I have been in Australia for 16+ years and, with my husband we are raising 3 beautiful kids. I am often asked about my story and how I came to live in Australia.
Recently I was interviewed for an article a newspaper called: “Belgranenses por el mundo”. There is a In this section of the newspaper “Cuarto Poder” (Fourth Power), where people from my hometown General Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina living in different countries all over the world are interviewed.
In December, a reader of the newspaper and a childhood friend of mine, Verónica Moore, suggested the name of two of her friends to interview in this section. In January, Eugenia López (another friend of mine who now lives in America) and in this newspaper. Now it’s my turn, Maria Valeria Gonzalez. I have been living in Australia for 16 years.
Below is a full English translation of the Interview but if you’d like to read the full newspaper in Spanish, with my article outlined, you can download your own version here.
How it began
Valeria is the eldest daughter of Norma Lilia Soberón and Orlando Jesús González. She says at the start of the interview that she went to preschool at Jardín de Infantes Merceditas Primary School at Escuela N 1 and attended High School Escuela de Educación Media y Técnica N 1 Regimiento de Patricios.
After that, she moved to La Plata to study English Spanish Translation. And some years later, she moved again to Buenos Aires, the city from where she made a trip that would lead her to meet Scott, an Australian with whom they decided to start a family and have three kids: Kiara (14), Siena (12) and Tomas (10).
How did you meet your husband?
When I was 29, in 2001, I was living by myself in Buenos Aires. One day, I decided to go on holidays. I wanted to travel to the United States, I bought a Contiki tour in a travel agency. A Contiki tour is for young people from 18 to 35. Before that, I had travelled on my own to Brazil, and also to some provinces in Argentina but it was my first time in a foreign country so far away. I did a Contiki tour in the west coast of America.
I remember we were 40 in that group. There were people from all over the world. Only two girls from Argentina, Cecilia and me. There was a Brazilian, a couple of Europeans and lots of Australians and New Zealanders. There I met Scott. Everything in the tour was in English and we all had the best time. We travelled around the west coast of the USA and I loved it. We became friends during this holiday overseas.
After that trip, that I highly recommend because it was an awesome experience, I returned to Argentina and Scott to Australia. We kept in contact via email until 2003 when he sent me an e-mail letting me know that he would have a year off work to travel around South America and he asked me if I wanted to meet with him again. I didn’t have a boyfriend at the time so I agreed and at that same time, I had decided to travel to Patagonia with my friend Mariel. Mariel and myself met Scott in Bariloche, and we travelled together in beautiful Patagonia. Then we went to San Martín de los Andes. After that amazing trip, the three of us returned to Buenos Aires.
Where did you work?
I was an English Spanish Translator and at that moment, I was working in the Argentine Society of Radiology, a job I didn’t like too much. Scott kept on travelling around South America but he always returned to Buenos Aires. We travelled together to Merlo in San Luis, Valle de la Luna (San Juan), Talampaya (La Rioja), Buzios in the south of Brazil. Scott continued travelling and I returned to Buenos Aires to work. After a while, we decided to live together in the flat I was renting in Buenos Aires for a year. Scott met my family in General Belgrano and all my friends.
Did your family welcome Scott?
When my dad met Scott for the first time, he told me: “couldn’t you have met someone a little bit closer to home?”.
When my dad met Scott for the first time, he told me: “couldn’t you have met someone a little bit closer to home?”. But I knew that if things didn’t work out, I was going to return home to my beautiful country Argentina but here I am, sixteen years later and we are still together. We got married sixteen years ago and we have three children.
Where did you get married?
First we lived one year together in Argentina. I worked in the Argentine Society of Radiology while Scott was studying Spanish and also taught English in different companies in Quilmes, Buenos Aires. And at the same time, he kept on travelling around Argentina and South America until we applied for an Engagement Visa and then a Marriage Visa. From then on, we went to Australia to meet his family in December 2003. I spent New Year’s Eve in Australia and met his brother and his family, cousins and his mum and dad and also some of his friends. We travelled to so many amazing places in the east coast of Australia in his car.
Then, I returned to Argentina and he stayed in Australia. When the visa was approved, we got married first in Australia at his parents’ house in Gloucester, NSW on November 6, 2004 with a Marriage Celebrant in the afternoon. My mum and dad travelled to Australia for the wedding. We then married in Argentina on January 8, 2005 in a night time ceremony at the main Catholic Church in my home town just down the street from where I grew up. Scott’s parents travelled to General Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina to attend the wedding.
When did you decide to settle in Australia?
We made the decision to live in Australia because my husband didn’t speak much Spanish and he couldn’t get a job in Argentina because of that. So I came here to live in Australia hoping that I would be able to return to Argentina to visit my family and friends. I did exactly that every year for the last 16 years except year 2020 because of Covid 19.
What languages do you speak at home?
Scott now speaks Spanish very well, our three children speak Spanish too. And I speak Spanish to them from the moment they get up until they go to bed. They answer me in English but they understand Spanish. I teach them how to read, write, speak and listen in Spanish as a Second Language. I have classes with each of them one on one with a Spanish book as a Second Language. Sometimes they refuse to answer me in Spanish but they speak with my mum and dad and all my family on WhatsApp or on the phone in Spanish. But when we go to Argentina every year they speak Spanish there.
… two years ago, we decided to go and live in General Belgrano, Buenos Aires (my hometown) as an exchange for six months
In fact, two years ago, we decided to go and live in General Belgrano, Buenos Aires (my hometown) as an exchange for six months. We absolutely loved the experience!!! Scott had to stay and work in Australia and I went with our three children to live in my hometown with my mum and dad. Our children went to the local public primary school, Escuela 9 for six months. When they returned home after the first day of school, my children said to me: “no-one speaks English, we cannot communicate with anyone” but after a couple of days they started to speak in Spanish and they made lots of friends.
My daughters participated in different activities including drama classes, singing, flute, gymnastics, roller skating and the main team sport they played was hockey. Tommy played soccer. Besides, every year our three children go to vacation care or holiday camp (Colonia de Vacaciones del Club Belgrano) and they have a great time. It is so much fun for them. They make friends there too and they swim in the pool and they do all sorts of activities at the end of December through to the end of January. I always go for about two months and in that way, they share the two cultures.
We love the fact that they can experience different ways of living. We always wanted to raise our kids with the two cultures. They are open minded and flexible and they can adapt easily to different cultures and different ways of living. We take the best of both cultures in our family.
What is your husband’s profession?
Scott is a maritime engineer. He worked for many years on an oil platform in the middle of the ocean. He used to work two weeks on and two weeks off. With three children, it was very hard for me to be by myself for two weeks with no help.
My in-laws don’t live in the same city and it is very expensive to have a nanny or to take them to daycare. So I stayed at home with them. I asked Scott to please try to find a job in Newcastle or closer to home because I was like a single mum those two weeks and our children are very close in age. After a while, he got another job as a maritime engineer in the Port of Newcastle. Now he goes to work and comes back home every night. I love it because I didn’t like the idea of being by myself with the three children. Now he works close to home and the children and me love this because he is at home every day.
Where do you live exactly?
When I first arrived in Australia, we settled in Perth, Western Australia and now we live in Newcastle, north of Sydney in New South Wales.
At the beginning, was it hard to make friends with Australians?
When we were about to move to Perth, I was working in the Argentine Society of Radiology and one of the doctors there, Dr Mendez Elizalde, told me he had a niece living in Perth. Her name is Sofía so when I arrived in Perth, I phoned her and through her I met five other Argentineans living in Perth: Laura, Karina, Alejandra, Silvina and Mónica who was from Spain. We had the same life stories, some of them were married to Australians and some other ones married to Argentinians. We had a beautiful group of friends those five years that we lived in Perth. Some of us had children at the same time and the kids grew up and played together.
I loved Perth. Then, we had to move from Perth because we were flying to see my family in Argentina and we were also flying to see Scott’s parents and family in New South Wales. That is why we moved again, this time to Newcastle, NSW to be closer to Scott’s family. Here in Newcastle I have lots of latin friends: Chileans, Peruvians, Colombians, Venezuelans, etc and also Australians, New Zealanders and other nationalities. When the children started school, they also made lots of friends.
We now live two blocks from the beach and we enjoy that so much. We go for walks on the beach with our dog Rosie or for a swim or a coffee.
I like organising ladies’ nights from time to time in our house. And I love inviting friends from different nationalities. I absolutely love the mix of cultures.
How often do you go to General Belgrano?
Scott goes every second year but the children and me go every year. My parents have visited us many times. My mum has come almost every year. My aunt Graciela and my uncle Fernando came to visit us and my friend Milena also came in 2019. But Australia is not a popular destination for Argentinians as it is expensive and far.
Do you keep some Argentinians’ traditions?
I drink “mate” every day. Mate is a traditional Argentinian and South American drink. It is made by soaking dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water and is served with a metal straw. I can buy yerba in Newcastle. Scott also drinks it but not too much. We like, dulce de leche (caramel). I listen to music in Spanish all day. I talk to my mum and dad every day. I ask my mum for advice about our children, and I tell her what the kids and myself are doing. I feel that by doing that I am not so far away.
Where do you go on holidays?
We absolutely love going camping. First, we used to go in a tent but now we have a caravan. We enjoy nature and the outdoors. I did not go camping previously but now I love it!!! We travel a lot with my husband. We have travelled to Costa Rica, Bali, England, Singapore, Spain, south of Italy, Ireland. We have also travelled with our kids to Thailand, Disney world, Miami and New Orleans. We also have been on a cruise throughout the Caribbean. We absolutely love travelling around South America and Central America. We have travelled to Cuba, Bolivia , Peru and Scott and myself did the 4 day walk, the Inca trail, in Machu Picchu and we really enjoyed it. One day we would like to go to Mexico and we dream about travelling around Patagonia, in Argentina, in a motorhome.
Are you working now?
I am an English Spanish Translator from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. When I finished high school, I studied to be a translator because I always liked English. Now I am a teacher of Spanish. I give spanish classes to English speakers and I love it.
When I wonder why I studied to be a translator when I could have done something else, my husband tells me, “If you didn’t know English, we would probably have never met”
When I wonder why I studied to be a translator when I could have done something else, my husband tells me, “If you didn’t know English, we would probably have never met”. I work around the activities of the kids and Scott’s roster.
Whenever I go to Argentina, I let my students know in advance. My priority has always been to travel to my country to see my family and friends. That is why I have this job that gives me that possibility. I give my classes from home or online. The children have school holidays from mid December until the end of January and that is when I usually go to Argentina. The children have four terms and two weeks of holidays in between terms. In Australia school starts end of January.
What is the main religion in Australia?
The 2016 census said that 52.1% of Australians classify themselves as Christians, 22.6% identifying themselves as Catholic, 13.3% as Anglican and another 8.2% follow non-Christian religions.
What was most difficult about living in Australia?
The language was never a problem. The most difficult thing for me was and will always be living far away from my family and friends. For that reason, I go every year to see my parents, my brother Sebastián who also lives in General Belgrano. He is married to Alejandra and they have three children: Juan, Pedro and India. I would love to live six months in Argentina and six months in Australia. That is my dream. Another thing that was difficult for me was when my husband used to work away for two weeks. It was hard for me being by myself with the three kids and daycare is very expensive.
Do Australians know about Argentina?
People don’t know too much about Argentina. Only the backpackers or people who travel to South America. In Australia we don’t usually have news about Argentina only when terrible things happen. I watch SBS World News every day and in there there are not lots of news about Argentina. That is why I usually read a newspaper from Argentina on internet or my mum usually tells me what’s going on in Argentina every day when I give her a call. In fact, here not many people speak Spanish.
Only the Australians who want to travel to South America or Spain want to learn Spanish. Spanish is not taught in many schools. When I first arrived in Australia, there were not many television programmes or movies in Spanish. Now there are some channels where I can watch different programmes or movies in Spanish and now there is Netflix too. For example, students only in some schools can study spanish in high school. This year my daughter is studying Japanese in her high school. Here they know Maradona and Messi for example. In Australia they play soccer a lot but it is not as popular as rugby League.
Is there corruption and poverty in Australia?
In Australia, there is corruption but not too much and if they are found guilty, they go to jail. The law is very strict. There is also poverty but not a lot and here in Australia, you don’t see people living in the streets. But there are benefits for poor people. There are benefits for the unemployed and also single mothers for example.
Have you ever asked your husband to move to Argentina? Would you ask him that?
At this point in time, I wouldn’t ask Scott to move back to Argentina. I think he would have a heart attack with the economy there and the political problems. He is used to living in a very organised country and I don’t think he would adapt to living in Argentina. But we do love going on holidays there whenever we can. I hope I can go once we have the vaccine.
Besides, we have this dream of maybe one day living six months in Australia and six months in Argentina. Scott would have that possibility if he job shares.
Do you think it is easy to live in another country even when you are choosing to live there?
I think that it is not easy to live in another country. It is not for everyone. You feel that you are not from here nor from there. We are very happy here now. And to live in another country you have to adapt to different ways of thinking and different ways of living. Some Australians have dinner from 6 to 7.30 pm and most young children go to bed at 7.30 pm. But in our home, we have dinner usually from 7 to 8 pm and our children go to bed between 8.30 and 9 pm.
What does General Belgrano represent in your life?
General Belgrano is the place where I was born and where I grew up. It’s a place that makes me so happy. We love going to my dad’s vegetable farm. We enjoy being in contact with nature, being with the whole family and with friends. We have also this dream of celebrating Kiara’s 15th birthday in Belgrano. It is a very important and popular celebration in Argentina but in Australia they don’t usually celebrate it.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my story.
If you’d like to read the Argentinian newspaper in Spanish, you can download your own copy here.