Aussie Tradition - Working Overseas

Many of my friends from school took a year off after finishing high school to go and work in the UK. It's a bit of an Australian tradition. Some of them didn't return after their year was up because they were having such a great time. On weekends off they'd catch a flight to Europe - even back in the days before the cheap airlines it was so much cheaper than fares in Australia. So they got to see quite a lot of the world before starting their university studies. It used to be more difficult than it is today - now we have the internet, so you can line up your work before you go. There are literally hundreds of jobs in London listed on the net these days.

I think it is a great idea to do that because you learn a lot about yourself and more importantly you learn about earning a living, paying rent, living away from your parents and more about what kind of job you want to do. Most of my friends would do bar jobs in London, sharing a flat with other Aussie friends to make living expenses cheaper. Often this meant they could work in a bar part time when they returned home to have a bit of spending money while studying.

One of my good female friends who is a primary school teacher is about to go over for a year, visiting family and working in a primary school. She set it all up over the internet via the London jobs website before committing to going. I'd love to give it a try myself one day.. :)