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Fujinon 23 f2 and 50 f2 reviews?
#1
Howdy Klaus,

 

Do you plan on reviewing the latest two addition in the Fuji line-up, that is, the 23 and 50 f2?

Thanks a lot :-)

 

<off topic>

What have been your experience living in Sydney so far? (compared to Germany)

</off topic>

--Florent

Flickr gallery
#2
Eventually I will review those but I have to shift my priorities to Sony for a while.

 

Living in Oz ? Well, I hope to gain my (dual-) citizenship this year.

Life is generally better here but, of course, nothing is perfect.

 

A few impressions:

- generally people have a much more positive attitude towards life

- lower taxes ;-) ... but then the living costs are also higher

- no social jealousy (which is a pest in Germany). Generally people mind their own business.

- Sydney is great for 9 months of the year (but miserably humid during those other 3 months)

- the living quality is higher (living standard is roughly similar)

- working is more anonymous here (work is work)

- the pension system is not fucked up

- expats have primarily contacts with other expats

- the prices for properties are insane in Sydney

- IT is surprisingly advanced here (I'm working in IT in real life) whereas general engineering is 2nd or 3rd grade (there's barely any industry here)

- fixing a road doesn't take a year (like in Germany) but sometimes it happens overnight (literally)

- buying photo stuff is cheaper but if you need service you are fucked (but Amazon is finally coming later this year)

#3
Swearing is pretty common there I see!   Wink

#4
Thanks Klaus, as a local it is interesting to read your impressions, they all seem quite positive. Now this may sound atypically Australian, but what about some of the downsides? thanks

Quote:Eventually I will review those but I have to shift my priorities to Sony for a while.

 

Living in Oz ? Well, I hope to gain my (dual-) citizenship this year.

Life is generally better here but, of course, nothing is perfect.

 

A few impressions:

- generally people have a much more positive attitude towards life

- lower taxes ;-) ... but then the living costs are also higher

- no social jealousy (which is a pest in Germany). Generally people mind their own business.

- Sydney is great for 9 months of the year (but miserably humid during those other 3 months)

- the living quality is higher (living standard is roughly similar)

- working is more anonymous here (work is work)

- the pension system is not fucked up

- expats have primarily contacts with other expats

- the prices for properties are insane in Sydney

- IT is surprisingly advanced here (I'm working in IT in real life) whereas general engineering is 2nd or 3rd grade (there's barely any industry here)

- fixing a road doesn't take a year (like in Germany) but sometimes it happens overnight (literally)

- buying photo stuff is cheaper but if you need service you are fucked (but Amazon is finally coming later this year)
#5
Well ... there were a few negative bullets points. If you really like to see a couple more ... ;-)


- having kids is very expensive (but we have none anyway). e.g. Unis are free in Germany.

- foreign work experience counts almost nothing - even if you worked for big well-known multi-national companies ...

- ... because of the special Australian situation. My favorite. Nobody was able to explain what that is so far. Snakes maybe.

- Australian blokes are machismos (more of an issue for my spouse)

- people tend to have a bit of an anti-academic attitude. My spouse even tries to hide that she has a PhD in electrical engineering ...


Anyway, the list of the positive aspects do outweight the rest by far.
#6
The charm of PZ forum: We would have good side bar discussion once in a while, which I find pretty cool.
#7
How do you like venturing in Australian Outback?

#8
I spent a week in sydney; it seemed like every day was a day on the beech; cept i prefer hiking the hill side. Wish I remember the names of things but it was a boat ride across. The only other thing I remember is that it was a lousy time of year for the green mountain but it was still interesting.

#9
Quote:Well ... there were a few negative bullets points. If you really like to see a couple more ... ;-)


- having kids is very expensive (but we have none anyway). e.g. Unis are free in Germany.

- foreign work experience counts almost nothing - even if you worked for big well-known multi-national companies ...

- ... because of the special Australian situation. My favorite. Nobody was able to explain what that is so far. Snakes maybe.

- Australian blokes are machismos (more of an issue for my spouse)

- people tend to have a bit of an anti-academic attitude. My spouse even tries to hide that she has a PhD in electrical engineering ...


Anyway, the list of the positive aspects do outweight the rest by far.
 

Very informative feedback about Australia, Klaus, thanks.

 

I spent 6 weeks there about a decade ago and I really loved the country (rented a camping car and did the classic east coast drive from Sydney to Cairns).

After having lived 7 years in the USA (5 years in California, 2 in NY), I moved back - with a new american wife - to Switzerland to start a family. I found that Americans have a very positive attitude toward life in general, especially  compared to people in Europe. They are also much much more friendly and pleasant in general, not afraid to have casual conversations. I found it to be very similar in Australia and it's something I sorely miss. It just makes your daily life so much more enjoyable.

Being back in Switzerland was very difficult at first. I didn't see things the same way as before. The weather was horrible (compared to sunny California), people were very unfriendly and cold, etc. We then started planning to move to Australia (Sydney), but in the end it didn't happen. I did get a great job opportunity that made us stay in Geneva. Time flew by and then boom, 2 kids! Now 8 years down the road we're still here. We're used to the life here although we keep fantasizing about living around Sydney now and then... The ideal setup would be to live in Switzerland from April to September and the rest of the year in Australia ;-)

We just need to find the family to do the exchange with!

--Florent

Flickr gallery
#10
Thanks for the response. I agree about all those points.

 

With schooling I agree about the costs. I am especially irritated by the idea of the elite schools being expensive private institutions which yet still receive large amount of government funding on top of the exuberant fees. The proliferation of  elite private schools leads to an anti-egalitarian society where the rich receive institutionalised special privileges early in life. I guess this was imported from the UK and their history of class culture. 

 

The machismo and anti-intellectualism is also quite evident here, especially compared to asia and europe. The "bloke" culture values sports over smarts and academic achievement is not held with high value. A positive possibly associated with this is that there is less of a divide in incomes based on academic qualifications - a plumber and an academic can earn a similar amount. The society is also quite devoid of class and people generally don't care about titles and degrees - you can always call people by their first name and not use honorific titles. You can even call the head of the country a d*ck head to his face  Smile

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF65MnhctUQ

 

Still, in big cities like Melbourne or Sydney you can create a life around any preferences you have and find like minded people. I work in academia and it was easy to find similar people to relate to

 

 

Quote:Well ... there were a few negative bullets points. If you really like to see a couple more ... ;-)


- having kids is very expensive (but we have none anyway). e.g. Unis are free in Germany.

- foreign work experience counts almost nothing - even if you worked for big well-known multi-national companies ...

- ... because of the special Australian situation. My favorite. Nobody was able to explain what that is so far. Snakes maybe.

- Australian blokes are machismos (more of an issue for my spouse)

- people tend to have a bit of an anti-academic attitude. My spouse even tries to hide that she has a PhD in electrical engineering ...


Anyway, the list of the positive aspects do outweight the rest by far.
  


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