在明媚的陽光下，我看見地面上有很多房子和泳池，也散布著森林和鄉村。城市沿著海岸矗立，但與環繞著它的廣闊天地相比卻顯得小了許多。海是一汪耀眼的藍色。這感覺很棒。仿佛這就是我的家。

By Christine Mc Cafferty

鹿尤 注

When we lived in England, every week we watched a television show called Wanted Down Under. “Down Under” is a name sometimes used for Australia because Australia is on the bottom side of the globe. In the show, a British family was given the chance to visit Australia to live in a house there, work in a job and do nice things, such as meet people for a barbeque or go to the beach. On cold dark evenings we sat in our small lounge in front of our television, watching families trying a life in the warm sunshine of the big open spaces of Australia.

At the end of the show, the members of the family had to vote on whether they wanted to move to Australia or not. We would cheer when they voted yes.

We worked long hours to afford to live in our small house. It was a terraced house , which means that it was joined to others—typical of England. It had a small living area and kitchen downstairs and three small bedrooms upstairs; the standard design of a house in England.

Life in England was busy. We each travelled about 50 minutes to get to work. The problem was not so much the distances the traffic. A great many people live on that very small island.

What we did enjoy was our holidays in England. We loved the history. Visiting castles, palaces, museums and historical sites, whether from ancient days or the industrial revolution, was interesting and kept us busy. We worried that, if we moved to Australia, the vast open spaces of the country and the lack of history might be boring. In England you go from town to town in minutes; in Australia towns can be separated by hundreds of kilometers.

Eventually we decided we’d had enough of short, cold, wet days and small poky houses. The crowds and queues of people were too much. We were going to Australia. We, like many other families on Wanted Down Under, were voting yes!

Immigration to Australia is a long process, and expensive. The key is that you need the right qualifications and work experience. It was great excitement when we were accepted. When we finally arrived, and flew over the city of Perth , I looked outside the airplane window. I saw the bright sunshine. I saw the houses and many swimming pools below. There was a great deal of forest and countryside too. The city followed the ocean side, but seemed small compared to the open space around it. The ocean was shining blue. It felt right. It felt like home.

When the words, “Welcome to Australia” were spoken to me by a smiling Australian customs officer, I nearly burst into tears. I felt happy. This was my first experience of the warmth and friendship of most Australians.

When you first move to a new country, there is a great deal of change. You might also change jobs and houses while you find what is right for you.

After a short time, I found a great job teaching. It wasn’t too far from home; about a 10-minute drive. We bought our first house in Australia after we managed to sell our house in England. It cost almost the same, but the salaries are much higher in Australia than in England. Also, the house was at least three times the size with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and two large living rooms. Also, it was on a large block of land with fruit trees and of course a large swimming pool—and only five minutes from the beach. What amazed us was that a school teacher could live like this; in England this would be the lifestyle of a very rich person. The biggest change for us was the lifestyle. In Australia, people love to be outside. They like to play sport, swim, camp, drive their vehicles up the beach, boat, catch fish and barbeque with friends. In England we did something different almost every holiday. In fact, we lived for those holidays. In Australia, we do more of the same things but we do them more often. Rather than living for holidays, we now enjoy every day as we just step outside into the garden and swim in the pool, or go walk by the seaside. There is so much space, and parking is no problem where I live. I love to watch the sunset over the water on a quiet beach. It’s so easy. Of course different people have different experiences when they move from one country to another. I love my life in Australia, but am very grateful to have lived in both countries.

Vocabulary

1. barbeque: 燒烤野餐。

2. lounge: 起居室。

3. terraced house: 排屋，連棟房屋。

4. 終于決定了下來，我們已經受夠了短暫寒冷且潮濕的典型英倫氣候和小而不適的房子。 have had enough of...: 已受夠于（某人或某事）；poky: 狹小而不舒適的。

5. queue: （等候的）隊列，隊伍。

6. immigration: 移居，移民。

7. Perth: 珀斯，澳大利亞第四大城市。

8. customs officer: 海關官員；burst into tears: 突然大哭。

9. block: 一片土地。

10. 在澳洲，一名教師竟能享用那些在英國的富人們才能擁有的那種房子，這實在令我們驚訝。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：丹妮）