What the rest of the world thinks of Australia

[Shadowblade]

So what do you all either know, or think about Australia, because it seems like not much is really known about us Aussies.

[Praetorian]

You're all like Steve Irwin being an annoyance to the local wildlife.

[PopCulturePooka]

Go play with some flowers.

[Spaatz965]

Putting this into context, here are some of the media references that have helped shape my vision of Australia.

"Foster's Mate"
Koala Bears - They really are that fuzzy and cuddly, right?
Steve Irwin
Paul Hogan (especially the Crocodile Dundee movies)
The Wiggles <my two kids are both under 5 years old>
Bernedette Taylor

Soooo, that would be some crusty/dusty leather clad guy with a hatband made out of teeth attending a Wiggles concert at the Sidney opera house with his son on one side, a naked red head on the other, carrying a koala on his shoulders, all while simulaneoulsy opening his 24 oz can of Fosters with a giant Bowie knife while exclaming, "Cracky, aint she a beauty!"

<yes...I know, Perth and Sidney are in seperate timezones>

Just kidding...

Did have some work to do with a network engineer out of Sidney. He struck me as a bit more down to earth than most of my cohorts. Both my wife and I agree, once we have enough cash, we'd like to visit Australia...but go WELL ARMED...y'all have too many overy poisonus (read that deadly poisonus) critters down under. :D

[CNagy]

"Put anotha shrimp on the bahbee!" Or however the hell that goes. Generally, I don't think of Austrailia, land of convicts and 8000 ways to die while taking a walk.

[Monkey]

All convicts who can't play cricket :p

[Marblehead]

Cheap beer in large quantities and very easy women. :D

[Nessa]

I love Australia. I really want to go there someday to see the wildlife and stuff. Australia has some of the coolest animals on the planet!

[Jormungand]

when i think of ausralia i think of motorcycle nomads and mel gibson in tight leather pants

[Katiekoneko]

this is what I think of australia:
All the guys there are probably surfers and are super hot.
All of the guys there have accents..and even if they arent surfers or super hot their accents make them goodlooking and SEXY!
Alot of people are like steve irwin. Meaning they are cute and have accents and know alot about wildlife since australia has alot of snakes and such.
Its hot there.
lots of people go around saying "maybe the dingo ate your baby?"..and answer with "nah, it was probably just a wallabe" (IM JOKING about this one)

*lol*

edit*
I must say I love the wiggles ..someone mentioned them up there ^
my nefew loves them and I sing all of their songs to him

[Snake eyeS]

Australia:

Kind, beautiful, bikers, family, Lots of impressive wildlife, bigass and Steve Irwin(my childhood hero)

definitly a country i wish to visit, my entire childhood was about me moving to australia to go chase snakes and stuff :) but now i've grown up i know that that stuff actually takes alot of cash.. and seeing as my family there wont take me in, i dont see myself getting bitten by a taipan anytime soon.

[Praetorian]

Steve Irwin(my childhood hero)


Your childhood hero eh? You must hate how he sold out to T-fort telecom then. (Have to be Dutch to know what I'm talking about).

[bUs]

yeh we ride kangaroos and dingos and carry shotguns with us to ward off those dangerous critters :D

and snake and katie you guys are more than welcome! ahh heck you're all welcome...

and cnagy its not 8000 ways to day... more like 6329.

[PopCulturePooka]

Hahaha most of you people don't know squat about Australia it seems.

Steve Irwin is a joke, disliked by many Aussies. Especially when it was revealed that the American TV networks contracted him to act 'more aussie', eg the bad Corcodile Dundee stereotype. If Steve Irwin is like every Aussie, than every American is like a stereotyped Yeehaw Hick Cowboy who has 5 guns, hunts every animal availabale, loves Bush, God and America, hates outsiders and speaks in a bad southern accent.

Tonight I'm going to have heaps of fun addressing this thread properly.

[Spaatz965]

Hahaha most of you people don't know squat about Australia it seems.
Actually, that was kinda the point of my (supposed to be) tounge in cheek post. I know there's a lot about Australia that I do not know. Heck, lump in lots of countries there as well. Except by visiting or studying a country, the only exposure we get is based on what the media (that includes the news media) provides.

Unfortunately, relatively few of us have the opportunity to travel extensively enough to get a fair picture of other countries that isn't overly media biased. Admitting our media bias in how we view Australia is absolutely fair, and responsive to the original question.

Probably a more intellectually accurate interpretation of the question would be, "describe the stereotypes and prejudices you have about Australia, and if possible indicate the source for those stereotypes and prejudices."

Just because Steve Irwin may or may not be deemed a joke in Australia doesn't make him any less of a source of stereotype information about Australia. Albeit potentially a bad source.

And...for the record, I am a yankee but do (with embarassingly frequency) lapse into a southern drawl (accent). While I don't own any firearms, I was at one time pretty profficient with a rifle, and do have a small collection of edged weapons (a US civil war vintage Cavalry sabre is my prize piece). Never have hunted animals, am agnostic, generally believe Bush was the lesser of two evils in the last election, look like a dork on the odd occasion when I wear a stetson, love my country, and try to recognize my xenophobic predjudices for what they are - not always successfully. So I sorta do and don't match the yeeeha stereotype.

Not sure why I got all defensive...perhaps it was that rebel yell snearing avatar (which I'm much more comfortable with than the one with the eye, thank you for switching). Either that, or I really am turning into a crankey old crackpot with nothing good to say.

[Monkey]

I'll make a slightly longer post about australia now.

They can't play cricket or rugby (just remembered that one) :D


But they do have Aussie rules which is awesome. I really wish they could export that to other countries, I'd sure as hell play it.

[Marblehead]

Aussie rules football has got to be the coolest thing (next to all the booze and hot chicks) to come out of Aussieland. What could be better than an organized game of smear the queer? :D

[DarkFire168]

I like Australia. My grandfather was a serviceman, a machineists mate first class, in the navy after WWII, he said that the Australian people he met when he was in port were all really nice to him, offering to buy him and the rest of the crew dinner and threw a big celebratory dinner as a going away present the night before they shipped out. All in all it seems like it's a really friendly place, I've never heard anyone come home from a trip to Australia and say "Oh yeah, that. It sucked. Never go to Australia. They all suck down there."

[kattana]

Australians hate steve irwin, and you can annoy them by talking like him, this is fun. They have good beer like canada and the peopel have nice accents and interesting vocabulary. they get horrible pings in games and their ISPs are evil.
Australia is hot, lots of space, interesting and dangerous animals.
Several years ago I ruined my sleeping schedual because of aussies and im up all night tonight because of that, its worth it tho, you meet more aussies if you are on their time. They are lesser known as a people, but just as nice as canadians, its good theres a decent place in each hemisphere with some good mates.
In a word; what a beauty.

oh, and they are getting to friendly with america, it does not need another state.

[kiwi]

Koala Bears - They really are that fuzzy and cuddly, right?



Hahaha. My friend got attacked by koala bears while hiking. I kid you not. They drop from the trees, yo. Can be quite grumpy little buggers.

[Aria]

Haha...According to some dude who made a flash video, Australia is going to be like "WTF mate?" as the end of the world approaches.

[DarkFire168]

oh, and they are getting to friendly with america, it does not need another state.

You're such an ass.

[Intense]

It's not that hot down here. I'm in melbourne and we havnt had a really hot summer for years, last one was when i was in highschool about 5-6 years ago and it got to 48c. During summer though it does get hot but you dont feel it because its a dry hottness, not humid. So it could be 35c and I still wouldnt bitch about it :D
Throughout the rest of the year it rains a fair bit, melbourne kinda has a 4 seasons in one day thing hapening most days. It'll rain, then be windy, then be sunny then hot all in one day.

We do have lots of room and lots of desert but more than 90% of the population lives in the cities which are all on the coastline. I personaly dont like steve erwin because... he just doesnt represent the average australian very well. Maybe if you bring up a kid on a high sugar diet and he has A.D.D then slap him in some shorts u might get close to steve erwin.

Also the accent thing, i dont realy notice anyone as having an accent but that might be coz im desensatized to it. I've heard americans on tv that sound exactly like the people i talk to everyday, so the typical aussie accent is kinda dead. but we do speak very quickly and kinda mix all our words into one massive word eg: "Hey mate, what are you doing later on? Are you going to go down to the beach" becomes

Eymatewhatchadoinglater? Gonagodownathabeach?

The dangerous thing, that only goes for people who live in the country or st. kilda or redfern :p

If you want to see what the majority of australia is really like check out shows like Neighbours (brits probably get this aired to them daily) or water rats.

some other things about australia are:

people are very laid back and dont get too worked up over things.
Food is great because we are a true multicultural society.
Our ISP situation is pathetic compared to other nations.
Sport is a huge part of our cultural identity and we pride ourselves on it, thats why we kick so much arse internationaly with the olympics, cricket etc.
Our political situation is a joke, the government taxes teh shit out of everyone and everything and only care about making money.
We are officialy americas bitch in reguards to iraq and the war on terror.
The people here are very hard working and actualy work unlike the teachers az has described as making themselves look busy.
We have some of the best natural beauty in the world, grampians, beaches, great barrier reef, ayres rock / uluru etc.

[Jay]

"Put anotha shrimp on the bahbee!"

This comment is probably the most annoying thing about people imitating Australians.

We call 'em "prawns" for starters, but that's insignificant. It's not JUST prawns we stick on the barbie. :p

Fosters: Stereotyped. Give me a good VB or a Carlton Draught any day.

I think a lot of stereotypes have helped to shape Australia internationally.

Yes, it gets stinkin' hot here, I've lived through 18 summers and approaching the 19th, of 46 degree C/110-115F heat. Yes, there's all manner of bitey things down here, so COME PREPARED. Yes, Australian slang is some of the most fucked up slang you're ever likely to hear.

AWSTRAYA MAYTE!

[Spaatz965]

Hahaha. My friend got attacked by koala bears while hiking. I kid you not. They drop from the trees, yo. Can be quite grumpy little buggers.

User Friendly had a strip (http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20050423) along those lines. It was part of a longer series that started on April 11th (http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20050411).

[Jay]

Hahaha. My friend got attacked by koala bears while hiking. I kid you not. They drop from the trees, yo. Can be quite grumpy little buggers.

Koalas are not bears. They are a member of the marsupial family.

[Tungtvann]

Aussies are cool, I like them. Friendly people, speak more alike us Brits than the Americans do to us. Nice country.

[Jay]

Most Aussies are cool to you, aside from me. ;)

[Shadowblade]

Your all welcome to come down and check out this land of ours, but first a few warnings:
1. Try not to come in our summer, it gets rather hot (35*C +)
2. We do have a number of deadly crawly things so be on the lookout
3. Best time to visit is in spring time
4. If you want to practice your golf swing, there are always an abundance of cane toads for you to use.
5. DO NOT under any circumstances talk about our loss to England in the Ashes (this is for your own safety people)

[Tungtvann]

5. DO NOT under any circumstances talk about our loss to England in the Ashes (this is for your own safety people)

Yeah, but the moment the Aussies are in Pomland, hohoho. There were some Aussies in the other day at work and we were like 'Did ya watch the cricket?'.

[Jay]

Heh, I still can't get over the English reaction to the win. Usually when we win there's a news report with the team cheering and holding the trophy, and a few comments from the players.

You lot had a fuckin' PROCESSION lining the damned streets, haha.

I'm not going to comment about it. You can bang on about how England was the better team, and for the most part they were, but our batsmen were shockingly out of form. :mad:

I don't care. Not even the best team can win 100% of the time. Sometimes you just need a loss to shake your foundations, right? Anyway, Matthew Hayden broke his century hoodoo, so I'm pleased.

What I can't get over is the media outcry. Figures of the game are calling for sackings, and reshufflings, and blah blah blah. It was ONE loss. In ONE test series. In HOW many years? I think they all need to pull a swift STFU, personally.

[Jai]

this is what I think of australia:
All the guys there are probably surfers and are super hot.
All of the guys there have accents..and even if they arent surfers or super hot their accents make them goodlooking and SEXY!



Do all Canadians think like you? If so im so moving to Canada ASAP ;)

The biggest farce to come out of the ashes was Flintoff being named joint man of the series alongside Warnie. The man takes 40 wickets in 5 tests, was the only thing saved us from a 4-zip flogging and you say this lucky english slogger who bowls a little reverse swing (but only after his mates "prepare" the ball with a nice sugary coat) was as good? Get a grip Poms, your hold on the ashes will end with the boxing day test in 2006 :D

About fosters - its shit we export to dumb Americans. No aussie drinks that crap if theres anything else vaguely alcoholic within arms reach. Hell, Americans probably like the crap, as their beer is like having sex in a canoe (credit to monty python).

[Shadowblade]

Heh, I still can't get over the English reaction to the win. Usually when we win there's a news report with the team cheering and holding the trophy, and a few comments from the players.

You lot had a fuckin' PROCESSION lining the damned streets, haha.


I really just couldn't get over that, I guess it shows just how long its been since they won.

On another note, the Swans are gonna own you Eagles this weekend.

[Jay]

The hell they are! We beat you once in this finals series and we'll do it again.

[Monkey]

Heh, I still can't get over the English reaction to the win. Usually when we win there's a news report with the team cheering and holding the trophy, and a few comments from the players.

You lot had a fuckin' PROCESSION lining the damned streets, haha.

I'm not going to comment about it. You can bang on about how England was the better team, and for the most part they were, but our batsmen were shockingly out of form. :mad:

I don't care. Not even the best team can win 100% of the time. Sometimes you just need a loss to shake your foundations, right? Anyway, Matthew Hayden broke his century hoodoo, so I'm pleased.

What I can't get over is the media outcry. Figures of the game are calling for sackings, and reshufflings, and blah blah blah. It was ONE loss. In ONE test series. In HOW many years? I think they all need to pull a swift STFU, personally.


Well we haven't won the ashes for 18 years, that's a pretty long time. Bear in mind our cricket team has traditionally sucked over the last decade or so as well. This was also a very close ashes series, I can't believe how close each test came, it was right down to the wire.

Yeah I can't understand the media outcry over the australian team either. It's not like they played incredibly badly. Like I said before, it went right down to the wire. The last test could have gone either way really. The real test of the teams will come next series though :D

[Jay]

Yes, mate, we played incredibly badly.

Hell, I can admit that. We played like a bunch of second-raters; dropping catches, making primary school mistakes. It was painful to watch.

[PopCulturePooka]

I am SO happy that Australia lost the ashes. I fucking HATE the Australian cricket team. heres to Australia losing many, many more Ashes series, as well as other international cricket events.

And to Warne dying painfully from an STD.

[Jay]

Why do you hate the Australian cricket team so much? :confused:

[PopCulturePooka]

Why do you hate the Australian cricket team so much? :confused:
Bunch of wankers. Pure and simple. I'm not the biggest cricket fan and the Aussie Cricket team symbolise a lot of things I dislike about Australian sports stars and celebs. Get so much credit for doing nothing.

[Jay]

...Aside from winning, you mean?

[PopCulturePooka]

...Aside from winning, you mean?
Winning what? A dumb game where you have TEA BREAKS?!
What kind of pussy game has a TEA BREAK?

Cuppa tea and a bickie?


And the players?

Either fat sleaze bags like Warne, fat drunken thugs, overly modest wankers or overly Australian douches like the Waughs (fancy calling your son Ozzie)

[Jay]

Now did I state that it was merely cricket the Aussies were winning at? ;)

You said Australians get credit for doing nothing. Nothing, in that case, must mean winning at a fair old few sports. ;)

[PopCulturePooka]

Now did I state that it was merely cricket the Aussies were winning at? ;)

You said Australians get credit for doing nothing. Nothing, in that case, must mean winning at a fair old few sports. ;)
But what point does winning at sport prove? lol

Actually I'm not a fan of many aussie sporters

Freeman, Thorpe, League Players, Hewitt. LEt em all burn.

Love Hackett and Klim though.

[Jay]

Hewitt can burn in the pits of Hell, so far as I'm concerned.

He's the next McEnroe.

[PopCulturePooka]

Can we also melt Freeman and Thorpes faces? Please?

[Jay]

Freeman as in Cathy Freeman?

Her voice makes her sound soooo dumb, so yes, let's.

[PopCulturePooka]

Freeman as in Cathy Freeman?

Her voice makes her sound soooo dumb, so yes, let's.
Her voice?

She is fucking dumb. As far as Aboriginal Role Models go... she is pathetic.

And Thorpe?

Sigh, besides being to gutless to come out, his fake modesty annoys me.

'Oh wow. I wath racing four 10 year old African kidf who have never fwam before. I can't believe I won. I tho thought that they would beat me. Oh my god. I'm THO amazed.'

[Jay]

He definitely looks gay. You saw him at the Logies or whatever the fuck the recent awards thingy was, and he had the gayest haircut, and that stupid little half-arsed 3 days growth. :rolleyes:

[PopCulturePooka]

He definitely looks gay. You saw him at the Logies or whatever the fuck the recent awards thingy was, and he had the gayest haircut, and that stupid little half-arsed 3 days growth. :rolleyes:
I dont care if he is gay or not, but he should just get it over with an out himself.

Its his false modesty that annoys me.

[Jay]

Well when he races guys like Ryk Neethling and Peiter Van Den Whatsit, it's gonna be a tough race.

But, yeah, when he smashes the competition and then says it was really tough, that's a kinda no-brainer.

[Roxie]

I don't.


but *if* I do, I think about how everything down there (the animals/insects) are trying to kill you. You can keep that deadly stuff.

[Shadowblade]

The hell they are! We beat you once in this finals series and we'll do it again.

Even if Hall gets suspended your going down.

[theunraveler]

i've been in aussie land for about 10 months doing college before doing degree. before i came here i had high hopes in australia but coming here, i felt australia isnt that great after all.

here they pride themselves on their "laid back culture" (in order words: lazy). jesus christ it takes them 1 week to connect the broadband, in my country all it takes is a few strokes of the keyboard and thats it. their transportation, especially their subway is laughably badly designed and controlled. sometimes the train that goes to the city ends up on another track even though they already designated another track for the city train. offpeak hours the train comes at irregular times which is quite fustrating. me being a foreign student also makes me a target for exploitation. i need to pay for this and that and pay much higher prices too! renting an apartment i need to pay 20 dollars more for bond and 120 dollars juz for some admin fees which i was told would not apply if i am aussie

racism is also rampant here. one time in a macdonalds the lady at the counter ignored me even though i had queued up in line. she would serve the white guy behind me first. many times when i go to the city library, when i request info on some books, i get the "cant u look it up urself" and irritated looks (if i can look it up myself i wont be asking). a few times i get the "asian monkeys" or "asians we hate u" from red necks.

sorry if i am ranting too much, but the threadstarter ask for wat the world thinks of australians and after coming here i dun think too highly of them.

[Jai]

Which city are you in? For example, I know Melbourne has a solid public transport system, but Sydney has a horrible one.

And as a foreign student, are your intentions to come here, use us for our fine education system, then return home? If so, the "dont think highly" thing is mutual.


And you can hardly call an entire culture lazy just because Te$tra suck.

[theunraveler]

Which city are you in? For example, I know Melbourne has a solid public transport system, but Sydney has a horrible one.

And as a foreign student, are your intentions to come here, use us for our fine education system, then return home? If so, the "dont think highly" thing is mutual.


And you can hardly call an entire culture lazy just because Te$tra suck.
Brisbane. Queensland rail sucks.

u have a good education system that i will agree but i am not here to use ur facilities without paying 5-6 times higher than the average student. its like a business, i am a paying client.

[Jai]

You pay the same as any fee-paying student would.

HECS places (the 1/6th the price) are government subsidised so naturally only available to Aussie citizens ;)

[bUs]

i've been in aussie land for about 10 months doing college before doing degree. before i came here i had high hopes in australia but coming here, i felt australia isnt that great after all.

here they pride themselves on their "laid back culture" (in order words: lazy). jesus christ it takes them 1 week to connect the broadband, in my country all it takes is a few strokes of the keyboard and thats it. their transportation, especially their subway is laughably badly designed and controlled. sometimes the train that goes to the city ends up on another track even though they already designated another track for the city train. offpeak hours the train comes at irregular times which is quite fustrating. me being a foreign student also makes me a target for exploitation. i need to pay for this and that and pay much higher prices too! renting an apartment i need to pay 20 dollars more for bond and 120 dollars juz for some admin fees which i was told would not apply if i am aussie

racism is also rampant here. one time in a macdonalds the lady at the counter ignored me even though i had queued up in line. she would serve the white guy behind me first. many times when i go to the city library, when i request info on some books, i get the "cant u look it up urself" and irritated looks (if i can look it up myself i wont be asking). a few times i get the "asian monkeys" or "asians we hate u" from red necks.

sorry if i am ranting too much, but the threadstarter ask for wat the world thinks of australians and after coming here i dun think too highly of them.

which city are you in?

coz Melbourne's great... I haven't seen any signs of racism here. Well there are, but nothing more than what you get in any other metropolitan city. I've been to far worst places in terms of racism... I think a big part of it is in how we treat or heck even look at others.

tho I gotta admit the train system could be better. Its ok most of the time unless its off peak.

as an overseas student u would obviously be expected to pay more for things such as bonds etc. I don't think its about exploitation. I think its just security. If I'm the owner and i'm renting out to someone whom I know could just up and leave and I have absolutely no way of tracking them down then I would want something more for security. That's why with opening mobile phone (that's cell phone to some of yas) accounts you can't sign contracts or it has to be direct debit or you need to provide extra identification etc.

[Shamu]

Well, I haven't really given Australia a whole lot of thought. I think it's a cool place, I'd love to visit there someday and they have really cool accents there!
I'll tell you what my three year old thinks of Australia though.
She got to talk to Jay once and after that said, "mommy, I love the Wiggles!" So yeah...that's what she thinks of it...the Wiggles...and kangaroos...she loves kangaroos. :p

[Roxie]

Yeah, I hear the racism in Australia is a whole different kind of monster.

[Balain]

It be a fine place maties

[bUs]

Yeah, I hear the racism in Australia is a whole different kind of monster.

not entirely true.. like I said, its probably about about the same as anywhere else, but ppl just make a bigger deal out of it that's all.

again, there are some really bad ones who will call you names and pick a fight just coz you look differnt, but you get that everywhere.

[theunraveler]

again, there are some really bad ones who will call you names and pick a fight just coz you look differnt, but you get that everywhere.
i beg to differ, u wont get that in places like singapore, malaysia or japan. no one's gonna come up to u and say "white trash" or pick a fight.

[bUs]

don't know about japan... but yeah i agree with you on singapore.

Malaysia however... well just to put things in perspective. i'm Asian. Malaysian Chinese decent actually and well.. lets just say I broke my hand coz someone swung at me for no apparent reason (apparently he didnt like the way i looked at him) and i swung back and missed and hit a door instead.

yeah yeah its embarassing.. :cool:

and i'm assuming you're from malaysia? chinese? native malay? indian?

don't tell me that all three races are treated equally there because I know for a fact that they're not. Generally everyone gets along but from my experience racism slurs and abuse are there. It just depends on where you go.

i know some parts in melbourne that are really bad so i just stay away from t those places...

[misterb]

I'm another foreign student here in Australia and am currently in Sydney. The train-system is horrible, and they know it. Thus they're spending a gazillion dollars on trying to "untangle the rail-network".

The Aussies are horribly "laid back" or as someone said - lazy. It does take them ages to do anything when it comes to administrative work. When you apply for a job, expect them to hold with a reply until the next season, cuz that's when they clean the desktop at work and go thru the pile of papers.

The ISPs are laughable with their "high-speed broadband" and limitations.

They also seem to expect foreign students to be richer than the aussie student and don't think that an international, or even local school student-card can be applicable for student concession, just because we're foreigners. How does us being foreigners make us less of a student?

As a foreign student we're only allowed to work 20 hours / week, and yet - as mentioned before - we're expected to pay more? And then we have the fact that shops close at 5 or 6pm, so by the time you get out of school all shops are closed, so you can't work in them, unless you skip school. But see, if we skip school and have a lower attendancy than 80% (checked each WEEK) we'll be kicked out of the country.

There are heaps more of these "small things" that point to the fact that Australia isn't really that "immigrant" friendly. Even a previous poster here regarding the bond indicated it. Alot of my aussie friends also shamefully admit that oz is not that foreigner-friendly. Luckily due to these friends I am able to get away from alot of the pains some people have mentioned (such as the bonds).

So yeah, amidst the whacky political shell, there are some nice aussies. They should run the government down and make Oz more friendly again!

[co_delphi]

Offhand when I think of Australia the things that come to mind as far as wildlife there a liberal fuck ton of what seem like genetic throwbacks..... and some really strange looking animals too (kidding :D ).

But for the most part what I typically relate to it are way too many highly trained computer people with far better qualifications than me. Also last I checked you guys were the source of Banannas in Pajammas and Yahoo Serious, the movie Drop Dead Fred, and Mel Gibson.

[Katiekoneko]

Do all Canadians think like you? If so im so moving to Canada ASAP ;)

ALOT of girls I know do at least.

aussie accents are supah hot. I dont think I can go there... honestly. I will be all like "SWOON"ing all the time..

Heres another one of my weird thoughts on aussie-land!

I think Australia is like Canada..and England is like the USA!

[yogi]

I live in Brisbane and there is a fair bit of racism. Being white I only noticed it when I do stuff with friends who aren't. I even knew a guy who hated all asians.. for no actual reason.

So yeah plenty of problem here just like everywhere else.

To the foreign students, that sounds unfortunate, but my country is sacrificing spots to exploit you what do you expect?

[PopCulturePooka]

Crap. I'm not the one on only Brisbanite anymote.

[Jay]

Even if Hall gets suspended your going down.

Yeah yeah yeah. Big talk, buddy.

Personally, I hope he plays. It would be more satisfying for me if our backs shut him down on the day.

As said, we've beaten you once in this finals series. We have the advantage buddy. :D

[Jay]

i've been in aussie land for about 10 months doing college before doing degree. before i came here i had high hopes in australia but coming here, i felt australia isnt that great after all.

Ahhh, another one falls for the trick. :(

here they pride themselves on their "laid back culture" (in order words: lazy). jesus christ it takes them 1 week to connect the broadband, in my country all it takes is a few strokes of the keyboard and thats it.

To me the whole "laid back" thing is about not taking things too seriously, knowing that everything in life isn't a reason to get up-in-arms over, you know? That's my take mainly because that's my attitude, and the attitude of others I know.

But I totally agree with you, internet service sucks for most companies. That's why we (my family) use Westnet, their service is *THE* best - they've even won the award for best service in all of Australia. Check 'em out, you won't be disappointed.

their transportation, especially their subway is laughably badly designed and controlled. sometimes the train that goes to the city ends up on another track even though they already designated another track for the city train. offpeak hours the train comes at irregular times which is quite fustrating.

...Don't say it. You don't need to. ><

me being a foreign student also makes me a target for exploitation. i need to pay for this and that and pay much higher prices too! renting an apartment i need to pay 20 dollars more for bond and 120 dollars juz for some admin fees which i was told would not apply if i am aussie

This works remarkably well: if you try and get exploited again, pull them up on it. Tell them that the guy ahead of you or whatever didn't have to pay it, so you're not. You live in teh same place, use the same services, you're entitled to only paying what the other guy did. Tell them that if they don't like it, call the cops and have you arrested.

racism is also rampant here. one time in a macdonalds the lady at the counter ignored me even though i had queued up in line. she would serve the white guy behind me first. many times when i go to the city library, when i request info on some books, i get the "cant u look it up urself" and irritated looks (if i can look it up myself i wont be asking). a few times i get the "asian monkeys" or "asians we hate u" from red necks.

I'm sorry for this. I apologise to you on behalf of Australia. You're more than entitled to the same courtesies and treatment as the native Australians.

Don't worry about them, they're only small minded effwits who should've been aborted. You're more than welcome here.

sorry if i am ranting too much, but the threadstarter ask for wat the world thinks of australians and after coming here i dun think too highly of them.

No, you're quite entitled to rant. Go ahead mate, this country's gone to the dogs lately anyway.

[ChronoSphere]

Where's australia again? Don't they make beer there or something?

[Jay]

Where's australia again? Don't they make beer there or something?

We're floating along somewhere between Antartica and Indonesia. We're unchartered down here, so snakes and spiders and shit run rampant. :p

[misterb]

We're floating along somewhere between Antartica and Indonesia. We're unchartered down here, so snakes and spiders and shit run rampant. :p

Holy crap! (pun intended) I didn't know shit could run! What do they look like down there? Do they belong to any known animal species? Even remotely?

[KiwiKitty]

I live in Brisbane, too, or just north of it. As to where, I'm about 5 minutes drive from Steve Irwin's zoo. Yay me. Mention Queensland or Brisbane to a foreigner, and they don't know where you live. Mention Steve Irwin, and then they know :P

I'm not a native aussie. Heck, not even an aussie. I come from a faaaaaar superior land... with a better economy but worse politicians, so I think it balances out. And the superiorness with sport at least stopped in the 80's, about the time I moved here... hmmm... coincidence? I like it here, but I'll give my opinion on a few things brought up anyway.

If you want to complain about Queensland Rail, get in line behind me. The line I'm on (Nambour/Gympie) is recorded as having the worst delays and hold ups and derailments... it sucks trying to get into work an hour early only to arrive two hours late - I had that happen a few months ago. We also pay more, because we're so far out, and have fewer trains and more abusive guards and sarky station operators.

Education, I can't comment. I went via HECS ^^ Just about paid it off, my one single year before I wondered what the hell I was doing and dropped out. Working now in telecommunications in Fortitude Valley - in the Chinatown mall, to be precise. We have people from all nationalities working there - in my 12 person team, we've got a Brazilian, Scotsman, 2 Kiwis, a Maltese, a German/American born in Australia, and a Pom. Behind us, we've got Poms, Chinese, etc. We had a Vietnamese girl working with us a while back, some more kiwis and an Indian girl. We also have a lot of people in gay relationships on our floor... so if there was going to be racism or homophobia, and as bitchy as we can get over people's quality of work, I don't know of anyone racist or openly homophobic. So I can't speak for racism or anything.

I know there are young twits who think it might be the coolest thing in the world to beat someone up or pick on people to inversely prove the size of their penis, but I think picking on obvious foreigners is more because they're a minority and don't tend to fight back than the fact they hate them. Could very easily be wrong, though, but racism against aboriginals here is a lot stronger than any other nation, including kiwis.

As to the poisonous animals and whatnot, there are a lot, but contrary to popular belief, they get the hell out of your way before you even know they're there. Unless it's Redback mating season, in which case they'll chase you. Or there are... god, brown taipans or something? They are one of the most agressive snakes going anyway and will stand up and take to you if you go near them. Most snakes will disappear before you see them.

Generally, the thing with foreign students is that when I was at uni, in 95, pretty much only rich foreign families could afford to send their kids to uni in Australia. So they jacked the prices right up because they could set whatever costs they wanted on foreign students. Now, there was a big hoohaa a few years ago here in Qld that foreign students were being passed in courses so the money would keep rolling in, but Australian students who scored the same or responded with the same answers were being marked down or failed. So on the one hand, you have or had a good guaranteed qualification from universities which are world-class... but you have to pay for it on the other.

Koalas are docile, and like to snooze in trees during the day. If you hold one at Dreamworld or elsewhere, though, be warned: if you move, they think their tree is shifting and they pee on you. I have a horrible photo from when I was 12 because the person behind the camera told me that just as I was shifting the koala to hold it more comfortably and I have this horrid pained expression, expecting the animal to pee on me. Yuck. Kangaroos, conversely, can be violent, but generally are pretty reserved in parks where you can get photos with them. Still, be careful.

Snakes pee on people, too.

Um... It's a very beautiful country. Generally, the people are very nice. Sarcastic sometimes, and can be offensive without realising it (and half the time, without caring). The country is huge, though. You're not going to see a lot with a week or two of being here time, but find someone on the net you can stay with, I'd suggest, and see if they can show you the places around where they live. Locals are always better than tourist operators, I find.

[scan2001]

I know that most Canadians spend a year in Australia and they all say that they love it. Also, I think that most people in Australia don't think Foster is the beer of choice.

[Praetorian]

Holy crap! (pun intended) I didn't know shit could run! What do they look like down there? Do they belong to any known animal species? Even remotely?


Shit.

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Scyphozoa
Family: Shittotamidae
Genus: Dumpus
Species: amphibius

[misterb]

Shit.

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Scyphozoa
Family: Shittotamidae
Genus: Dumpus
Species: amphibius

Oh. My. God. I'm gonna puke. We're shittin out distant relatives to the jelly fish? Is that why there are so many right outside the coast-line?!

*goes to puke and requests a pouch on the stomach instead of having to shit things out*

Still tho... being a relative to the jelly fish, how would it run?

[pva_glue]

ok I think I'll put in my two bobs worth...

I am not Australian but I am living in Perth Western Australia.

The "Lay back culture" can be seen every where in Perth. but this doesnt mean we are LAZY. no no way we get shits done.

Steve Irwin, I love the guy, I was Zoo Keeper once @ Perth Zoo. I love his way to introduce Australian Fauna and Flora to the world.

FOSTERS!!! ok You lot who are not Australian. DO NOT BUY FOSTERS in the BAR!
If you ask for FOSTERS in Aussie bar, THE music will stop playing and Big bazza Bikie (thugs) will pick you up and throw out of the bar.. ask for 'VB" or crownie (pronaunce Bee Vee or Ker ra unee MATE!!!) ;)

It does get hot in some part of country some just like america there are cold place and hot places.


Australians are very kind understanding people and very nice at lease country folks.

Koala aint a bear! as someone already said they are marsupials. and they are cute but will give you hell of SCREAM and SCRATCH when they are on HEAT!!!

its very beautiful country and now I would like to share few pictures with you all

Enjoy...

http://www.pbase.com/pva_glue/image/31712096.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/pva_glue/image/31712106.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/pva_glue/image/31712107.jpg

[pva_glue]

more

this is Perth


http://www.pbase.com/pva_glue/image/32520954.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/pva_glue/image/38200895.jpg

[Oosutorariajin]

Carlton draught hey. They have the best ads i have ever seen. I dont like the drink much but hey it would be worth supportin just to see more ads from them.

"this is an ad, a real big ad..." lalala hehe, lmao

that was a side note... but yeah its amazing what the world thinks of aust.

-the convict thing... none of my family are convicts, they all came from scotland after the war (10 bob tourists)
-the rural thing (steve irwin syndrome)... i come from a "rural" area by most aussie's standards and that means i come from a town that is 1.5 hrs from Syd and 2 from canberra (the capital fyi)
-Hot babes???? the hell where the hell have i been all my life this Australia sounds great!!!
-the accent and slang is the best... i only think this because Aust is so hidden from the world not many people get used to it unlike american slang or british because of television.
- plus i cant say i would ever put prawns on the barbie that'ld be a shocka. they are made to be raw. tast good with thousand island dressing. thats what i call international relations...

Most importantly is Aust is a great place just dont ask ONE thing as soon as you get in to sydney or melbourne and that is "where are the kangaroos?" there are none!!!! most people from syd hav to go to a zoo just to see aussie wildlife so atleast wait till u go rural.

btw they are koalas no koala 'bears' they are not bears or even miniture ones they are just some crapped up animal that god forgot to help on its way through evolution like most of australias wildlife.

[yogi]

Everyone who said dont drink fosters should win a prize.. like a carton of fosters... Personally VB taste like shit. Fosters is actually better.

[DarkFire168]

I know that most Canadians spend a year in Australia and they all say that they love it. Also, I think that most people in Australia don't think Foster is the beer of choice.

Wait, Fosters is beer? I thought Fosters was rat urine from the taste of it...

[Trump]

Wait, Fosters is beer? I thought Fosters was rat urine from the taste of it...

Aren't you describing all beer?

[Katiekoneko]

I dont like the taste of ANY beer

but I heard american beer is like water..

[Psychochink]

I dont like the taste of ANY beer

but I heard american beer is like water..

American beer is like water. Having said that...

Dear GOD do not drink Fosters or VB, if you value your taste buds. Drink Coopers, if you must drink an Australian beer. Better yet, drink Kilkenny, Guiness or Heineken.

[PopCulturePooka]

American beer is like water. Having said that...

Dear GOD do not drink Fosters or VB, if you value your taste buds. Drink Coopers, if you must drink an Australian beer. Better yet, drink Kilkenny, Guiness or Heineken.
Tooheys old.

[Monkey]

Don't forget that what most people are calling beer, isn't actually beer, it's lager. Fosters is lager, heineken is lager, most american "beers" are lager (and a poor excuse for lager too...). A true beer is something like guiness or a pint of bitter. Real ales are beers too.

[DarkFire168]

Aren't you describing all beer?

Well yeah, basically.

Besides, only two types of people need beer (From my expierience) girls, and namby pamby wimpy boys. I've never met a girl who could hold her hard alcohol, and all those "frat boy/pop collared pink shirt wigga's/gangsta's" are all to girly to hold good liquor. Give me bad vodka, varying in quality tequila and damn good whiskey any day over beer, "smirnoff", or any of that weak shit.

[DarkFire168]

Don't forget that what most people are calling beer, isn't actually beer, it's lager. Fosters is lager, heineken is lager, most american "beers" are lager (and a poor excuse for lager too...). A true beer is something like guiness or a pint of bitter. Real ales are beers too.

Agreed. Besides that's the only good kind.

[Kaji]

I remember talking to a few Japanese about various forms of accented English, and which forms would take them the furthest. I think they found even the thought of speaking like an Aussie repulsive...(we tried convincing them they should speak in an Irish accent, just for the attention it'd get...hehehe...)

[Praetorian]

American beer is like water. Having said that...

Dear GOD do not drink Fosters or VB, if you value your taste buds. Drink Coopers, if you must drink an Australian beer. Better yet, drink Kilkenny, Guiness or Heineken.


Yay Heineken.


/patriotic salute

[Jay]

American beer is like water. Having said that...

Dear GOD do not drink Fosters or VB, if you value your taste buds. Drink Coopers, if you must drink an Australian beer. Better yet, drink Kilkenny, Guiness or Heineken.

*signs for Carlton Draught*

Carlton Draught has me around its little finger. :D

That said, do NOT drink Carlton Midstrength. Urgh!

[Collapse]

Don't tell me you will be sensitive if someone speaks negatively about the great land down under.

Australia's pretty good in my opinion. Lots of outback to see and some good place to unwind.

Then again, if you were somewhere else, you'd just find for good places to R&R too.

[Jay]

Don't tell me you will be sensitive if someone speaks negatively about the great land down under.

I won't be sensitive if someone has a shot at Australia.

Sorry.

[Collapse]

I won't be sensitive if someone has a shot at Australia.

Sorry.


I meant that to the creator, chief.

[Shadowblade]

[QUOTE=Collapse]Don't tell me you will be sensitive if someone speaks negatively about the great land down under.
QUOTE]

Nah, say whatever you want, i won't be sensitive.

[kyaa the catlord]

The funny thing is that all Fosters sold in the US is actually brewed in Canada. Its Canadian for beer, eh?

[Jay]

I don't mind VB though. We must get a good brew here, everyone gives it shit but I don't find it bad.

[KiwiKitty]

Most people in QLD seem to drink XXXX anyways, and beer in Australia as I understand it has a far higher alcohol content than US beer... I've known people who drink both, and say the american beers they've had are little more than flavoured water. Not too sure how english beers settle up as I haven't met too many people who've gone to england to compare.

And Steve Irwin? I have to say this, guys. How he appears on TV? That's been Steve Irwin all his life. He got ignored at school because he acted like that - he's naturally like that.

[Jay]

Most people in QLD seem to drink XXXX anyways, and beer in Australia as I understand it has a far higher alcohol content than US beer... I've known people who drink both, and say the american beers they've had are little more than flavoured water. Not too sure how english beers settle up as I haven't met too many people who've gone to england to compare.

American beer is baaaaaaad. Urk. Stay away.

And Steve Irwin? I have to say this, guys. How he appears on TV? That's been Steve Irwin all his life. He got ignored at school because he acted like that - he's naturally like that.

Steve Irwin is what he is because of his insane, weird-arse TV personality. He's not really like that - ever seen him on the news? He's all sincere and soft-spoken.

[Jon885]

I know nothing about Australia besides what I see in the movies and a few people from Australia on the Internet.

Australian movies i've seen:

Muriel's Wedding
A Japanese Story
some dancing movie.

[Mozz]

Ahht he three msot said Aussy words deigne it pretty wel

Mate barby bud

[theunraveler]

this is a question only a true blue brisbanite can answer

where can i find the largest manga book store in brisbane?

[Star Market]

I was fortunate enough to go visit Sydney, so my impression of Australia is largely formed by that trip:

Australian cities (Sydney at least) are truly cosmopolitan - I saw more South and Southeast Asian immigrants, Chinese, Indonesians, Pacific Islanders, and even some Africans than I actually saw caucasian Aussies in the city. Not to mention the cities are clean, nice, and relatively safe (there was a string of drive-by shootings when I was in Sydney unfortunately...). It isn't until you hit the suburbs that you start to run into majority caucasian Aussies. I understand Australia is a magnet for people seeking political asylum and a choice place for immigration for South and Southeast Asians. I also understand that the immigration policies are pretty harsh, and that there's some sort of run-down prison camp you guys stick them in that's the cause of a bunch of controversy (it was on the news all the time when I was there).

Australian beer is clearly superior to American beer - CLEARLY superior.

The hottest "Australian" girls...aren't Australian - the hottest girls I saw weren't the caucasian Aussie women, but were the descendants of all the immigrants you guys have. The caucasian Aussie women, however, seem to be very athletic, and that's something I like. Unfortunately, neither of them seemed very interested in me (they were all rather icy as a matter of fact), but I probably had "TOURIST" written all over me.

Australians are pretty friendly - I swear if I here another "G'day, mate!" I'm going to shoot myself. It was nice that people greeted me and were courteous, but EVERYONE started off with "G'day, mate!" That accent to American ears is THICK. Of course, what threw me for a loop was to hear the immigrants say and sound exactly the same as everyone else. An African dude who looked like he easily could have passed for a black dude in the states with all the hip-hop gear he had on greeted me with "G'day, mate" in that thick accent and it completely tripped me out.

Australians like Americans but don't like our government...or our president - Big surprise. It's like that everywhere I go when I'm overseas. "Hey, you're not too bad. But what the hell were you blokes thinking when you re-elected Bush?" Being a conservative who actually supports about half of Bush's policies (completely disagreeing with the other half, but overall supporting him over who would have been the alternative) it chafed to hear that.

Australians (the media at least) are just as obsessed with the royals as people in Britain - three things dominated the news when I was there: the government (immigration, some dude in parliament finding out a love child with some woman he dated in college wasn't his), rugby (no surprise there), and the royals (Charles and Camilla getting married).

Animals don't run around willy nilly...but there's still some dangerous critters in the cities - I narrowly avoided getting bit by a spider the size of my whole hand. I was taking photos in the Royal Botanic Gardens when my hand brushed against what I thought was a mushroom growing off a tree trunk. I turned and saw the hugest f**kin spider I have ever seen in my life. It looked like a tarantula (though in retrospect I'm pretty sure it wasn't), and I swear I saw fangs. So, I ran. That's right. I ran.

Australians don't really have a food - there was no such thing as a "local" dish everywhere I went to eat. I didn't see a restaurant or some other eatery advertising "Australian food." The food selection was just like any other big city I'd been to on the East Coast back in the U.S. However, you guys love pastries. I couldn't toss a dead Pokeman by the tail without hitting a pastry shop. Even when I ventured away from the city to the outdoors and the frontier before you hit the outback (read: Blue Mountains), I kept seeing pastry shops. It was like, "Hey, before you go to the Outback, grab some hot crossed buns for the journey." And the pastries were GOOD too. I spent some time in England as a child, and I remember Britain being the same way about pastries. Biting into hot crossed buns brought back some memories. What was even more interesting were the trifecto shops I saw - pastry shop in the morning, coffee shop in the day, hoppin' bar at night.

Australian beaches are awesome, but dangerous - Bondai. I saw those waves and nearly crapped my pants (there was a swell when I visited). The surfers loved it though. It's still nothing compared to the big waves at Waimea Bay in Hawaii during winter.

So that's what I think of Australia and Australians.

[Jay]

Australian beer is clearly superior to American beer - CLEARLY superior.

'Nuff said. :D

[KiwiKitty]

this is a question only a true blue brisbanite can answer

where can i find the largest manga book store in brisbane?

You've got a couple of options.

(1) Ace Comics, above Hungry Jacks in the Queen St Mall.
(2) Comics Etc, down an arcade in Elizabeth St (the road outside the EB entrance to Myers and back up towards the river).
(3) Borders, on Elizabeth St, directly across from the EB entrance to Myers.
(4) Daily Planet, on Elizabeth St, opposite direction to Comics Etc, in a small arcade outside a busstop. If you hit Wintergarden's food court, you've gone too far. Sushi place on the corner, or there used to be.

I know Ace has stores in Annerley and Toowong, but I don't know what they're like for manga. Borders has a really good selection, too, but tend to be more mainstream.

I also understand that the immigration policies are pretty harsh, and that there's some sort of run-down prison camp you guys stick them in that's the cause of a bunch of controversy (it was on the news all the time when I was there).
That would have been... god, Baxter Detention Centre? I think. There's a couple. Most people don't agree with mandatory detention here, but it's pretty much only for illegal refugees rather than immigrants as a whole. Enter the country as an immigrant legally, and you won't spend time there. The track records in the places, unfortunately, are shocking.

I narrowly avoided getting bit by a spider the size of my whole hand. I was taking photos in the Royal Botanic Gardens when my hand brushed against what I thought was a mushroom growing off a tree trunk. I turned and saw the hugest f**kin spider I have ever seen in my life. It looked like a tarantula (though in retrospect I'm pretty sure it wasn't), and I swear I saw fangs. So, I ran. That's right. I ran.
If it looked like a tarantula and was the size of your hand (or larger) but was mostly legs with a slightly darker brown pattern on the back of its body, it was most likely a tan colour, which would be a Huntsman. Non-poisonous and rarely agressive, but bloody freaky. I've thrown my computer chair across the room when one decided it was going to tickle the backs of my knees late one night, and just last night, I had one on my pillow when I went to bed... fun being an arachnophobe. Now, if it was the same colour to darker, without a pattern, a huge body and smaller crab-like legs, you probably almost squished a bird-eating spider. We also get them around our house. They're scary, but again are apparently non-venomous.

Everything just looks bloody poisonous here.

Even when I ventured away from the city to the outdoors and the frontier before you hit the outback (read: Blue Mountains)
This made me laugh... the Blue Mountains are almost a suburb of Sydney now, the city's encroached so far out ;) But they're a lovely area, says I from driving through them once.

To any NSWers, though, is that really a nuclear power plant on the other side of the range? It certainly looks like a nuke plant cooling tower, and it's got big signs along the roads saying not to stop for xx Kms and stuff... we've got photos taken from a distance of it somewhere. But we saw the same thing around Newcastle when we came back down the coast road, and that WASN'T a nuke plant. I know there's a small reactor at Lucas Heights, but I've got no idea where that is.

Steve Irwin is what he is because of his insane, weird-arse TV personality. He's not really like that - ever seen him on the news? He's all sincere and soft-spoken.
I hate to say this, but he was only a little more muted than he appears in his early TV appearances when he used to shop for his groceries in Wimberlies. And this was before he GOT a TV show. His old schoolfriends have confirmed also if you put an animal in front of him when he was at school, that's exactly how he'd act.

And yes, he's on our local news reasonably often. Lately he's been a bit subdued, but this is because everyone in the region has been against him having low-flying helicopters flying above our houses for 8 hours a day (6 flights an hour over the Glasshouse Mountains, forget it) and hes been getting it from the locals.

[porkchops]

ahhh... Sydney.
did anyone read the news today? some lady fell from Chatswood Westfield Mall from the 6th level and landed on some other lady :confused:
A train of thought is the rest of the world doesnt care too much about Aus, perhaps we are slightly pompous ^_^

we have so much coverage on over seas stuff, such as London bombings and 9/11 and the more recent hurrican Katrina but ive heard when some disaster occurred to Australians not many countries care :(

on a side note, has other countries heard about the Australian accented terrorist making threats? its quite interesting :cool:

Australia is currently only comprised of about 24% asians i think and about 40 somthing percent Anglo/Aussies.

[theunraveler]

You've got a couple of options.

(1) Ace Comics, above Hungry Jacks in the Queen St Mall.
(2) Comics Etc, down an arcade in Elizabeth St (the road outside the EB entrance to Myers and back up towards the river).
(3) Borders, on Elizabeth St, directly across from the EB entrance to Myers.
(4) Daily Planet, on Elizabeth St, opposite direction to Comics Etc, in a small arcade outside a busstop. If you hit Wintergarden's food court, you've gone too far. Sushi place on the corner, or there used to be.

I know Ace has stores in Annerley and Toowong, but I don't know what they're like for manga. Borders has a really good selection, too, but tend to be more mainstream.



thanks very much

[DarkFire168]

ahhh... Sydney.
did anyone read the news today? some lady fell from Chatswood Westfield Mall from the 6th level and landed on some other lady :confused:
A train of thought is the rest of the world doesnt care too much about Aus, perhaps we are slightly pompous ^_^

we have so much coverage on over seas stuff, such as London bombings and 9/11 and the more recent hurrican Katrina but ive heard when some disaster occurred to Australians not many countries care :(

on a side note, has other countries heard about the Australian accented terrorist making threats? its quite interesting :cool:

Australia is currently only comprised of about 24% asians i think and about 40 somthing percent Anglo/Aussies.

I never hear about Australian disasters on my news. I'm sorry, I would feel bad if the news actually said something about it.

The reason everyone in the US gets a bad rep for not caring about other coutnries woes is because alot of the time we never hear about it. Don't blame us, blame our retarded news centers.

[Ichisan]

Australian pies are great and cheap.

Australians love veggies with their meals and so do I. They put beetroot in the burgers and I love that!

Australian beaches are perfect, the best I've seen anywhere. Palm trees, white or yellow sand, blue/green warm water, waves, brilliant sunshine, what more could you want? Why do people rave about beaches in Thailand?

Australians are awesome at sports. With a population of - what? 18 mil? - they're always up near the top of the Olympic medal charts with giants like the US, China, and Russia. They don't dominate on the track the way the US does these days - what's up with that by the way? - but in so many events they rock.

Australians are pretty tolerant, open-minded, easygoing and cosmopolitan. In Sydney and Melbourne at least. Brisbane struck me as a bit more hardnosed.

Australia has to be the most casual country in the world. Shorts and thongs and swear as much as you bloody like in public.

Australia is full of people who love to complain about it and criticize 'Australians'. These are citizens I'm talking about but they don't call themselves Australian! And I'm not just talking about Chinese or Italian or Serbian immigrants but people whose family has been there for 3 generations but like to think they're Scottish or English because of a pretty distant family connection.

Then there's the 'ocker' Australians who pride themselves on being tough, no nonsense, with a laconic sense of humour and the ability to soldier on through any adversity, who are egalitarian and dislike authority. They're the 'original' Australians descended from convicts.

Australians hate to be stereotyped as descended from convicts! Cos that's only a small part of the story. The middle class establishment was there from the get-go and they're really like any modern country culturally.

Then there's the real original Australians. Australians are tolerant and open-minded toward immigrant minorities from just about anywhere but there's still a big problem with Aboriginals. You look at the Maoris in New Zealand and they're just New Zealanders, there's no tension, they're modern just like anyone else but they've managed to keep their identity too - I don't know how it could be any better. But the Australian Aboriginals don't fit in and there's still a lot of prejudice against them. They told me to stay away from Aboriginals when they drink, cos they might kill you even if you were getting on fine before...I believed them.

Sydney suburbs has so many big beautiful houses with large gardens and their own swimming pools. Even the supposedly 'bad' area in Sydney - Redfern - really isn't that bad. The standard of living is great.

Australians are pretty conservative and suspicious of major change. Why not? They've got a good thing going so why mess with it.

Australia's full of backpackers from Europe travelling around and partying! Canadians too. Americans! You should go visit too!

Australia is full of gorgeous coloured parrots and other birds. The cities are so green, with so many parks and gardens, it's common to see beautiful birds everywhere.

Never saw any dangerous wildlife. Although I did see a row of funnel web spider holes in a bank by the side of the road in Sydney.

Australians - just like the English - despise people who whine or get all worked up about things.

Never heard myself or anyone get called a whinging Pom. But the phrase 'whinging Pom' raises a smile.

Every business I went to people just had the best attitude and were good at what they did. They really gave their jobs 100%. They were friendly, helpful, efficient, organised, and well-dressed too whether it was in a suit or in sailing gear. They had time for you. They were humourous too, not friendly in the programmed-robot-smile style you sometimes get. The businesses - in the backpacker industry at least - were totally customer focused. I mean hotels, restaurants, tour companies, bus companies, scuba diving businesses, internet cafes, you name it.

There's a lot of slackers and stoners in Australia too, taking advantage of the generous welfare system, letting the backpackers do all the fruit picking, and picking up cash with jobs on the black. Life's easy, life's good, and they're enjoying it.

Australia is marijuana heaven. There's even one little town where they come up to the bus when you stop and show you great big bags of the stuff.

The rock. Uluru. The little resort in the desert right next to it is like a space station on an alien planet. Up close the rock looks like it's covered in huge scales. The feeling of being up close to it was like being in a cathedral. A cathedral with lots of scurrying human figures walking round it and scampering over it.

In general the landscape of the desert in the Red Centre is like another planet. A different and very old and weathered planet.

Australian men and women love to bitch about each other! According to the women Australian men are pigs; according to the men Australian women are bitches. It's a wonder they manage to reproduce.

The whole east coast goes wild when it's time for the State of the Union. Men and women, young and old, they're out in purple or blue to support either the Queensland or the New South Wales rugby league team. I'm speaking as a fan of rugby union here, but I still say the State of the Union was the most exciting game of rugby I've ever seen.

2 weeks of slightly chilly weather and that's your winter done. That's not a good thing. Christmas sucks. New Year's Eve sucks. No atmosphere.

[Jay]

WOAH. Cheers for the mega praise there mate. :o

Except for the end. Yeah, the lack of chilly weather does indeed suck.

[Shadowblade]

Australia is marijuana heaven. There's even one little town where they come up to the bus when you stop and show you great big bags of the stuff.


Yeah, is the town your talking about called Nimbin? Its a small town about 30 mins to an hour from where i live thats like that. Last year we had some friends from Sydney come up to stay with us and while they were here they went up to Nimbin and other places around here. When they were in Nimbin they got out of the car and walked down the main street, within like 50 metres they were offered marijuana like 5 times.

[Jay]

In Adelaide you're allowed a couple of marijuana plants. Not sure about the current legal limit though, because they keep changing it around. o.O

[Psychochink]

In Adelaide you're allowed a couple of marijuana plants. Not sure about the current legal limit though, because they keep changing it around. o.O

Most misunderstood thing about the change in law. No, it is not legal. It has, however, become decriminalised (which means no black marks on your permanent record). If it's found they will just confiscate it and give you an on-the-spot fine. It's $150 fine if you're growing 1 plant (more means court) or are found in posession of less than 3 1/2 ounces (damn, that's a lot). It's only $50 if you're found with .88/ounce or less (plus $10 for your paraphanelia).

[pva_glue]

Anyone willing to discuss 'Mandatory Detention' in Australia?

[Jorik]

If you guys like Steve Irwin, you'll love Russell Coight. Blows Steve Irwin away.

:)

[Jai]

Sure, ill bite on mandatory detention.

If I go to the US on a boat right now, land somewhere on the pacific coast and start wandering around, whats going to happen to me when im picked up by the local copper?

They are going to do an ID check on me, and if the copper isnt useless thats going to be escalated to an immigration check. When thats completed, ill be detained and deported.

Now, mandatory immigration in Australia becomes an issue because the peeps that come here by boat dont want to go home and thus fight the deportation part of the process. If I was picked up in the US, told I was going to be deported and said "well, I dont want to be deported, so ill take you to court" do you think id get to walk free while I wait for the court result?

Same goes for any western country on the planet. Illegal immigrants get detained. Live with it.

People keep thinking Australia is some kind of racist haven. It simply isnt. Anyone who comes here and truely becomes an Aussie is welcomed with open arms. Its the 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation "australian" asians and south euros who still think of themselves as vietnamese or indian or italian that piss me off. IMO those people should fuck the hell off to what they still call "home".

[Frayed]

I decided to take the mandatory detention thing to a new thread for those interested in discussing it http://www.outpostnine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1091

[Hiigarasjet]

Im very intriuged by all of this I love hearing what others think of our country its so interesting

[Loc]

Ah I never replied to this last time...
When I think of Australia, I think of surfers and great white sharks, desert roads and everyone hating my country, calling us "Poms" (?).
I think of Jay too, of course...wrestling all those crocs ;p

[Hiigarasjet]

we dont hate poms lol but we do have desert roads.

[Jay]

Okay, for some weird reason I can't quite put my finger on, I regret telling him to dig up this thread.

[Hiigarasjet]

i cant manage your mighty task as you asked jay....:(

[DrChicken]

My God. Nobody knows jack about Australia.

[Hiigarasjet]

yay someone that thinks what i think!

[Kanzetsu]

http://media.putfile.com/On-The-Streets-Of-America-3

Now that's cleared up, i'll discuss my views on a few of these.

The detention thing, what the other guy said, any country would be the same, and i'll tell you, it isnt like you're trapped in a prison with bike gang members who want to lube your ass up daily.
They get fed, they get to watch TV, they get offer medical care, EVERYTHING, untill everythings decided on weather they can stay or not, and lets no forget, the method they entered the country was ILLEGAL.

Now, on the topic of racism, MOST of the racism, is derived from a large majority of immigrants who initially took advantage of our quite generous medicare/welfare system.
Example, working 2 jobs, being on welfare for 4 kids or something, etc...
Alot of that has cleared up, but yeah, generalisation runs rampant in human beings (like the generalisation? lol)

lol on the cricket thing, i'm not the biggest sporting fanatic, I love playing sports, but I hate watching someone else play sports O_o, is that wierd? =\
Anyways, the ashes, England was the better team this time around, Australia played piss poor and deserved to lose.
Though I wont leave it as that plainly, you have to remember, when the ashes started, aussies hadent even started cricket season yet, and you guys were halfway through or furhter into your cricket season, so its natural we werent warmed up.
You also had 12th man ALWAYS coming out to replace bowlers who could go have a shower and freshen up in the middle of the game lol, who were specificaly feilders, i'll tell you right now aussies NEVER do that unless theres some stress on the bowler, like a leg injury lol.
Who was it a few pages back who was sayin aussies cricketers are what he thinks represents badlt about Australia? wtf is with you? lol Warne is by far an idiot, no doubt, and not a very good example of a morale man, he's screwed his reputation a million times over, but who else has done that? most of the cricketers are decent family men, tea breaks? if anything they're gonna have a beer, I dunno about the english, but aussies have beer or water on their breaks =\
I dont have anything against the british at all, they just talk about things in the exact opposite way we do.
Warne bowls a trait wicket, stops #2 batsman from getting a half century which he'd likely push to a century
Aussie comments: Warne got lucky there, but some nice bowling nonetheless, pitty [name]'s concentration wasnt quite on the ball then, he batted well untill then, maybe the tense moment got to him.
English comments: Well looks like he's not putting his heart into this game, Warne was given the wicket then, lets hope [name] can do something with the next partnership.
Just an example, but you get my point, alot less praise for both sides from england commentators =P

Someone also said Australia is turning into America way too fast, and I 100% agree with them, any social culture and common traits we had are fading to MTV stereotypes of America =\
I really dont know how many people I hear say "tupac" and "50 cent" these days, and it makes me scream untill I forget what I was screaming about, then I remember and I scream again.
I mean people say "aussies are friendly" but we've lost about 80% of that "good natured" spirit we used to have.

Australians hate to be stereotyped as descended from convicts! Cos that's only a small part of the story. The middle class establishment was there from the get-go and they're really like any modern country culturally.
Thankyou for noticing, very much so lol, I mean ANY European colony was designed for somewhat that friken purpose anyways, hell, what do you think America was? lol
'ahem' *composes self*

I 100% agree aussies are lazy as piss, if we can get out of moving that shit till later, we'll do it lol =P

I remember talking to a few Japanese about various forms of accented English, and which forms would take them the furthest. I think they found even the thought of speaking like an Aussie repulsive...(we tried convincing them they should speak in an Irish accent, just for the attention it'd get...hehehe...)

I find this quite interesting, as Aussie accent is... "fast and slurred", much the reason japanese people are hard to understand by most other nationalities besides aussies, I know quite a few aussies who've picked up japanese (listening to it at least) quite fast due to (what I beleive is) the fact they are used to picking up slurrish/fast spoken words, compared to the written form that you'd speak much more slowly if you werent native, in either language.
I've had a voice chatto several people in the UK and America, and they have the hardest time trying to pickup what i'm saying due to how fast the aussie accent slurs the english langauge in speed.
Though aussies are just like americans in that sense, we have our very very thick accents like the southern americans and their drawn out accent.
And we have the other type who have spoken more formally/professionally alot and speak a much more understandable form of accent.
Americans tend to be way easier to understand since they speak it much more drawn our with each word, even if spoken fast.
"Hellow, Howw Arre Youu?"
"'Ello, Howahyou?"

Anyways, my rant is over, lol, I dont get cut easily about dissing of my country, as its been screwed over enough in its originality as it is =P

[Xuande]

When I think of Australia, these things come to mind (aside from the usual Steve Irwin, Crocadile Dundee, and Foster's stuff):

Vegemite (never tried it)
Felt hats! Slouch hats, akubra hats... Aussies have good fashion sense in hats.
The government bans video games (!)
Dead Alive, probably the bloodiest zombie movie ever =)
Tasmanian devils
Emus

[EmilyElle]

When I think of Australia, I don't think it's exceedingly different from North America, besides the accents, and the fact that it's always warm...

[misterb]

Amazing. The last two posts were totally devoid of any kangaroos... I'm.. amazed...

[koku]

Accents. Canada like (as in, very close to America but not as rich, tainted, and diverse), and for some reason, I think there's a decent ammount of Japanese immigrants. I'm sure there ARE rural areas, hence which the stereotypes come from, but a lot of the real everyday city life gets ignored.

Go Jay and Pooka and anyone else I missed from Australia.

[PopCulturePooka]

Accents. Canada like (as in, very close to America but not as rich, tainted, and diverse), and for some reason, I think there's a decent ammount of Japanese immigrants. I'm sure there ARE rural areas, hence which the stereotypes come from, but a lot of the real everyday city life gets ignored.

Dude I could fucking kiss you.

All the idiotic stereotyping about Australia hinges on Stereotyping country hicks. Annoys the ever loving shit out of me really.

It would be akin to basing all perceptions on America on Alabama hicks who wrestle Bears and Gators (I know thats geographically impossibe, thats my point), drive pick ups and speak with a drawl.

Fact is about 60-70% of Australians live in Urban or Suburban areas within a few hours drive from each states capital city or major urban hub city.

A great deal of Aussies have never seen the Outback, or deserts, or kangaroo's, koalas, crocodiles or sharks in the wild, only in nature parks and tourist places. I've seen Roo's and koalas in the wild on account of my studies.

I'd even wager that an international toursit to Australia would see more of the Outback during a two week visit than most Aussies would see in their lifetime.

[Shadowblade]

I'm sure there ARE rural areas, hence which the stereotypes come from, but a lot of the real everyday city life gets ignored.
.

Which is what makes the stereotypes rather annoying, especially when you consider that the vast majority of Australians live somewhere on, or near the coast.

[Hiigarasjet]

exactly and even the people who live in rural areas arnt as bad as we are sterotyped

[koku]

Dude I could fucking kiss you.



:D :p awwwwwww.

I can empathize though. Same thing happens with Africa. Though the stereotype supports a bigger majority in Africa, you still see a lot of richer cities ignored. Example: I lived in Ethiopia through the ages of 1-5. My family had 2 houses and 4 cars. That never made it on national geographic or any video I've had to sit through in class. :mad:

Oh well. Can't get too mad. Those that care enough to find out will do so :P

[Wittmann]

Here's some humour with a little dose of truth for you all

The Confusing Country
=====================

Australia is a very confusing place, taking up a large amount of the bottom half of the planet. It is recognisable from orbit because of many
unusual features, including what at first looks like an enormous bite taken out of its southern edge; a wall of sheer cliffs which plunge deep
into the girting sea. Geologists assure us that this is simply an accident of geomorphology and plate tectonics, but they still call it the \"Great
Australian Bight\" proving that not only are they covering up a more frightening theory, but they can\'t spell either.

The first of the confusing things about Australia is the status of the place. Where other land masses and sovereign lands are classified as either
continent, island, or country, Australia is considered all three.

Typically, it is unique in this.

The second confusing thing about Australia are the animals. They can be divided into three categories: Poisonous, Odd, and Sheep. It is true that
of the 10 most poisonous arachnids on the planet, Australia has 9 of them. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that of the 9 most poisonous
arachnids, Australia has all of them. However, there are curiously few snakes, possibly because the spiders have killed them all. But even the
spiders won\'t go near the sea. Any visitors should be careful to check inside boots (before putting them on) under toilet seats (before sitting
down) and generally everywhere else. A stick is
very useful for this task.

Strangely, it tends to be the second class of animals (the Odd) that are more dangerous. The creature that kills the most people each year is the
common Wombat. It is nearly as ridiculous as its name, and spends its life digging holes in the ground, in which it hides. During the night it
comes out to eat worms and grubs. The wombat kills people in two ways: First, the animal is indestructible. Digging holes in the hard Australian
clay builds muscles that outclass Olympic weightlifters. At night, they often wander the roads. Semi-trailers (Road Trains) have hit them at high
speed, with all 9 wheels on one side, and this merely makes them very annoyed. They express this by snorting, glaring, and walking away. Alas, to
smaller cars, the wombat becomes an asymmetrical launching pad, with results that can be imagined, but not adequately described. The second way
the wombat kills people relates to its burrowing behavior. If a person happens to put their hand down a Wombat hole, the Wombat will feel the
disturbance and think \"Ho! My hole is collapsing!\" at which it will brace its muscled legs and push up against the roof of its burrow with
incredible force, to prevent its collapse. Any unfortunate hand will be crushed, and attempts to withdraw will cause the Wombat to simply bear
down harder. The unfortunate will then bleed to death through their crushed hand as the wombat prevents him from seeking assistance. This is
considered the third most embarrassing known way to die, and Australians don\'t talk about it much.

At this point, we would like to mention the Platypus, estranged relative of the mammal, which has a duck-bill, otter\'s tail, webbed feet, lays
eggs, detects its aquatic prey in the same way as the electric eel, and has venemous barbs attached to its hind legs, thus combining all
\'typical\' Australian attributes into a single improbable creature.

The last confusing thing about Australia is the inhabitants. First, a short history: Some time around 40,000 years ago, some people arrived in
boats from the north. They ate all the available food, and lot of them died. The ones that survived learned respect for the balance of nature,
man\'s proper place in the scheme of things, and spiders. They settled in, and spent a lot of the intervening time making up strange stories.

Then, around 200 years ago, Europeans arrived in boats from the north. More accurately, European convicts were sent, with a few deranged and
stupid people in charge. They tried to plant their crops in Autumn (failing to take account of the reversal of the seasons when moving from the
top half of the planet to the bottom), ate all their food, and a lot of them died. About then the sheep arrived, and have been treasured ever
since.

It is interesting to note here that the Europeans always consider themselves vastly superior to any other race they encounter, since they can lie,
cheat, steal, and litigate (marks of a civilized culture they say) - whereas all the Aboriginals can do is happily survive being left in the
middle of a vast red-hot desert, equipped with only a stick.

Eventually, the new lot of people stopped being Europeans on Extended Holiday and became Australians. The changes are subtle, but deep, caused by
the mind-stretching expanses of nothingness and eerie quiet, where a person can sit perfectly still and look deep inside themselves to the core of
their essence, their reasons for being, and the necessity of checking inside your boots every morning for fatal surprises. They also picked up the
most finely tuned sense of irony in the world, and the Aboriginal gift for making up stories. Be warned.

There is also the matter of the beaches. Australian beaches are simply the nicest and best in the entire world. Although anyone actually venturing
into the sea will have to contend with sharks, stinging jellyfish, stonefish (a fish which sits on the bottom of the sea, pretends to be a rock,
and has venomous barbs sticking out of its back that will kill just from the pain) and surfboarders. However, watching a beach sunset is worth the
risk.

As a result of all this hardship, dirt, thirst, and wombats, you would expect Australians to be a dour lot. Instead, they are genial, jolly,
cheerful, and always willing to share a kind word with a stranger, unless they are an American. Faced with insurmountable odds and impossible
problems, they smile disarmingly and look for a stick. Major engineering feats have been performed with sheets of corrugated iron, string, and
mud.

Alone of all the races on earth, they seem to be free from the \'Grass is Greener on the other side of the fence\' syndrome, and roundly proclaim
that Australia is, in fact, the other side of that fence. They call the land \"Oz\", \"Godzone\" (a verbal contraction of \"God\'s Own Country\") and
\"Best bloody place on earth, bar none, strewth.\" The irritating thing about this is they may be right.

There are some traps for the unsuspecting traveller, though. Do not under any circumstances suggest that the beer is imperfect, unless you are
comparing it to another kind of Australian beer. Do not wear a Hawaiian shirt. Religion and Politics are safe topics of conversation (Australians
don\'t care too much about either) but Sport is a minefield. The only correct answer to \"So, howd\'ya like our country, eh?\" is \"Best {insert your
own regional swear word here} country in the world!\".

It is very likely that, on arriving, some cheerful Australians will \'adopt\' you, and on your first night, and take you to a pub where Australian
Beer is served. Despite the obvious danger, do not refuse. It is a form of initiation rite. You will wake up late the next day with an astonishing
hangover, a foul-taste in your mouth, and wearing strange clothes. Your hosts will usually make sure you get home, and waive off any legal
difficulties with \"It\'s his first time in Australia, so we took him down to the pub.\", to which the policeman will sagely nod and close his
notebook. Be sure to tell the story of these events to every other Australian you encounter, adding new embellishments at every stage, and noting
how strong the beer was. Thus you will be accepted into this unique culture.

Most Australians are now urban dwellers, having discovered the primary use of electricity, which is air-conditioning and refrigerators.

Typical Australian sayings
--------------------------

\"G\'Day!\"
\"It\'s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.\"
\"She\'ll be right.\"
\"And down from Kosciusko, where the pine clad ridges raise their torn and rugged battlements on high, where the air is clear is crystal, and the
white stars fairly blaze at midnight in the cold and frosty sky. And where, around the overflow, the reed beds sweep and sway to the breezes, and
the rolling plains are wide. The Man from Snowy River is a household word today, and the stockmen tell the story of his ride.\"


Tips to Surviving Australia
---------------------------

Don\'t ever put your hand down a hole for any reason whatsoever. We mean it.

The beer is stronger than you think, regardless of how strong you think it is.

Always carry a stick.

Do not attempt to use Australian slang, unless you are a trained linguist and good in a fistfight.

Take good maps. Stopping to ask directions only works when there are people nearby.

If you leave the urban areas, carry several litres of water with you at all times, or you will die.

Even in the most embellished stories told by Australians, there is always a core of truth that it is unwise to ignore.

See Also: \"Deserts: How to die in them\", \"The Stick: Second most useful thing ever\" and \"Poisonous and Venomous arachnids, insects, animals,
trees, shrubs, fish and sheep of Australia, volumes 1-42\"


And some jokes:

AMERICAN FOOTNOTES TO AUSTRALIAN FOLK SONG

WALTZING MATILDA


Once a jolly swagman(1) camped by a billabong(2)
Under the shade of a coolibah tree(3)
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy(4) boiled
You'll come a-waltzing matilda(5) with me
Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda You'll come a waltzing matilda with me And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled You'll come a-waltzing matilda with me
Down came a jumbuck(6) to dri-ink at that billabong
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee
And he sang as he stuffed that jumbuck in his tucker-bag(7)

1) A hick or tramp
2) Some sort of dried up river bed or creek
3) We’re guessing a tree?
4) Some bucket for boiling stuff maybe? Or a kid being BOILED?
5) Some sort of dance maybe…involving a girl named Matilda
6) THAT CANNOT BE A WORD!
7) Fuck this, English speaking nation my ass!

An Aussie, a little man, was sitting at a bar in Sydney when this huge, burly American guy walks in. As he passes the Aussie, he hits him on the neck knocking him to the floor.The big, burly Yank says,"That's a karate chop from Korea." Well, the Aussie gets back on his barstool and resumes drinking his beer.
The burly Yank then gets up to go to the bathroom and, as he walks by the Aussie, he hits him on the other side of the neck and knocks him to the floor."That's a judo chop from Japan", he says.
The Aussie decides he's had enough and leaves.A half hour later he comes back and sees the burly Yank bastard sitting at the bar. He walks up behind him and smacks him on the head, nocking
him out.
The Aussie says to the bartender, "When he wakes up mate, tell him that was a f*ckin' crowbar from Bunnings."

[shimanotaka]

I spent a month in Australia. Two weeks in Melbourne and two weeks in Sydney.

My impressions:
Girls a bit easier than at home (as somebody pointed out earlier). I didn't try to get their attention. I didn't even want their attention. Still I had to use a stick and a chainsaw to get them of me. (OK, now I'm exaggerating but they were definitely easier than home)

The nature is completely mindblowing. I went on a swim-with-dolphins trip while in Melbourne and I took a day tour to the Blue Mountains while in Sydney. Memories for life!

In general I loved it. When I retire I wouldn't mind moving to Australia and spend the rest of my life there.
One thing that annoyed me a bit though, was that everyone asked me the same questions...and a lot of them.

Where are you from?
When did you get here?
How was the flight?
How long are you staying?
What do you think of Australia?

This was probably out of politeness, but I've never encountered this when going to any other country. Not even England, considered one of the "world centers" of politeness. I can say that it was quite annoying answering the same set of questions up to ten times a day when first arriving to Melbourne, and it all starting over as I arrived in Sydney...

[Soli]

Just found this:
http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20051021%2F1038595205.htm
:cool:

[mamba]

i dont know if it gets aired in america, but in britain neighbours is all i have to say, i know that there is so much more to australia and even one of my friends is australian but being a student neighbours pretty much sums it up, that and a usually good rugby team.

[fo0d]

Didnt read the 5 pages that has already accumulated in this thread, so i will reply to the OP; but will read after i post.

So what i think about australia(/ns)? Im a japanese/filipino international student of Melbourne. Being here for 3 years now, i have to say that i love the place. THe people are easy-going, warm, and friendly. They are loud and talkative. And thats good (at least most of the time), it adds to their friendlyness. Although once in awhile you come across people who are full of themselves (well you can find those kinds of people anywhere). Generally speaking, and being secluded wihtin the boundaries of Melbourne, with a very diverse cultural envirnoment, the people are very accepting to the differences. Or maybe its just me thinking that way, after all i don't see normal trend where any ethnic group mix with others. IE. asian within asians, indians within indians, aussies withitn aussies, etc. I speak in general, of course there are cases that do not support this.

MY girlfriend (we've been together for 5 years now) is a singaporean, she has mentioned to me that she had felt racailly discriminted in very few occasions. While this has happend to her, this did not deter my and my gf's outlook of australia. I also have friends who live and visited other parts of Australia; Newcastle, Perth, Brisbane, and others. Hearing stories from them, i've come to the conclusion that in smaller cities/towns in austrlia, where there is very little foreigner exposure, the discrimation is significanly higher than larger cities.

But yeah, australia is a great place! If you guys have not been here yet, you should spend some of your holidays here =)

[skate_mate]

They told me to stay away from Aboriginals when they drink, cos they might kill you even if you were getting on fine before...I believed them.

Sad to say, but I actually have a story that goes something like that.

I was walking home at about 3am in the morning and was approached by an Aboriginal that had obviously been drinking (he had a VB in his hand - good choice). He asks me for a cigarette and I say that I was sorry, I did not have any. Then he said "What? Are you being a smart ass white c*nt?!?". He proceeded to punch me straight in my mouth (ouch!). I fell straight back on my ass. He went on his way and I continued home, spitting blood every three seconds. I went to the dentist the next day and found that I had seven cracks in my three front teeth, three of those being in the roots. I was told that those are most probably going to die off after about three months and I'm gonna have to get three false teeth (my two front teeth and the tooth to the left of those). Needless to say I was pretty cut. He said I had to wait for three months before I went back to see him about them. Its know been about two and a bit.

I'm not a racist at all (probably the opposite - is there such a thing? ^_~) however I am now very wary whenever I walk past an Aboriginal. I know I shouldn't be, but I just can't help it now o_o;

I live in Brisbane btw.

[Komachi Angel]

Wittman - I love it. :)