Just ask new Australian citizen Zoran Damjanovic.
Mr Damjanovic is from Belgrade and moved to Australia after meeting his Australian wife Maria Damjanovic on a bus in the Serbian capital.
“We started to be together and then when we decided that we would get married, her mother said that the only way I could be with her is if we come to Australia.”
For the first six months, the experience of living in Australia was a culture shock for Mr Damjanovic.
“Australia was, and still is, a totally different planet from Europe.”
Some things that were completely new to him included people walking barefoot and the shops closing at 4pm or 5pm.
But for him the biggest shock was the friendliness of Australians.
“People are nice and polite. In Europe if you look at someone on the street he will probably start to argue because you're looking.”
For him living in Australia got easier as he started to settle down and became more comfortable with speaking English and understood the culture.
He is now based in Cobram and works for a transportation company. He says he loves the country and the area he lives in.
The only thing Mr Damjanovic doesn’t find friendly are the Australian animals which have a notorious reputation overseas.
According to Mr Damjanovic , his family, which still lives in Serbia, can’t wait to visit him.
Though leaving his family in Serbia was understandably difficult, Mr Damjanovic has no regrets about leaving his old country behind, saying life was hard in Serbia.
When asked what gaining citizenship meant to him, Mr Damjanovic said it meant the world.
“Everything. That's what I was waiting for, and yeah, this is for me a very special day.”
21°C