Migrating to Australia and realizing that China and Australia have very different concepts
Mrs. Chen is from Beijing, and she has been in Australia for 2 years. Her daughter married a foreign son-in-law. She complained that things are very different in Australia, and what she thinks is right may be totally wrong in the eyes of Australians.
She believes that children should sleep on hard mattresses, which is good for bone growth, and her son-in-law thinks that children's bones are soft, and sleeping on hard mattresses is simply torture.
Mrs. Chen always dresses her grandchildren more than adults, she thinks that children are afraid of cold, in case of freezing will be sick. Son-in-law at home all year round to wear short-sleeved, Mrs. Chen to wear two pieces of clothing, she let her grandson to wear more than her, the summer is not allowed to open the air-conditioning, afraid of the child to freeze.
The foreign son-in-law thought that this would cover the child, and as soon as he came home, he undressed the child. The first time I saw this was when I was a kid, and it was a very good time for me to go back to my old neighborhood. His son-in-law thought that he had to take off his clothes when he had a fever so that his body could cool down. The old man and the young man are both love children, but the two due to different customs, concepts are very different, the way to take care of the child there is also a big difference.
Three generations of people living together
Li Diwei believes that the elderly and children living together, you can get rid of the inner loneliness, to enjoy the joy of family; in case of emergencies such as physical discomfort, but also someone to take care of.
Daughter-in-law Xu Li also expressed satisfaction with living with the elderly. She admits that the old man has helped a lot, teaching his two children Chinese and doing a lot of housework. The three generations of Xu Li's family are living together in harmony, which is ideal for the elderly, but it is not common to see such families.
A Melbourne-based Australian Chinese immigrant, Ms. Meng, believes that her parents have not lived together for more than a decade, and their habits have changed so much that it's painful to have to live together, not to mention her in-laws, who are from a different part of the country.
Ms. Meng's mother said that when she first came to Australia, her daughter was very nice to her, and after a long time, she was not polite enough to talk to her, and she thought she was dirty, and she thought that her cooking was difficult to eat, and she was always picking on her, so which one of them has no problems at all?
A bowl of soup distance * beauty. The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on a new pair of shoes or boots. Visiting elderly people come to Australia to live only temporarily for a period of time, living with their children is not a big problem. Post-migration seniors who want to live in Australia for a long time will usually find ways to live separately from their children. As they don't know English and can't drive, Chinese neighborhoods have become one of the best places for the elderly to live. Living close to their children and being able to see them often is also a good choice.
Chinese nursing homes are a great place to live
Many Chinese seniors prefer to live in a senior apartment or nursing home due to their long history of eating and living.
Mrs. Su, who lives in an old people's home in a suburb of Sydney, is very happy with life in Australia. She says there are healthcare professionals who come to her home every week to check on her health, and the community arranges regular fitness activities, and the elderly also sing on their own initiative.
Mr. Cheng lives in a Chinese nursing home in Melbourne. He said: "I want to live with my children so that I can help them with their household chores and take care of the next generation, and I have someone to take care of me in case of an emergency. If you can't help your children, you should live separately, so you don't want to give your children more trouble.
Separate living is also comfortable, at least do not have to take into account the taste of so many people cooking, do not have to consider the schedule of the younger generation. If you're not feeling well, you can call 000, and for those who can't take care of themselves, the government will send a staff member to take care of them at home.
In Chinese nursing homes, some of the elderly have not even seen their children for several years. Life in a nursing home becomes almost all about them. Choosing a more comfortable nursing home is extremely important for these elderly people.
Chinese seniors can eat Chinese food, watch Chinese TV, and communicate in Chinese. With the same cultural background and living habits, it is easier to communicate.
All of these stories are not the inevitable encounters of every Chinese elderly immigrant to Australia, after all, each family has a different background.
Overall, compared to their home countries, Chinese seniors in Australia do not have the same access to square dancing downstairs and in the parks as they do in China, or the ability to play mahjong in their homes late into the night. Most Chinese seniors still choose to live with their children, bring up the kids, run the house, and travel together when their children have time.