I have been in Melbourne for twenty years, I arrived here in 1980 from Vietnam.

On the first day I arrived here, it was a cloudy day, rainy and extremely cold. It was two degrees, but it didn’t make me worry. The weather is hot, the weather is cold, it doesn’t make me unhappy yet, because the most important thing for me was that I had to leave my family. I missed my mum, and I cried a lot – I still do – whenever I think of my family.

Transportation is a big problem for me because whenever I had need to go out I don’t know which bus, tram or train to catch.

Some people worry about the different food, but I don’t, if I have something to eat I feel happy and comfortable.

Shopping was a big problem for me when I first arrived here because when I needed something to buy from the shops I didn’t know how to describe what I wanted, therefore there was always a dictionary in my handbag.

In 1981 I found a job and when I was at work I learnt from my workmates, they helped me in a friendly way to teach me English and Australian culture, so I didn’t feel lonely.

Money is the most important thing to have because when I arrived here in Australia, I didn’t have any money. Not even one on cent in my pocket! In that first week I wished only for ten dollars to be able to send a telegram to my family, but I didn’t have it. I had to wait for two weeks to receive my first unemployment benefit. It was sixty-eight dollars.

So far, twenty years have gone, but whenever I remember those early days when I was new to this country in my first weeks in Melbourne, I feel like it was a dream in my life.