This weekend has been dedicated to getting the final touches on my guest room , in preparation for my in-laws who arrive in a week's time to visit from South Africa.
Part of that process has involved finally unpacking the last of the boxes that we brought with us from South Africa over 2 years ago. And putting all my curtains into the car to go and drop off at a charity somewhere during the week.
So here's some things you don't think about when leaving South Africa.
Getting rid of perfectly good things that you don't need any more, and finding someone to give them to. No problem in South Africa , something of a conundrum here in Oz.
Getting rid of unwanted things is no problem in South Africa. There are endless charities, from church -affiliated , to state run, to the various funds set up by corporates and wealthy individuals , all of which will take just about anything. Even your damaged good, which will be recycled , used for parts, or fixed up by a volunteer and used.
Something we take for granted in South Africa is that there are 20 odd million people with nothing. Not even clothes of their own, and they will take just about anything you are throwing out.
If you are a lazy person , you don't even need to drive anywhere , you can dump what you don't want on the pavement ( nature strip for the Aussies reading this blog) - and it will be gone before the end of the day.
In fact - we did this in our last few weeks in South Africa, and it got to the point where we had the Police Service ringing our bell to check that we really had been leaving things out on the pavement since they had seen crowds of people running up the street with the speakers we had thrown out , and were convinced that they were stolen.
In Australia , it's a little more complicated. Firstly , leaving something on the pavement is likely to get you a fine from the local council. Unless you have pre-arranged a hard-rubbish collection. There are also rules about what you can and can't throw away in your hard rubbish.
Finding a charity to give away your old goods to - another story. For someone like me, giving away things to a church run charity is an issue. I know they do good things. And I understand that a lot of people would be far worse off without the charity help , but it really irks me that the help comes with a back-hand of brainwashing. And as far as humanly possible I try to find reputable , renowned , accountable secular charities to deal with.
People whose only motivation is to help people, and who don't have an ulterior motive for conversion.
It's really hard to find such things in Australia.
Almost every 'Op Shop' ( Opportunity Shop - read Second Hand Goods Store) is run by the Salvation Army ( affectionately called the Salvo's here down under). And whilst I have no real objections to a shop set up to sell second hand goods in support of a charity that helps people. I really have problems reconciling this whole process with an organisation that I associate with over-zealous, rude and arrogant missionaries.
So I have been searching for secular charity groups - children's homes, old-aged care facilities and the like to which I can donate a car full of perfectly good curtains.
And it's turning out to be harder than I thought.
But I have found 2 places , one with a dodgy past association with the catholic church, but which now for all intents and purposes seems to be secular run . And another which seems to be completely secular, but only has one site in Melbourne, and they aren't open on Sunday's.
This is almost as bad as me trying to get rid of perfectly good books - which not one single charity wanted , and libraries weren't interested in either.
So - if you're thinking of migrating to Australia, here's my word of advice for today
Part of that process has involved finally unpacking the last of the boxes that we brought with us from South Africa over 2 years ago. And putting all my curtains into the car to go and drop off at a charity somewhere during the week.
So here's some things you don't think about when leaving South Africa.
Getting rid of perfectly good things that you don't need any more, and finding someone to give them to. No problem in South Africa , something of a conundrum here in Oz.
Getting rid of unwanted things is no problem in South Africa. There are endless charities, from church -affiliated , to state run, to the various funds set up by corporates and wealthy individuals , all of which will take just about anything. Even your damaged good, which will be recycled , used for parts, or fixed up by a volunteer and used.
Something we take for granted in South Africa is that there are 20 odd million people with nothing. Not even clothes of their own, and they will take just about anything you are throwing out.
If you are a lazy person , you don't even need to drive anywhere , you can dump what you don't want on the pavement ( nature strip for the Aussies reading this blog) - and it will be gone before the end of the day.
In fact - we did this in our last few weeks in South Africa, and it got to the point where we had the Police Service ringing our bell to check that we really had been leaving things out on the pavement since they had seen crowds of people running up the street with the speakers we had thrown out , and were convinced that they were stolen.
In Australia , it's a little more complicated. Firstly , leaving something on the pavement is likely to get you a fine from the local council. Unless you have pre-arranged a hard-rubbish collection. There are also rules about what you can and can't throw away in your hard rubbish.
Finding a charity to give away your old goods to - another story. For someone like me, giving away things to a church run charity is an issue. I know they do good things. And I understand that a lot of people would be far worse off without the charity help , but it really irks me that the help comes with a back-hand of brainwashing. And as far as humanly possible I try to find reputable , renowned , accountable secular charities to deal with.
People whose only motivation is to help people, and who don't have an ulterior motive for conversion.
It's really hard to find such things in Australia.
Almost every 'Op Shop' ( Opportunity Shop - read Second Hand Goods Store) is run by the Salvation Army ( affectionately called the Salvo's here down under). And whilst I have no real objections to a shop set up to sell second hand goods in support of a charity that helps people. I really have problems reconciling this whole process with an organisation that I associate with over-zealous, rude and arrogant missionaries.
So I have been searching for secular charity groups - children's homes, old-aged care facilities and the like to which I can donate a car full of perfectly good curtains.
And it's turning out to be harder than I thought.
But I have found 2 places , one with a dodgy past association with the catholic church, but which now for all intents and purposes seems to be secular run . And another which seems to be completely secular, but only has one site in Melbourne, and they aren't open on Sunday's.
This is almost as bad as me trying to get rid of perfectly good books - which not one single charity wanted , and libraries weren't interested in either.
So - if you're thinking of migrating to Australia, here's my word of advice for today
- Don't bring curtains - every rental house has curtains, or has blinds already installed - and you'll probably rent before you buy , or build . By the time you unpack your curtains, you'll realise that they are the wrong height/width/colour/size for your new house, and you'll need to get rid of most of them.
- Don't bring any books except for the ones that have the most sentimental value. Any other books that you bring and want to get rid of later , you will end up throwing them away at the tip - which is a huge waste , when you could leave them behind in South Africa for one of the many charities , old-aged care homes or children's homes that will take them from you with gratitude.
- Consider the state of your linen and bedding - duvet's ( called doona's or quilts over here ), 'standard' pillows and continental pillows are not standard sizes like in South Africa. Some shops have their own sizes , which means you have to buy their linen ( called Manchester) if you buy a mattress and pillows from them. If your's is in good enough nick that it will last another few years , then bring it with, if not - leave it behind , because very little you buy here will fit your pillows and duvet.
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