it, a sissy sport??!!)

Sheila: A woman

Cockatoo: If you head out to the country, you may here the expression cockatoo: that’s a chicken.

Ocker: According to Koala Net, it refers to an unsophisticated person. Typically this is used to refer to blue collar workers who are crude in the manner they carry themselves. Great guys IMO though. Also referred to as Yobbo. Once you’ve seen an ocker or yobbo once you have a pretty clear picture of who they are that’s hard to forget.

Stubby: A 375ml. beer bottle (They really love alcohol, or as Aussies call it, piss across all age groups in this country)

Spunk: Good looking person. Usually a male, could go either way.

Sickie: A day that you take off from work because of illness.

Chuck a sickie: Take a day off work claiming illness when you are actually quite healthy.

Snag: An Australian sausage that’s usually grilled or barbecued….speaking of which….

Barbie: A barbecue or an event centered around barbecuing food.

Dole: This is the Australian equivalent of welfare. Money given to support people who are unemployed for one reason or another.

Dole Bludger: These are people who are on the dole when it’s unjustified or are seen to be lazy and exploiting the dole.

Pom: A British person

Yank: An American

Kiwi: A New Zealander

Supa/ Super (pronounced like Super): Short for superannuation. Money automatically taken out of every wage or salary and placed in a fund where it’ll be cashed out when you retire. If you return to Africa after working here feel free to withdraw your super then and go home with it.

Work hours limit: This goes by many names but is basically the idea that as an international student, you are limited to 20 hours of work per week during the school term -during holiday time you can work as much as you want. A lot of students due to various circumstances choose to defy this rule by working more than 20 hours. In general this comes to bite students in the butt when:

a) Their working too much interferes with their studies in any way shape or form: The University reports you, an investigation begins and it snowballs on and on and on…..

b) You have friends who either don’t like you, are envious of you or want to make money by reporting you to DIMIA.

c) You have employers who are dissatisfied with you and chose to report you.

In short, before you come here, please make sure you have thought through how you will be supported while you do your studies. Otherwise you may hear the dreaded word……

Deportation: You are deported when you break DIMIA or the Government’s rules and they don’t want you anymore. Doesn’t look good on your record.

States, Cities and Suburbs/Territories: Australia is a federal country that has 6 states:

1) New South Wales 2) Queensland 3) South Australia 4) Tasmania (an island separate from the Australian mainland) 5) Victoria 6) Western Australia

Australia also has a number of territories, refer to this article for more information.

Each of these states and territories then divides into cities, complete with their own city councils and mayors. For example, in Victoria there is:

1) City of Melbourne (which has the ever popular mayor John So) 2) City of Knox 3) City of Whitehorse 4) City of Monash, just to name a few.

Each of these cities consists of suburbs. Which leads me to:

Address: Back in Kenya, we used to use the Post Office Box system. That means that when someone used to ask me for my mailing address I would refer them to a mail box in the middle of the city whereas when asked for my residential address I could only describe it according to the landmarks that were on our road. Though a lot of houses have numbers on them, I don’t remember using them often to get to someone’s house.

In Australia though, unless you take advice I gave you on previous posts, your mailing address will be your residential address and it’ll look a little something like this:

24 Carvey Street,

Glen Iris,

VIC 3134

NB: The above is not a real address but merely an example

You need:

a) A street name and the number of the home or mail box on the street (24 Carvey Street)

b) The suburb-not the city or State (Glen Iris)

c) State or territory, usually abbreviated into two or three letters (VIC meaning Victoria, NSW meaning New South Wales, NT meaning Northern Territory)

d) Post code (4 digit number that usually only has relevance to the mailing company. Good to know if you are sending a letter e.g. 3150, 3000 etc etc)

Have any words to the add to the ‘Australian dictionary’? Leave a comment below and spread the word!

Be blessed,

Bless others,

Mwangi

Relationships and Health Insurance: How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week

Mwangi — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:04:29 +0000

To refer to the check-list that you will guide you in immigrating to Australia within a week please refer to the Introduction post in the series.

Relationships

We are in the home stretch! I thought I would make this final article short, sweet and to the point.

People You Should Know

1) Family: If you have family here. Cling on to them and make sure you don’t lose contact with them. Take care of each other, many times, no one else will.

2) Immigrant Families: If you know any immigrant families-where the parents and their children have immigrated over- it’s great to hang around them because:

a) Families are more stable and so less problems, especially self-inflicted problems.

b) This stability tends to make them more trustworthy and dependable.

c) You get to see how the immigrant experience affects people of different ages: It tends to hit some older African men quite hard, leaving a place where they were royalty and all of a sudden coming to a place where things are more leveled across sex and race. You get to see how they react to that.

A lot of women are hugely affected by the high level of freedoms and rights they all of a sudden have-across all age groups-and you get to see how they react to that.

I am not saying this as an empty provocative statement: A lot of people who come here in their teens or childhood end up being so empty, ignorant and superficial. Others on the other hand….hmmm…….on the other hand..I really need new acquaintances don’t I? I don’t see much of the other ones, only the empty ones.Btw if you are an Australian who came here in the mid-teens or younger and came out more intelligent and as a deeper human being, contact….oh yes, I have remembered. Some DO end up as deeper, more conscious human beings…….You have now gotten a glimpse into how my mind works

This contrast in experience amongst age groups is interesting to watch and gives you a menu of perspectives and vantage points on this immigrant experience.

3) The Older Immigrants: Not necessarily restricted to the family unit. People who have been here for ages can show you the ropes and give you a glimpse into what you will be a decade down the road. Maybe you want to be like them, so do what they do.

4) The Outsiders: A lot of people who come here, completely disconnect from communities associated with the country of their birth and carve out their own journeys. You may find these people on the tram or in the city or in general settings. In general a lot of these people don’t want to be found. Find them, talk to them. They can open you up to worlds and possibilities that you never even imagined existed. The amount of variety in the human experience that can exist here is startling at times.

5) The Australians: This is especially for those who want to move up the socioeconomic ladder and/or make this place feel more like a home. Extend your hand out and get to know the people who built this country. A lot of people have a lot of fulfilling business ties, friendships and romantic relationships with people here so you never know. Check out this free report I got from a Sri Lankan living in Australia that expounds on this idea some more. (It’s a pdf file so please download Adobe Reader)

6) Other Immigrants: You realize that this whole ‘being African’ thing is separate and apart from so many things such as ‘being Arab’, ‘being Greek’, ‘being Lebanese’, ‘being Italian’, ‘being South Korean’ etc etc. You will get along with people from a lot of immigrant communities naturally- Indians and Sri Lankans for example-because you are all in the same boat: you are outsiders. Make friends with immigrants, if for no other reason, to enjoy the beautiful irony of having so much in common with people who are so different.

7) The Students: If you want to see how someone below forty-some are actually over- can manage to stay alive on two hours of sleep while going to school five days a week, going to work eight days a week and still manage to have a vibrant social life, watch the wonder and the marvel that is the student.

Some just love to party. Some just love to pray and meditate on divinity. Some just love to work. Some love and find time for all three.

If you have anything further to add to the above list, give me a yell.

Health Insurance

Sadly I am not an expert in this area as I lack any experience with it and have rarely discussed it with my peers. I shall share with you the little I know, but if anyone has any more information or resources to contribute in this area then please let me know.

I am told that for a lot of students coming over, health insurance is part of the school fees. As soon as you get here, make sure you get your health insurance card and make sure that health insurance card gives you ambulance cover.

My teeth are slowly deteriorating, so with that in mind, also make sure your health insurance covers dental expenses.

Why This Emphasis on Dental and Ambulance Cover?

One five kilometre ride in the ambulance can cost you $700+ dollars.

Getting your teeth cleaned and bleached can cost …..$700+ dollars

Ambulance cover = $50 annually

Health insurance with Medibank Private (comes highly recommended to me from other students) = Approximately $400 (can be more or can be less)

A Place to Compare Health Insurance

I guess television advertising does work. I have seen this online service advertised repeatedly on television by some chuckle-inducing ads. It is a service that helps you compare and chose private health insurance health packages and companies. Check it out: I-select

Take care of yourself, get some health insurance.

BTW: An Additional Option to Accommodation

This was recently brought to my attention and I thought I had to just share it because it can be a perfect solution for some of y’all:

a) Instant employment

b) Free rent

Need any more reasons? Check it out and be sure to give me feedback on your experiences with it:

Wesley Homeshare

With that ladies and gentlemen. My guide to assist you to immigrate to Australia within a week is done. This guide is not a static guide but rather a fluid one that I expect to change and evolve over time as I get more feedback.

Ladies and gentlemen at the end of this week, you should have a solid foundation for a great life laid. And now…..LIFE BEGINS!

Godspeed,

Mwangi

Employment, English Problems, Stationary and Supplies: How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week

Mwangi — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:04:29 +0000

To refer to the check-list that you will guide you in immigrating to Australia within a week please refer to the Introduction post in the series.

Employment

I will take two hypothetical scenarios and offer employment solutions for both.

You Have Been Beaten and Dumped in the Middle of an Australian City with No Documentation and No Money in Your Pocket

Backpacker’s Hostels

In this case then my first recommendation is to pay a visit to backpacker’s hostels. In Sydney you find them at King’s Cross and Bondi Beach amongst other places. In Melbourne you find them in St. Kilda. They tend to be located in either city centers or near the ocean. Wherever they are seek them out.

Go to the notice board and look for people looking for workers in the following industries:

a) Construction

b) Landscaping and Gardening

c) Sales

d) Cleaning

e) ANYTHING!!

A lot of the people advertising in backpacker’s know that they are offering work to people who are young, broke, may have no bank accounts and no legal documentation.

Through these means I got a job at a demolition company where I was earning $150 cash at hand every single day. It could have actually become my permanent job because the firm, in truth it was a man and his brother, was always moving from job to job.

Another French man (have you ever met someone who is ridiculously good looking and yet nice at the same time…..I couldn’t believe my friend was real. And his girlfriend…..WOW!) actually got a van through these means and a permanent job as a carpet cleaner that paid him $1000 a week from about 8 hours of work a day.

Other people have gotten jobs as carpenters and laborers of various types with nice pay packets that are in excess of $1000 weekly.

Sales job

Door to door sales is the easiest job in the world to get. You show up in the office one day and you will begin working the next. It’s that simple. You don’t need English skills, qualifications, nothing. You show up and you’ll get it.

These jobs are also posted in notice boards of backpacker’s hostels and you can also find them through Seek and other job search sites.

People in Australia are the nicest people I have ever met. At the very least, when you interact with them one on one majority of them will treat with courtesy and respect (even when they don’t mean it, which makes their courtesy even better, depending on how you look at it). I say this so that you can understand that the job is not scary. People will not spit at you or beat you for knocking on their doors and trying to sell them car servicing vouchers or water coolers.

If you are good looking or charismatic, give it a go and you can actually build a six figure income if you are good at sales (imagine that, literally from the bottom to the top……..).

This job doesn’t gel with my sense of ethics a lot of the time: a lot of manipulation and mind games. Some salesmen lie through their teeth, but all in all if you are desperate and you need a job, door to door sales is a way to go. Great opportunities!

Cleaning

I have no experience getting cleaning jobs, however from what I have observed and heard from others, look them up in the local paper classifieds or on Seek and you should be able to arrange an immediate job, sometimes even with cash at hand. This job, needless to say, needs no experience or qualifications.

It’s definitely a physically exhausting job, but you are an African, you probably saw worse in high school or at least from the manual workers around you.

Online Opportunities

If you have a background and/or are very strong in IT, regardless of your location, then this can be a great way to get some income. This applies even if you are still in Africa; people are making some good money in Romania, Philippines and India in this industry.

So, consider working as a virtual assistant or freelance programmer. Become one of those IT professionals who work is outsourced to.

It is a multi billion dollar industry and you can work from the comfort of your own home and make a mean chunk of change.

You can sign up for free to websites such as:

a) Rentacoder:http://www.rentacoder.com

b) Guru:http://www.guru.com

c) Elance:http://www.elance.com/

Or simply find a way to start up your own virtual assistant or freelance programmer service. The demand is definitely out there and it’s great way to make some money when you desperately need it and you have IT skills. Some articles and resources that give you more information about the industry:

a) The Blog about the Virtual Assistant Industry: http://vadirectory.net/blog/

b) Timothy Ferriss articles on the Virtual assistant industry: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/category/outsourcing-life/

c) A Practical Case Study on How One Small Business Outsourced:

Entrepreneur’s Journey case study

d) Podcast show on how two Internet business owners outsourced their work:

Internet Business Mastery – What You Need to Know to Start Outsourcing

I wrote a bit more on this in an email correspondence I had with a couple of the members of the Mashada online community and a person who wrote to me through the website Linkedin. A lot of it is covered above but there are still some great nuggets in there. Find that by opening the pdf document below:

Online opportunities (the pdf file that needs Adobe Reader to be opened)

You Have Everything In Order, You are Going to School and You Need to Take Care of Yourself

Nursing, aged care and disabled care

This job is pretty much a dichotomy. On the one hand, no other minimum-wage job offers you:

a) As much work: This place-and many Western countries-are the mirror opposite of Africa with senior citizens being the majority who outnumber the youth. The number of elderly and retired is increasing each and every year and extensive use of contraception(amongst other things) basically means there are a lot of elderly people and not enough people to take care of them.

There will always be sick people in hospital and disabled people will always require assistance. Demand is there.

b) Flexibility of hours: In this industry you can work 24 hours a day 365 days a year if your body can hack it. There are no holidays for the old, sick and disabled so there is constant work.

c) You help people: Personally, I find the job a bit too fast-paced to really appreciate the impact we have on people but the truth remains this job helps make other’s lives better, or at least more comfortable.

d) Variety of work: I have worked in all three fields of aged, disabled care and hospitals, though I was only trained as an aged care nurse. You can also work as a cleaner of people’s homes…there is a wide variety of work in case you get bored quickly like I do.

e) You can keep getting fired and getting work: I was fired, and or have quit from a lot of jobs but have been able to bounce back and find a new job in a matter of weeks even in different states.

I do very many things well, but nursing isn’t one of them. Yet I kept getting hired. The scarcity of work is that bad.

However this job also requires a few sacrifices:

a) You must train to become an entry aged care or disability nurse: Training varies from a few weeks to a few months depending on where you train and costs around $1000 in total (this will be paid off in a couple of weeks though).

The qualification you need to receive is a Certificate III in Aged Care (or Certificate 3 in Aged Care). There are also other courses that deal with disabled care, but in my experience the Certificate III is enough. To find a place to get trained, ask your guide or check out some of the places I found via a Google search.

b) You must be able to handle the sight and handling of feces and bodily fluids. You will also be witness to a large number of grotesque bodily distortions: If you can’t handle the sight of this stuff or feel you can’t humble yourself to handle it then just say “Next” and move on to the next job.

Call center jobs

These jobs are dream jobs for a lot of people. There are a number of types of call centre jobs that I have observed:

a) Sales: Calling people and trying to sell them things, predominantly phone plans and credit cards. You usually earn a fixed salary plus commission and work for about 4 hours every weekday afternoon and evening. Some jobs are strictly on a commission basis.

b) Customer service: Usually at a telephone company. People call in with their complaints and you help them out. Some companies have customer service departments that are opened 24/7 e.g. Optus. This job can be like a standard 9 to 5 job with pay packages (including things like sick leave – you are paid when you take days off sick-and annual leave-you get extra money from the company to go on holiday). If you manage to get this job it can be great, from what I have heard.

c) Debt collection: You may work in a phone company or credit company or any company that collects debts. Your job is to call people and remind them there will be consequences if they don’t pay off their debt soon. You can also work in the department that calls people to let them know that unless they can pay TODAY, the organization will mess up their credit rating tomorrow. Good pay within a standard 9-5 day.

Update: To read about Acolyte’s hilarious experiences working at a credit card call centre click on this link.

Petrol stations and supermarkets

Petrol station convenience stores: You spend a lot of time on your feet. Usually a standard 8 hour shift or a part time 4 hour shift. You are in charge of restocking the shelves in the petrol station’s mini supermarkets while checking on fuel pumps and processing fuel payments. Difficult work, but it’s steady and the pay is alright.

Supermarkets: I did this job when I first entered University. Personally this job bored me out of my mind. You can either work as a checkout person or work with meat in the deli section or do what I did; restock shelves and make sure the items on the shelves look good and are easy to reach. This job bored me out of my mind due to the monotony and lack of human interaction. Once you get used to it though it’s also a nice steady job, the work load isn’t too bad after a while and the pay can be great. (people who work for Safeway earn more than I do as an entry level nurse)

You can work this job if you need to work at night: the supermarkets replenish their shelves during the night.

Hotels and Restaurants

Apparently in Adelaide this is where a lot of students end up working. Very busy, quick fire job. You can work in some fantastic locations though and the pay is pretty good.

There are a few other jobs that I have missed but these are the major jobs that I keep hearing people have over and over and over again.

Ultimately though, working here at the entry level is great. Work load is almost a joke when compared with the typical African work day, there are protections like Unions and fantastic perks. People here are also pretty nice and discrimination is almost insignificant, except when you can’t speak English well: That drives people here CRAZZZY!

If you are willing to put in the work, rewards will come

English Problems

If you can read this blog and understand what I am saying, you’re English is way ahead of a lot of people who have lived over here for decades. However should English be a problem for you then there are a number of solutions:

a) English colleges: Click on the link to go the Google search results for the search term ‘English college Australia’.

b) Online products and courses: Feel free to check out any of the below solutions:

i) How to Learn Any Language in Six Months or Less.

ii) Emanuel’s School of English

iii) Stop Struggling While Speaking English! For Non-native speakers.

Unfortunately, I can’t say I have experience with any of these solutions. Any experience using the above, recommended solutions, give me a yell. Should you have any solutions or anything to recommend to other people, feel free to drop me a line.

Employment

If you’re English is fantastic and you don’t mind teaching people English,you can easily start an English college. Just go online and search for a basic English curriculum course (or one of the resources I have recommended above), put some posters in your local University, wait for the calls and walk (it’ll mainly be Asian and Indian ) your students through the English curriculum at a rate of 20-25 dollars per hour.

For the story of how a man from Brisbane did it while in his early twenties check out the Entrepreneur’s Journey business timeline of Yaro Starak.

Stationery and Supplies

I know I spelled stationary (or is it stationery, I am basically referring to the tools necessary for studying) wrong, my apologies. You will spend A LOT of money on text books. Very few bookshops sell books and I assume that’s why they charge monopoly-esque prices.You can easily spend between $100 – $1000 per book. Be prepared to spend up to $2000 (maybe even more) on stationery, supplies and books.

A Cheeky Solution to the Text Book Dilemma

Go to the school’s library and borrow all the text books you will need for the coming semester. Now most people would recommend that you just keep renewing the books indefinitely for the rest of the semester. Nah, I think that’s a bit selfish.

What you can do instead is go to your local Student Union copying facility-cheaper than standard copying services. You can also go to your local Officeworks- and make a black and white copy (photocopying and printing in color is so expensive, only do it if it’s worth it) of the book for yourself and get it bound. If other students are interested in the book as well, make photocopies for them and sell them at a much cheaper price than the original book.

As for stationery and supplies, look out for cheap deals at:

a) Ebay: Check out Ebay’s stationery offerings.

b) Open air markets: Like Victoria Market, Carribean Market in Melbourne.

c) Chinese and Oriental areas and shops

If you apply any of my tips with success, or failure, make sure you drop me a line and let me know so I can adjust this guide accordingly.

The Next One is the Last One (I think this guide is about as long as a Master’s thesis by this point, so you best make use of it)

Mwangi

Banking:How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week

Mwangi — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:04:12 +0000

To refer to the check-list that you will guide you in immigrating to Australia within a week please refer to the Introduction post in the series.

Banking

I have only ever been with one and a half banks:

a) I have been with Commonwealth bank for six years and;

b) I signed up to join ANZ Visa Debit Card program some months back. In the end, I ended up not needing the service. That having been said, I strongly recommend you get an ANZ Visa Debit Card when you arrive in Australia (more on this later).

I will be speaking to you from the above experience as well as observations and anecdotes. My goals are:

a) To teach you how to save as time as possible during the banking process.

b) Make banking as easy and convenient as possible.

b) Give you some of the tips and tools I have picked up along the way to ensure that you are never strapped for cash and have continual cash flow (this advice is also expanded on when I discuss employment).

With that in mind I recommend that you chose Commonwealth bank: As a student you get an account for free without any monthly fees. In addition to that you can take advantage of:

1) Netbanking:

This will shave literally years off your banking.NetbankingNetbanking is the free facility that Commonwealth bank provides, that allows you to do your banking over the Internet. This means that you have, at your fingertips:

a) Ability to check your bank balance and your most recent transactions from any computer with the Internet.

b) Ability to transfer money to any account within Australia as long as you know its BSB and account number. You can even add it to your online address book to make future transfers easier. Unfortunately I have no experience with international transfers.

c) Ability to schedule regular payments – Ask your landlord for his BSB and account numbenetbankto netbank, input his details, schedule rent payments every two weeks and never think about paying rent again.

d) Bill paying: You can also automate bill paying using the Commonwealth provided Bpaylity: Bpay. This when combined with servicePaypal as Paypal, will automate payment of 90% of the bills you will ever have to pay in Australia.

e) Transferring funds from one Commonwealth account to another is instantaneous. Transferring to another bank takes between 24 -72 hours.

For more inforNetbankingNetbanking check out the Commonwealth BanNetbankingNetbanking.

Check out the FAQ for CommonweNetbankingNetbanking here.

2) Telephone Banking:

As a result of the exiNetbankingNetbanking I haven’t had to use this feature extensively. I have only ever used my telephone banking when I need to call the bank to change my account details or report any errors with my account to a customer service employee.

Telephone banking also makes banking convenient and accessible 24 hours a day, from the comfort of your own home. For more information check out the Commonwealth Bank page on telephone banking.

3) Depositing MATMs with ATMs

This feature is pretty straightforward and pretty much guarantees that you never have to cue in a bank again. You can deposit cheques and cash at specially designated ATMS that are almost always outside every bank branch.

Therefore, if you have excess cash that you want to put away or have had a cheque written recently, pop into your nearest ATM 24 hours a day and you can deposit the funds. It should take about 24 hours for the money to enter your account.

Swift Code

To be honest I really don’t know what this is. However, when you are transferring money from Kenya to Australia you need it and the Indian bank teller told me apparently this applies in many countries. Therefore make sure as soon as you open your account, you get your swift code and write it down somewhere safe. If you will be doing any international transfers, you will need this number.

The Process of Transferring Money

In order to transfer money between accounts you will need the following details, including the swift code for international transfers:

a) Full name of account holder: May be a business name or a personal name.

b) BSB number: Also known as branch number: Usually a six digit number.

c) Account number: In my experience, usually also six numbers.

If you are using a credit card then the required details to make a payment are:

a) Account number: This is the long number on the face of the card. It is also your account number when Netbanking or looking at your account statements.

b) Expiry date: Usually 4 digits, also on the face of the card.

The 4 digits are separated into two groups of two that are separated by a slash: 2 digits for the month (11 for November, 01 for January, 06 for June and so on……) and 2 digits for the year ( 11 for 2011, 99 for 19999, 23 for 2023 and so on and so forth).

c) CCV or Confirmation Code: This is a 3 digit number on the back of the credit card. Most organizations that ask for it will show you where it is on the card. It’s the last three numbers on the back of the card. It’s quite difficult to describe but easy to grasp once you see it for the first time.

If You Need to Use A Credit Card

There are certain situations where you must use a credit card, or at the very least a card that has an expiry date, a confirmation number and the long account number on its face. How do you get all the benefits of a credit card without the burden of having to pay a lot of debt in future and struggle every day not to live beyond your means.

Enter, the Visa debit card. This is actually the ideal choice, in my opinion, for a card to be used day to day. It is basically a credit card where you use your own money. It has the account number, confirmation code and expiry but you can only pay for stuff with your own money. If you have no use for the credit facility then the Visa Debit Card can also be used as a normal debit card with a BSB and account number. Pretty cool huh?

Using the tips stated above, in your day to day life you have made banking a helluva-lot easier. Below are a few things I have learned about how to forever remain cash flow positive while in Australia

How to Succeed Financially: Three Types of Accounts, Maybe Four

After observing the financial ups and downs of many here in the diaspora, including myself, and doing some investigation into it, I advise you to open up three types, possibly four types of accounts:

1) Your day-to-day account: This is the account that is linked to your ATM card, your phone banking and your netbanking. I strongly advise that if you receive money from Africa or if you end up employed, money should never be deposited into this account. Doing so avoids being a spendthrift-which is remarkably easy here.

This account could be the savings account that you open with Commonwealth bank or ideally a Visa ANZ Debit Card, which has a small monthly fee of $5 last time I checked. If you can find an account that has a great interest rate then that would be great, but money will probably flow into and out of this account so quickly that interest doesn’t really matter.

2) Your ‘collection’ account: This should be the account where all money coming in (money from back home, salaries and wages, debt repayments, share price increases, real estate rent) should go into. This account should be separate from all other accounts. It should have no ATM card and should only be accessible via it’s own separate netbank account.

I first observed this type of account in a friend of mine who was a bit of a party animal (and a lot of a ladies’ man, but I digress…..). Before he stepped out of the house, he would go onto his computer, calculate on the spot how much he would need for the night out and transfer that amount into his day to day account.

The main benefit of having this account only accessible via its own netbanking facility is it gives you time to think prior to transfering money to your day to day account. This means, ideally, that every purchase you make-via your day to day account-has been pre-thought. This will avoid a lot of irrational spending decisions.

Bills, Bills Bills

If you have rent payments or insurance payments or any critical, regular, fixed-amount payments, you can schedule regular automatic payments from this account, using either the provided Netbanking facility or Bpay. The fact that ‘it’s difficult’ to reach this money day to day will mean it will be difficult for you to spend ‘the only money you have to pay your rent’.

For more information on Scheduled Bill payments click here

3) Your Savings Account: This is where you should put 10% of all money that you receive. Never touch this money unless it’s a life or death situation or you are being deported tomorrow or you need an emergency amputation without which you will die of terminal cancer. It’s great to know that when push comes to shove you will be able to stand on your own two feet.

This account should be ‘invisible’ to you. There should only be two ways you should be able to access this account:

a) Monthly bank statements: These get mailed to you automatically and at no cost.

b) Making a trip to the bank.

It should be inaccessible via netbanking, ATM card and telephone banking. I learned this one the hard way. If you can access the money, you will spend it.

4) Your Investment Account: This should be where you deposit another 10% of all income with the intention of using this money to ‘make more money’. It may start out as a small chuck of change but three years down the track don’t be surprised if you can easily use the money you have saved up to buy an investment home though you were working a minimum wage job as a cleaner (tough job, the pays not too bad, mad respect if you do this job…….)

Another account that should be as inaccessible as possible. As soon as you know how and where to invest your money and you have enough to invest, begin to do so. Remember you have a savings account and a collection account where all your money is pooled together should things fall apart.

5) Tithe: In my opinion, you should invest 10% of your money in something beyond yourself, if you don’t already do so. Whether it be building a hospital in your constituency, paying school fees for a family member who can’t quite hack it, supporting initiatives that help people help themselves such as Maseno Interchristian Child Self Help Group, do something beyond yourself with whatever you are blessed with and that may help you become more than you previously were.

If you earn a fixed salary, then let me recommend that you automate your tithing and the depositing of money into your savings and investment account so that you only ever have to think about it once.

Ok Ok Ok, this is more than enough on banking, I think. I need to move on to the next tip. If there is anything here that you don’t fully understand or want to comment on, then leave a comment below or contact me.

Fina Tips

This isn’t an entirely paperless economy: Make sure you carry cash around with you especially for purchases of things that cost less than $10. Almost every small to mid-size business has a minimum amount that you must spend in order to use your bank or credit card. It’s usually either $5 or $10.

If your collection account is inaccessible via ATM card, how on Earth will I be able to deposit cheques and cash to my collection account? I am glad you asked . Transfer the cheque or money into your day to day account and then use netbanking to transfer it to your collection account. Don’t keep it in your day to day account for too long unless you have tremendous self control (in which case write to me and tell me how you do it…………)

Be blessed, be abundant and give to others,

Mwangi

Public and Private Transport, Skype:How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week

Mwangi — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:04:33 +0000

First of all: I am now the proud owner of displacedafrican.com. This means that if you would like to visit this website you can now find it by typing in either:

a) www.displacedafrican.com OR;

b) www.thedisplacedafrican.com

Hopefully that will make finding this website a lot easier for many of you.

To refer to the check-list that you will guide you in immigrating to Australia within a week please refer to the Introduction post in the series.

Private Transport: Driving

Quick Tips

1) Buying a car here can be pretty cheap. Cars start from as little as $500. I would recommend that you buy yourself a nice, simple second hand car as there is no need to splurge if you will only be in Australia temporarily.

Of course if funds allow you, can pretty much buy what you like. Some great places to buy cars:

a) Used car dealerships: These can be found all over the place. Ask your guide to take you to one or simply look them up in the yellow pages. Be wary of car salesmen though, they can be very shifty characters sometimes…I myself have been taken for a ride.

b) In Melbourne, there is a newspaper called the ‘Melbourne Trading Post’. The paper is basically a classifieds newspaper with great deals. If you are in another state:

i) Look through the classified section of the major newspapers.

ii) Visit the local newsagent and ask whether there are ‘classified newspapers’ similar to the Melbourne Trading Post.

c) EBay Australia has a great online market for cheap cars. Check it out here.

2) The main benefit of owning a car-probably the only one for a lot of people- is convenience: They help you get from place to place at any time. This is especially important if you end up working for an agency that has work for you all over town and/or you’re lifestyle entails a lot of nocturnal journeys (public transport here is not 24 hours a day).

3) As those of you who have owned cars know, it’s the maintenance that is expensive. I drive a very small fuel efficient car but the total amount that has been spent on fuel, servicing, repairs and insurance is easily more than the cost of purchasing the car. In fact it may even double, triple or quadruple that amount.

Quick Tips on Expenses

1) Registration for my small car costs $550 every year. Depending on what you drive, save up between $500 – $2000 (rough estimate) for registration every year. I recommend you do this by saving $30 every week from whatever you earn ($30 * 50 weeks =$1500).

After you have paid of your registration, you can take the excess left over and save it or use it for some enjoyment. But please, don’t wait for the end of the year to begin hustling to pay registration; begin saving as soon as you get the car.

2) Insurance: Talk to your friends and peers and do research online to find the best, and cheapest insurance policy for you. If your work involves driving, make sure you know what type of insurance cover – third party, comprehensive etc – your employer require from you so you can act accordingly.

Personally I am with RACV because I get discounts on their road side assistance service (24 hour service where a mechanic comes over to fix your car when it breaks down in the middle of the road). They are far from the cheapest providers so please do some research.

I have been told that Just car insurance are pretty cheap (and they say their prices are ‘tuned’ to younger drivers so……)

4) Cars are ultimately the most dangerous form of driving with the highest proclivity for accidents and death. They are also harmful to the environment.

If you have any tips of resources on how people can minimize the environmental impact of their driving please email them to me or leave a comment below and let me know about them.

Driving Course

Now, I know you are arriving with a driver’s license and experience driving, right?!As soon as you get here, if your intention is to eventually drive yourself around, then within the first week, either sign up for a driving course or get your guide to give you a few driving lessons. This is because the Australian roads are quite different from African roads and you need someone to hold your hand and guide you as you acclimatize to the new roads.

You want to observe briefly, how people handle the roads here and take the wheel to practice after just a few lessons (four should be enough). As you drive around, make sure someone sitting right beside you guiding you. And don’t mind their screaming, they’re just telling you you’re about to crash into a tree

To show you the consequences of not heeding the above advice a couple of stories:

The Mexicans

Now some of the coolest people you will meet when you travel abroad are Latin Americans. To be honest, I never used to know who lived in South America – except the Brazilian soccer team – until I came to Australia. But now, I feel as though Latin Americans are our cousins; we share so many cultural habits; they are just our cousins by another aunty. But I digress……..

A friend of mine told me about the experience of his Mexican friends the first time they got on Australian roads. I don’t know if people drive on the right side in Mexico or if these Mexicans had passed by the States, either way they still weren’t used to people who drive on the left side of the road.

When they got to an intersection they decided they were going to turn right. They turned right, but rather than catching the left lane on this busy road, they caught the right. They drove down the road for quite a while before they noticed that all the cars were coming towards them………………………………..

They corrected course and escaped harm but it could have been worse.

Ladies Night in Driving School

One African lady had to go for a driving test in order to convert her local driver’s license into an Australian license. After 15 years on African roads, she failed her driving test an amazing 3 times. Among the reasons she failed are:

a) She assumed that STOP signs were decorations on the road, particularly when there is no incoming traffic.

b) Slowing down at Bumps is for dummies.

c) Trying to squeeze into spaces that cars shouldn’t fit into. “It’s every man for himself where I’m from.”

Finding a Driving School

As far as driving schools are concerned I recommend RACV because the instructors will come pick you up from your home, though they are not the cheapest. Otherwise pop open an Australian yellow pages and find a driving school in your suburb and book in a lesson ASAP.

You Must Buy a Melway/ Sydney Street Directory etc

Whichever Australian city you land in, go to the closest Kmart store (sometimes they are sold in gas stations) and get yourself the book that maps out that entire city.

In Melbourne, it’s called Melway.
In Sydney it’s called the Sydney Street Directory or Sydway.

If you don’t know its name, ask for the “book where the city is mapped out” and people should be more than willing to help.

Google Maps and Whereis

The online equivalent of the city maps can be found on two websites:

a) Google Maps

b) Whereis

Should anyone know any other websites that assist with mapping and giving directions, please let me know.

Public Transport

I come from Nairobi and in comparison the cities of Melbourne and Sydney are HUGE! This will probably be your experience. For that reason I strongly recommend that in your first few weeks here whenever you have to go somewhere by public transport write down the address in full. Writing down the address in full means writing down:

a) Street name and street number (what number the place is along the street. Remember in most Australian suburbs, odd numbers are on one side of the street and even numbers on the other side)

b) The suburb (also known as the city. When in doubt just ask what “suburb” that place is in)

Get used to remembering those three things- the street name, street number and the suburb -and you should be fine.

Guidance

The best way to get used to public transport is to go out there and use it. When your guide is free ask them to help you take a bus somewhere.

If you are feeling gutsy, write down the address that you live in, go to your nearest bus station (not bus stop), ask the nice people that work there how to get to the city center; take a train or bus to the city and come back.

The bus and train station employees can be especially helpful giving you maps and helping you figure out how to get to where it is you want to go.

Online Guidance

In every Australian city, there is an online system where you can figure out how to get from point A to B using public transport. It’s pretty straight forward so just ask around and you should be able to find the online guide in your city.

In Melbourne the guide is: Viclink Journey Planner
In Sydney the guide is: 13 15 00 Transport Info line website
In Perth the guide is: Transperth
In Adelaide the guide is: Adelaide Metro

You can also Google the name of your town, e.g. Melbourne and the terms “public transport” or “public transport guide” to find your guide online.

Skype

Hopefully by this point you have learned how to use Skype appropriately. If not, I have written a review of Skype and should be releasing that very shortly.

The only things that I would recommend now are that you set up Paypal so that you can easily top up your Skype credit. For those who don’t know what Paypal is please visit the Paypal account. I think at some point I will write an article on Paypal, its benefits and how to set it up because it’s an absolutely phenomenal resource to have.

In addition to that, if you will be talking to a lot of people who spend a lot of time online then consider getting the 3 Skypephone so that you can speak to anyone who uses Skype for free.

Can you imagine free international calls?? Sighh…….

By this point if you see there any glaring omissions or faults in the guide then please contact me and let me know. Other than that, we are almost there.

Skype someone today,

Mwangi

Police Check, Taxes and Tax File Number,Enrolment and Work Permit:How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week

Mwangi — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:04:46 +0000

To refer to the check-list that you will guide you in immigrating to Australia within a week please refer to the Introduction post in the series.

NB: The unit of currency in Australia is the Australian dollar which I shall represent with the symbol: $

Police Check

To download a police check or get more information on them from the official website please click on this link to go to the Federal Police Website.

If you will be performing any sort of job that will involve:

a) Children (working in a daycare centre),

b) The disabled (disabled care),

c) The elderly (aged care nurse) or;

d) Anyone who is vulnerable in any way, you will need to get a police check.

A police check is basically like a background check to make sure that you don’t have a criminal record – if you do have a criminal record, then this tip probably isn’t for you.

Some Quick Tips About the Police Check

1) You will probably need to renew it on an annual or bi-annual basis. Get familiar with the process so that it’s quicker each subsequent time you have to do it.

2) If you require your police check urgently then go to the central police station, or whichever station the police checks are processed at (in Melbourne it’s the Spencer Street police prescinct). This shaves time off the mailing and transit process.

3) They cost a little over $30 and you must pay for postage (either $0.50 or $1).

4) You will need to attach copies of certified documents to the police check application form. One of the places that certified documents are neccesary.

5) You will wait on average between a week and a fortnight after applying to receive your police check.

6) You will need to specify an address for the police check to be sent to (you can’t go pick it up from anywhere, they must mail it out) . One of the places that a permanent mailing address comes in handy.

For more information on the police check or to download a police check please click on this link.

Taxes and Tax File Number

You are not legally required to get a tax file number. In addition to that I am not 100% sure why we need a tax file number. In my experience the reason that an international student would want a tax file number is:

a) To have records of their employment and payment history at a centralized location in case that is needed.

b) To avoid paying more tax than is neccesary (you end up paying more tax if you don’t have a tax file number)

c) Tax return: The first time you get your tax return, if you are like me, you will experience something that can only be described as a sugar rush! At the end of every financial year, many people employed in Australia are entitled to get a portion of the taxes they have paid back-hence the name ‘tax return’.

NB: For more information on why you need a tax file number, check out the Australian tax office page on tax file numbers.

The tax you get back can vary from $1 to a single lump sum payment of $1,700 (this is the biggest I have seen for a student so far). You can also employ to have your tax return paid back to you in small chunks over a predefined period of time.

To apply for a tax file number online, click on this hyper link and the only details you need are your:

a) Passport or travel document number: this is the number on your student visa (In case I haven’t said it already, you should also make many photocopies of your student visa and get them certified. )

b) Your mailing address.

You should receive a tax file number within a couple of weeks. Save that tax file number somewhere safe and memorize it (it’s only nine digits- remember the numbers as 3 groups of 3) because you will need to fill in a tax form every time you get a job.

For more information on tax file numbers check out these guides from:

a) Swinburne University- in Melbourne: http://www.international.swinburne.edu.au/currentstudents (My former University, great school…..)

b) University of Tasmania -in Tasmania: http://www.international.utas.edu.au/studentSupport

c) Australian Taxation Office – part of the Australian Government:

http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/

Enrolment and Work Permit

NB: The rules changed on April 26th and now all students automatically get work permits. Refer to this article from Mwalimu for more information. I live this section intact for the sake of nostalgia (and because it took some effort to write). Hope it’s of benefit, even entertainment counts, to you.

The basic rule to getting these two things done ASAP is the same: follow them up daily until they are completed. Let’s go through them one by one.

Enrolment

For those who don’t know, the process of enrollment is basically the process of you slotting yourself into all the systems and all the records of a University. Once enrollment is completed, at the beginning of every semester, it usually runs on autopilot for the rest of the semester with a few glitches here and there.

From the outside it may seem that fitting you into the University database and system is a simple five step process: I can assure you it’s not. I can also assure you that unless you take personal responsibility, very little or nothing will get done.

The enrollment process has a number of steps that can be broken down into two major steps:

1) Getting enrolled in your course.

2) Getting enrolled in all your classes.

These two are quite separate from each other. Once you are enrolled in your course, then this is when you can begin exploring all the classes that you are allowed to enroll in over the course of the next 30 days. Don’t jump from class to class for too long though: that will mean that you will have to do more work catching up with the class that you eventually chose.

However remember, nothing will happen in this area unless you make it happen. Follow it up, talk to all the people that you need to speak to every single day until you are fully enrolled in the University and every class you are supposed to attend. Universities are too big, have too much bureaucracy and are too slow for you to leave the responsibility for your enrollment entirely with them.

Work Permit

A work permit is basically a document that legally allows an international student to work in Australia. The process of getting one can also be broken down into two steps:

1) Getting the University to email the Department of Imigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) to inform them that you are enrolled in the University and are indeed a student of your chosen University.

2) Applying for a work permit either online (recommended) and off.

Getting the University to Mail DIMIA

Follow this up with your international student office until it gets done x1,000,00000. Tip over!

Applying for a Work Permit

The Department of Immigration has a pretty clear simple step by step guide that will show you how to get a work permit (also known as ‘permission to work’) so please check it out. Contact me should you have any problems with it all.

You may be required to go to the DIMIA offices in your city to pick up your work permit. Should that be the case then please click on this link to find out the nearest DIMIA office near you or to give them a call.

We are almost there,

Mwangi

Documentation, A Mobile Phone Line and Mailing Address: How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week

Mwangi — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:05:35 +0000

To refer to the check-list that you will guide you in immigrating to Australia within a week please refer to the Introduction post in the series.

Get Your Documents Certified

Do you remember all the photocopies that I asked you to make when you were back in Africa? I want you to look for the first chemist you can find as soon as you land and ask the pharmacist – who is legally allowed to certify documents – to certify as many photocopies as he can.

If he can’t certify them all, or he isn’t allowed to certify (or worse he doesn’t want to) then go from chemist to chemist until you get your documents certified.

Any time you get a document that is important, especially legal documents, I want you to make it a habit to make photocopies of the document and get them certified.

There are other professionals allowed to certify documents and to get a comprehensive list please click on this link. (The list is a pdf file so please make sure you have Adobe Reader. It is also VERY comprehensive so please make sure you give it a glance, there may be professionals closer to you who can certify documents.)

The reason I chose chemists to certify documents, there are a lot more people including police who can certify documents, is because:

a) There are chemists all over the place: including the airport when you land.

b) Chemists tend to remain open later than other businesses (in case you want documents certified past 5pm when most business close)

c) Convenience (the person who is legally able to certify documents in a police station is usually only there for one random hour per day whereas pharmacists remain in their chemists ALL DAY)

Early Tip

Should you end up applying for a job where you will be working with:

The disabled
The elderly or
Young people, you will need to get a police check. Make sure you make photocopies of that and get the photocopies certified. More on this later.

Mobile Phone Line

Most of you know more about mobile phones than I do so I won’t bother explaining how mobile phones work. In my experience,I would advise you to purchase (at least to begin with) an Optus prepaid sim card package.

NB: If you would like to purchase your sim card online please click on this link to buy an optus sim card from ebay.

Optus Prepaid Sim Card Package

The Optus prepaid package (where you pay for the credit to make calls and sms prior to doing so, as opposed to post-paid where you get a bill at the end of every month) has a number of features that fit in perfectly with the student lifestyle:

a) $10 credit: This can be in the form of text saver credit where $10 buys you 70 smses: Sending an sms usually costs 25 cents, this means that the text saver gives you an overall saving of about $7.50.

It can also be in the form of standard credit that allows you to make calls and sms. Great for when poverty and yourself collide. The $10 recharge is usually only valid for a week.

b) Free minutes: This is where you get a certain number of “free minutes” every time you recharge that allow you to talk to people on the Optus network for free. This comes as a bonus when you recharge with either $30, $50 or $100 credit (you can probably recharge using more money but I have never had to do so).

c) Free minutes to special numbers: On top of the general free minutes you also get even more ” free minutes” to numbers that you specify on the Optus network. Just in case you have a core group of special people that you will constantly be calling while here in Australia.

d) Turbo charge: If you don’t want the free minutes you can instead go for the Turbo charge option (this and free minutes are only valid from $30 recharge upwards) where $30 becomes $120 of credit, $50 becomes $150 of credit and so on and so forth. Every recharge gives you 3 times the value.

e) Most people I have met are on Optus, meaning you should be able to put the free minutes to good use and all those people can’t be wrong can they? (don’t answer that…lol)

To get more information on Optus prepaid sim packages check out the Optus website.

Mailing Address

The most important thing to remember is: make sure all the mail you will ever receive in Australia goes to one address regardless of how many times you move.

Since arriving in Australia I have moved 6 times and I know there is probably a lot of mail, maybe even important mail, that has been lost in the mix. To avoid that you can:

1) Use Your Guide’s or Friend’s Residential Address as Your Mailing Address: In order for this to work, make sure that your guide’s or friend’s residential address is their permanent address and that they won’t be moving in the near future.

2) Get a P.O. Box: This is where all your mail goes to one central post office box. I highly recommend this option.

Nowadays, “the box” comes complete with a service that lets you know- either via email or SMS -when you have new mail in your post office box.

It’s cheap to set up and maintain, so please fill in this application form and get one if means allow.

3) Use Earth Class Mail: By far the most superior choice in terms of convenience.

How it works?

NB: I recently learned that Earth Class cannot provide you with a mailing address in Australia. You can still use the service in Australia but all your mail would have to go to an American mailing address, which is a bit of a bummer. The service is still super-beneficial IMO though.

From Techcrunch article on the service:

Earth Class Mail (formerly Remote Control Mail) will provide you with a permanent (snail) mail address, gather all of your incoming mail, scan (the outside), notify you of its existence (with the outside scan), scan the inside if you like (for a fee), and then either forward it to you or shred it, on your command.

This service is cheaper than you’d expect and is available in over 130 countries. Joining Earth Class Mail will mean that:

a) You will never need to change your mailing address

b) You’ll never visit the post office ever again.

Instead, every day while you check your email inbox you will also be checking your post office box Cool

To learn about how Earth Class works or to set up this service, please click here to go to the Earth Class Mail website.

Once you set up a permanent mailing address you’ve saved yourself a ton of headaches over the coming years. So now that you are able to communicate effectively, let’s hit the ground running.

Stay in touch,

Mwangi

Accommodation, Purpose and Awareness: How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week

Mwangi — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:04:02 +0000

To see the checklist that will assist you in immigrating over to Australia within a week please refer to the Introduction post in this series.

Awareness

Three stories, hopefully you’ll see the moral of the tale as we go along.

From Doctors to the Lowest Place in the Totem Pole: For the Skilled Migrants

The family business is an aged and disability care agency. Recently a man, his wife, his brother and his 2 kids came to pay our agency a visit. The man and his wife had been practicing doctors in Sri Lanka for more than a decade but now they were looking for minimum wage work as aged and disability nurses….WHY? They said that they applied to come over as doctors and their application was successful. Upon arrival however, they were informed that in order to practice as doctors in Australia they had to do a course in order to be fully accredited.

Now the problem with this scenario is that:

a) They weren’t informed about this prior to flying over.

b) Had they known, they could easily have flown over to Singapore to do the brief course. However, they were now in Australia with dwindling savings and having to make ends meet while also trying to do the course and take care of their two young children.

The Moral of the Story

Before you come over as a skilled migrant go to painstaking lengths to find out all the qualifications you need to get a job in your field.

My personal recommendations on how to go about this:

a) If you have any contacts in Australia who are in your industry of choice then ask them what qualifications you need to come in and slot into the workforce. If you don’t know anyone in the industry, but you know some people in Australia, get in contact with them and ask them if they know people in the industry and whether they can investigate on your behalf.

b) Speak to the organization that is bringing you over and ask them about any qualifications or immunizations or any prerequisites necessary to get a job once you land in Australia.

c) Go to the Australian yellow pages, get the phone number of and contact a number of firms in your industry of choice, explain to them your situation and ask them what qualifications you would need to work in Australia.

d) Go to Seek (last time I checked Seek, an online job search website, had somewhere between 40-60% of the job search market in Australia) and search for companies advertising for workers in your industry. Get their contact details and explain your current situation. Ask them what qualifications and prerequisites you would need to work in their firm. Contact a number of firms.

Ideally, I would recommend that you do all the above so that you can get a clearer picture from numerous perspectives. Please contact me and let me know of your experiences applying any of the above advice.

I Am a Visual Person But Not a Visual Artist: For the Students

One of the newest arrivals in Australia loves film. She thinks in pictures and has a deep appreciation for visual stimulus, color, contrast etc etc. With that in mind, she decided against becoming a PR professional, which is what she initially intended to do. Instead, she will become a film maker ( a woman after my own heart). So far so good.

She chose all of her subjects and among them was one known as visual arts. Visual arts is basically the skill of drawing things well. This woman couldn’t draw a stick man to light a fire (at least that’s the impression I get from the way she describes herself). She deeply regrets having ever chosen visual arts without fully knowing what the subject is about. Now she is stuck with it when she could have easily chosen something more in line with her film making ambitions, such as photography or cinematography.

The Moral of the Story

If you have flexibility and choice over what subjects you can do per semester then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you know what course, and subjects, you are signing up for. Look over the course syllabus for everything you are studying. All major universities have the course syllabuses on their website. Go online, check out what your course is about.

Now for 95% of you, what is in that course syllabus will probably be a mix of English and Klingon i.e. barely understandable. To get a deeper understanding of the syllabus, contact the faculty or department that teaches the course, maybe even the lecturers, and ask them what the course, and its subjects, are all about and what type of job the course equips you to take on. I highly recommend you do this via phone because it’s harder for lecturers and University officials to blow you off when all they have to do is give you a two minute course description over the phone.

In addition to that, I will repeat this tip a lot, if you know someone doing your course in Australia, call them and ask them what the course is like, what subjects teach you what and which majors lead to which jobs. If not, then dig through your social network to find out if a friend of a friend of a friend knows someone doing your course and find out more about your course.

As a student here, you have 30 days after the beginning of a semester to test out each subject and change subjects until you find the subject combination that best suits you (a typical semester has four subjects). Take advantage of this time once you arrive to attend as many classes as you can, especially in your first week, and find out what course is most in line with your goals and with your purpose behind coming here. Speaking of purpose…………

Purpose

I don’t think I need to go into too much detail over this one. Let me say it one more time: have a purpose behind coming here. Have some idea of what you want to accomplish here. Financial freedom; building your constituency a hospital; understanding the cultures and the religions of the world so as to become a better person; a nice peaceful life with a stable income. Whatever it is, hold it tight when you get here and keep your eye on the prize.

I have already spoken about how it’s so easy to get distracted here. The lives of a lot of the people who have been here for a long time speak of people who have basically lived a life where they have moved from one distraction to another. Keep an eye on your definition of success and ignore the rest (Please don’t ignore people though). Then when you succeed, contact me so that I can interview you and have you on the website as a shining example of possibility (seriously!)

Accommodation

Surprisingly not all students know this: every University here has student accommodation which you can book yourself into and prepay for before you land here. If means allow, pay for at least a semester of student accommodation. A lot of students usually end up leaving student accommodation when they find people that they can share a house with but student accommodation is a great place to get started.

Your Guide

Should that not be feasible, then I strongly recommend you speak to your guide so that they can house you for at least the first two weeks after you land. Within these two weeks you and your guide should search for and find you a home that you can move into.

Some Things to be Aware of Once You Arrive

Whereas you may not necessarily need to know these things before you leave, they are important to keep in mind once you are in Australia.

Room Mates

Almost all students coming over here will have room mates. This is mainly because of the reduced costs of sharing expenses. It is also because of the social aspect. This social aspect will result in a lot of students sharing accommodation with people from the same country or a lot of Africans sharing with Africans etc

My main piece of advice is choose your room-mates very carefully. A lot of young people over here think the art of paying rent is something best left to other people. In addition to that, be prepared for the anxiety that comes from living with someone who doesn’t always live according to your rules. For an example of how this may play out please check out this post by Nyarshady regarding bathing.

If You are Here on Your Own

If you end up being here on your own without any guide or any prepaid accommodation then I recommend that you move yourself into a backpacker hostel to begin with. Unlike homes, backpacker hostels have very few barriers to moving in and you can pretty much get accommodation in one within about five minutes.If you stay in a shared room, a lot of hostels are also cheaper than housing.

The main things to look out for are crime: you are living with poor young people from all over the world. Lock up all your belongings at all time ,including your food and electronics. In addition to that backpacker hostels have a huge party, alcohol and drug culture. Be smart in this regards and continue looking for a home because I can guarantee you the student lifestyle isn’t very compatible with a backpacker’s hostel.

Some Resources for People Looking for Homes

First of all, speak to your University. I was recently informed that Deakin University in Melbourne’s student union has a service where they search for a house for you. Speak to your University and ask them to guide you as to how you can best find a home.

In addition to that you can also check out the real estate websites below. You can sign up via email to receive an email any time a home that fulfills your criteria becomes available. When using these websites, as soon as a home becomes available, GO SEE IT. The competition for housing in a lot of places here in Australia is intense and you want to be the early bird that catches the worm.

Anyone with any more tips and resources in terms of accommodation please send them to me and I will gladly share.

Websites for People Seeking Accomodation

1) Real Estate: http://www.realestate.com.au/

2) Domain:http://www.domain.com.au//

Additional Resources to Help You Find a Home

Taken from Timothy Ferriss bestselling book: The Four Hour Workweek. The pdf file below lists a number of additional online resources you can utilize to assist you in finding a home.

Choices in terms of accommodation (This file is a pdf file that needs Adobe Reader to be read)

Please make sure you look over the novel approaches to the accommodation problem employed by Timothy Ferriss in the above document. In addition to that, let me highly recommend that you purchase Mr. Ferriss book: the Four Hour Workweek

You are Ready To Fly Out

By this point in the checklist you are pretty much ahead of most people who show up. So if you have some spare time enjoy being with your family and friends and saying goodbye to everyone. See you on the other side of the ocean when you land in Australia.

Live a Purpose Driven Life,

Mwangi

Driver’s Licence, Skype and Local Banking: How to Immigrate to Australia Within a Week

Mwangi — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:57:16 +0000

To refer to the check-list that you will guide you in immigrating to Australia within a week please refer to the Introduction post in the series.

Driver’s Licence

If you are of legal age, get a driver’s license before immigrating over. I have been on Australian roads for more than 3 years now and am still yet to get my full license. The barriers to getting a license and the investments- of time and money necessary- are much higher than in a lot of countries (at the very least Kenya).

While you are an international student in Australia, you can use your country’s driver’s license for as long as you want. However, should you become a permanent resident or a citizen, then you must get an Australian license within 3 months of doing so.

I will elaborate on this later on: As soon as you arrive, if you intend to drive, go for a short driving course to learn the rules of the road and how to maneuver Australian roads because I can assure you they are quite different from African roads in design, in rules and in consequences – I remember I read an article that declared that within the state of Victoria, the local authorities make one million dollars A DAY from speeding fines and road infringement payments every year.

Skype: Make International Calls for Free

To learn more about Skype please click on the banner above

If Skype had a fan club, I would be the official president. Nothing gives you the clarity of sound, the cost-saving and overall convenience of Skype. Skype have been in the communication business a long time and over that time have added many cool features such as:

a) The ability to record your calls and save them as mp3 files

b) Conference calls

c) Instant messaging

d) Video cam chats amongst other things.

Before you leave the motherland, I strongly recommend that you download Skype and figure out how Skype works. I doubly recommend this if the people that you will need to keep in contact with have regular access to the Internet. If people you know have regular access to the Internet then this means that you can call them from a mobile phone for free (more on this later).

As of now, I would recommend that you download Skype and go through their free tutorials and figure out how to make phone calls using Skype and learn how you will be using it to get in contact with your people back home once you are in Australia.

Some free Skype Tutorials

Skype Official Tutorial: Simple step by step text tutorial (with images) from Skype.com

Instant Messaging Services:

In the absence of Skype, another great way to communicate is using Instant Messaging Services such as Google Talk and MSN messenger. These services not only allow you to speak via Instant Message but also allow video and audio chatting 100% free. These services are all you need if the people you communicate with are regularly online.

Skype, is my solution of choice,when Internet communication needs to be mixed up with phone communication. However, definitely begin to play around with instant messengers and especially Google talk.

NB:If you don’t have Google mail, Gmail as it’s called, get it! Best email service ever!

Local Banking

To make international money transfers between another country and Australia, on the Australian side you need to know:

1) BSB number: The six digit bank branch number

2) Account number: Your unique account number

3) Swift Code: I have no idea what this is, but it’s important for international transfers.

4) Internet banking number and password: To make instant transfers over the Internet (highly recommended, more on this later on!)

5) Telephone banking password: To make transfers from any telephone (also highly recommended and elaborated on later)

Go to your local bank and discuss with them the quickest ways to transfer money between home and Australia. I understand that most African banks don’t have Internet banking, if yours does, FIGURE OUT HOW IT WORKS!Over the years, Internet banking has saved me countless hours and if you have access to this facility, I recommend you understand it fully. If phone banking is enabled, also understand how that works.

If you have access to neither of these facilities then simply understand how bank transfers work and how long they take (typically between instantly and a week).

NB: One of those things that might be important to know: Time is measured in terms of a working days. Therefore if they say five working days, they typically mean five weekdays and exclude weekends in their calculation. If you transfer money on Friday that’s meant to take five working days, that means it will take 7 actual days because no work will be done on Saturday and Sunday.

Voucher Services

These are services that assist you in sending money and resources back to Africa from the diaspora. The White African wrote a great article that outlines some of these services.

For Kenyans: Mama Mikes

If you are a Kenyan and you are one of those people who will be sending resources back home to your friends and family then something to begin to become aware of is online voucher services such as Mama Mikes. Come to think of it, Mama Mikes is probably the only one you need to understand though if anyone knows any voucher services worth recommending then please lemme know.

NB: I have no idea what services such as Mama Mike’s are officially called. Are they remittance services companies? Resource transfer firms? I use the de facto term “voucher service” in lieu of an official term.

These services allow you to purchase credit, supermarket vouchers, pay electricity bills and buy your friends and families other products and services (including birthdays and Valentines day) online using the website. To optimize on this, I STRONGLY recommend that you set up and understand how Paypal works (if you do any form of Internet transactions, Paypal will save you more time and effort than you can imagine). So for the time being, check out Mama Mikes and the other online voucher services and I will talk more about them once you are in Australia.

Have fun experimenting and exploring,

Mwangi

Paperwork and Credit Cards Before You Fly Out:How to Settle Comfortably in Australia Within a Week

Mwangi — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:30:03 +0000

To have a look at the check-list that will assist you to immigrate to Australia within a week, please refer to the Introduction post on how to immigrate to Australia within a week.

How to Prepare to Immigrate to Australia

Today we will cover three things that will help smoothen out the Africa-Australia transition: credit cards, spare cash and paperwork.

1) Credit Cards and Spare Cash

If it is at all possible, then get a credit card and some spare cash. Most of the things that need to get done to immigrate involve money…lots of money in some cases. I recommend that you save up about $2000 – $3000 Australian dollars (rough estimate; please click here to convert Australian dollars into your local currency). Keep a credit card in your spare pocket in case of emergencies.

Once you have a consistent source of income, I recommend you get rid of the credit card. The temptation to spend will be too great and living within your means is a challenge when you have a credit card in your hip pocket. So please start saving up or organizing this before you leave.

2) Necessary Paperwork

Before you leave make sure you have with you:

a) EVERY single education document you have ever received. Primary school, high school, MS word courses, letters of recommendation, leadership position letters. Everything and anything that pertains to learning, GET AN ORIGINAL COPY. Do not think that your photocopy will do, go to the Ministry of education or the training institution and get yourself the ORIGINAL DOCUMENT. You don’t want to be in Australia stranded because you need your high school results from the Ministry of Education, it can be very disheartening.

b) Driver’s License, Birth Certificate, Passport and Identification: I strongly recommend that you get a driver’s license while still in Africa if it’s legal (more on this later). In addition to that make sure you get your national ID card before you leave. This in conjunction with your passport and your birth certificate are all you need to prove your identity anywhere in Australia so please don’t leave them behind.

You will probably already know this but have a look at your visa ( a lot of the time it’s in the passport) and know where it is just in case you will need details from the Visa (you will) later on.

c) All Documents and Receipts Pertaining to the Immigration Process: The basic idea is you want for there to be a paper trail showing how you went from yet another African citizen to an African citizen who is immigrating to Australia. Keep a copy of your application forms, immunization and medical check forms, English course forms, Visa payments, passport payments. As soon as you get any receipt or document, file it away. Compile all these documents into one big folder and keep them together.

d) Your Offer Letter: This refers to the letter that confirms that you have been approved for immigration to either come as a student or skilled migrant. Keep it with the other documents that form the paper trail but be aware of where this document is at all times, it’s pretty important once you get here.

Photocopy and Certify Documents

Make sure that you make at least five photocopies of all the above documents. In Australia, there is a process known as certifying documents. This is when someone who is allowed by law (please click on the link to see people who are allowed to certify documents), certifies that a photocopy is “an official” and true copy of a particular original document. This photocopy is then a legally binding document that can be used with about as much merit as the original.

When you arrive you will get ALL YOUR photocopies certified, including driver’s license, immunization, passport, visa etc. This will immediately eliminate the burden of having to constantly carry original documents, which can get lost, everywhere.

If you are one of those people who wants to come here to attend, adults only venues (pubs, nightclubs, certain comedy and theater shows etc etc) then carry your national ID with you if it shows your date of birth. Whenever possible, avoid carrying your passport everywhere. Speaking as someone who has lost my passport in the past, it’s too much of a hassle getting it back and you never know where you may need your passport or the visa therein.

If there is anything I may have missed in this guide, then please feel free to contact me or leave a comment and I will quickly add it to the guide. Next we continue with some more preliminary preparation before you fly out.

Take time to Enjoy the Scenery,

Mwangi