I appreciate my friends' enthusiasm and curiosity about Australia, even when they are totally wrong 😂 Example from last night, a friend was admiring my coin pouch - it's printed with a tassie devil painting by Jon Kudelka.

Me, explaining that it's a tassie devil.
Them: oh! I saw one of them!
Me, skeptical: I didnt know you went to Tasmania?
Them: I didn't. Ohhh no, I'm thinking of the big carnivorous mammal...
Me, confused: a quoll?
Them: a wombat!!

+100 points for enthusiasm, -100 points for factual accuracy 😂

#MigrantLife #Australia #wombat

What living abroad for two decades has taught me is the limits of effort.

You can speak the language flawlessly, figure out the system, follow every rule, live by local customs, even hold the nationality of your chosen country; it still won’t change the fact that you will be treated as the outsider.

The whole integration tale is basically the migrant version of meritocracy. You’re told that if you work hard enough, you’ll belong, but the goalposts were never designed to move.

#MigrantLife

People say living abroad builds character and resilience. What they don’t mention is the emotional fatigue that builds from constantly trying to adapt and make sense of the world around you. Everything around you seems to move without friction while you float slightly above it, never fully syncing. Some days it’s funny; other days it feels like carrying an anchor that still doesn’t ground you.

#Abroad
#MigrantLife
#WorldObservations

Week 10 in Japan and I'm hitting the phase where the alienation sneaks up on me. I observe and replicate the rhythms of daily life, yet the glances and interactions remind me I'm the visible outsider. Displacement here sits heavier than expected.

#Japan
#MigrantLife
#Abroad

New paper co-authored by CPC-CG's Professor Hill Kulu, Dr Júlia Mikolai and Dr Mary Abed Al Ahad from the #MigrantLife project at the University of St Andrews.

Investigates #residential #mobility and #housing changes among #immigrants and their #descendants in five #European countries (#UnitedKingdom, #France, #Germany, #Switzerland, and #Sweden) with different #housingmarkets and #migrant #populations: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10680-025-09757-3

📗 New #MigrantLife paper by CPC-CG Co-Director Hill Kulu from the University of St Andrews

Uses #machinelearning to identify the most important predictors of #migrant #fertility and #parity progression in #France

https://www.demographic-research.org/articles/volume/53/21/

#socialscience #demography #migration

📌 New opportunity to work on the MigrantLife and CPC-CG projects at the University of St Andrews

#Postdoctoral #ResearchFellow to work on #family and #housing projections using #microsimulation

Apply by 1 October: https://www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/5839/0/456726/889/research-fellow-or-research-assistant-ar2690

#demography #socialsciences #migration #geography #partnership #childbearing #homeownership #jobs #vacancies #researchjob #researchassistant #migrantlife #standrews #forecasting

Today is my one-year anniversary of moving to Deutschland! It's been an interesting year, with some good and some bad, but that is true of every year.

I've found Mainz to be exceptionally welcoming. I love living in the Neustadt, I love living in a walkable, bikeable, dense city. I've made nice friends at work, and have great housemates. Evenings on the Rheinufer are delightful.

I do miss home on a really deep level. I've always felt really attached to Australia's nature (thanks to being raised essentially outside in one of the most beautiful parts of the world) and being away from it has been way harder than I thought it would be.

Anyway, who knows what the next year will bring! Hopefully good things :)

#MigrantLife

Recent lunch discussions highlighted a European-Australian english divide. The German and English english speakers assert that when 'the' is followed by a word beginning with a vowel', 'the' is pronounced 'thee.' Thee orange. The Australians (n=2) vehemently disagree.

Apparently a firm enough rule that the Germans were taught it in school. Wild!

#MigrantLife

🚩Job vacancy 🏘️ #Postdoctoral #ResearchFellow to work on #family and #housing #projections using #microsimulation as part of the #ERCfunded #MigrantLife project and the #ESRCfunded Centre for #Population Change & Connecting #Generations - based at the University of #StAndrews School of #Geography & #SustainableDevelopment.

Closing: 8 July 2025

Full info: https://www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/6093/0/452949/889/research-fellow-geography-and-sustainable-development

#migration #demography #socialscience #housingprojections #phd #jobs #jobvacancy #phdjob