Well, the worst thing in Australia is that everything is upside down. Them being on the other side of the planet and so on. That makes even walking pretty hard, because it is so disorienting!

I personally put a vote forward for Perth if you like a reasonably quiet, relaxed city. If you love partying all night and day it is probably not for you. I have lived here for 35 years and absolutely love it and wouldn't want to live anywhere else :)

Sydney
Melbourne
Brisbane
Perth
Adelaide
Hobart
Darwin

Thats the order in what cost of living is like & also desirability as to where to live. Perth/Brisbane is probably the best balance for cost vs lifestyle right now. Sydney/Melbourne is way too expensive (and as a previous poster pointed out.. thats where a lot of the partying up all night life is) :/. Also its arguably the job situation is a bit flaky - depends industry your in. Save and save dude....

Darwin, on the other hand, is a right shithole. I never visited Sydney or Melbourne, but I've been assured they are much better to live in than Darwin.

Whoa, you would consider Australia over Japan?!? (I'm a JRPG freak if that explains a few things).

OK so what is Australia like? Well first throw out any ideas of chucking shrimps on the barbie - cultural cringe that those old Paul Hogans ads are still believed by most Americans as being what Australia "really is".

And yeah we do have some of the worlds most venomous spiders. But they're nothing when you consider that we also have a lot of the the worlds most venomous snakes. Having said that, you are unlikely to come across any of the nasty ones - that is if you intend to live in one of the state capital cities such as Melbourne or Perth. If you really determined to be safe, further south = safer (less tropical) so Melbourne would be your best bet.

You will find living standards here to be of a high standard to most of the world (or so international polls say) and that a lot of things are not that much different from home. Most Australia speak english after a fashion (but you may need to ask them to speak slower/clearer and please explain any slang used ;) )

What you probably will notice though is lack of variety of big shopping chains (when compared to USA that is) and SLOW internet. (We have terrible internet speeds compared to the rest of the developed world. It sux).

As for culture - Sydney is the best (famous landmarks, beautiful harbour, famous beaches, nice climate etc) but you didn't give that option. Perth is on the far west coast and is extremely isolated from the rest of the country (most of Australia live on the eastern side of the continent - the centre is mostly desert). Perth is laid back and has nice beaches so I hear. Melbourne lies on the south coast - just above the island of Tasmania. The city is rotten - cold, windy, usually raining, however it is supposed to have an intellectual side - think small cafes & bookshops etc

Ninja'd ;) News for you. Most Australians aren't that likeable. (Canadians on the other hand are simply a lovely people eh?)

...hrmm... wait, this map isn't very accurate! There ought to be a Large Motherf'cking Rock 'round the middle of Nothing.

Well yeah, there is a moderately sized rock slightly north of the middle. Look it up on Google Earth. With 3D view on.

(I didn't mention the rock because some American would say, hell yeah we got bigga pebbles than that back home in the Grand Canyon yup) ;)

It looked bigger in person.

Living in Japan...
http://kotaku.com/5484581/japan-its-not-funny-anymore

read this great article. Japan is very role orientated, strict on rules of behavior. People expect you do act in certain way. That includes everyone. Salarymen, highschool kids, hooligans. Each of those groups must act in certain way to fit the society.

about Australia tough.

Don't recommend Perth. It is very "chilled out" town. It's town where you could settle down, have kids and live relaxed life. It is also in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing really out there except the city and lonely painful death in the desert.

Melbourne tough I recommend with all my heart. Firstly, the location gives you access to pretty much 80% of the country. Beautiful countryside with dozens of places to visit. Only 10 hour drive or quick flight to Sydney or Adelaide. You can even visit the Capital just so you can say you've been there (there is nothing there tough)
As a culture capital of Aussieland it is all very 'nice looking' city. It has a very nice charm.
It is also second biggest city in the country so it has lots of things to do every day and night.
Much better choice than Perth.




Some random costs I incur:

200 AUD for a room in five bedroom house 20min from CBD by train (five min walk to station). That's a week and I don't pay any bills. Good location good price for what I am getting.
29 bucks per month for cheapest phone (only 500MB of data to use.
8-10 bucks for medium meal in Macdonalds. Cheapest footlong is 7.5 in Subway
20 dollars for a decent meal with a drink in decent restaurant.
a good steak is 20 bucks and more
a night out is normally 100 bucks. Entry to a club is 5-20 bucks. Very easy to pay even more.
Pubs are cheaper and its anything from 4 bucks to 8 for a glass of beer (depends on the local)
Train ticket is 27-50 dollars per week (50 bucks will allow you to travel to pretty much any part of the Sydney)
a 0.5L bottle of coke in vending machine is 4 dollars
Entry to a strip club is min 20 bucks
Good bottle of vodka costs 50 bucks for a half litre. JW Red is 38 bucks. Jim Beam is 40 and more
2L of milk 3 bucks, a snickers (if not on sale) $1.8 a bottle of 1L pepsi in supermarket $2, a loaf of bread $2-5 (depends what kind)

what i find fascinating (and kind of nice though to keep my jealousy down) is that the people who actually lived in australia dont necessarily seem to be like OMFG BEST PLACE EVER! you make a good point in highlighting the pros and cons. here in germany, i have the feeling that australia is always marketed as heaven on earth, and i wish i would live in australia daily. maybe that is a bit of markting talk as well. so maybe i should jsut enjoy the good parts that germany has to offer ;)

Thats the reason why its right at the bottom.Nothing redeeming about the place except some scenery and barramundi fishing.

I've never really seen it as a matter of being 'likeable' or 'unlikeable'. Australians are simply ear-deafeningly direct much of the time, and many don't mince words, which of course has its pros or cons. As a German, you certainly fit right in, but as a Brit (or as a Japanese person), it's a bit of a culture shock coming from a place where nobody ever really quite says what they mean.

All the travel documentaries and ads you see only show you like <5% of real australia. The rest is well....nowhere near as close aswhat its depicted as in those ads and documentaries lol.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/28/worlds-happiest-countries-2013-australia_n_3347347.html