How Americans who've never been to Australia perceive it

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Well?

Get typing, I'm interested...

Then I can tell you how I perceive the US, seeing as I've never been.

[Acoustiks]

Rather pointless topic, if I do say so myself.

[gh0zt]

Kangaroos. I imagine that every single person is exactly like the crocodile hunter as well.

[Holy Cow]

I had a buddy who did study abroad and I saw a bunch of pictures and he told me a bunch of stories so I sort of know what it's like. Beforehand, I would have wrote exactly what gh0zt wrote.

[Muad'Dib]

I believe that The Road Warrior is a documentary, Australia is really a post-apocalyptic landscape inhabited by warriors fighting for oil and gas.




Bartertown seems to be a popular destination featuring The Thunderdome. "Two men enter, one man leave."

[Dustwave]

i'm not american...but...

koala's dropping from trees and attacking tourists, kangaroos, the crocodile hunter, steve irwin, crazy speed freaks (logistix), big ass knives, desert

[trance4ever]

i associate Australia with that beautiful Opera House in Sydney, a country with friendly people (while living i London UK i had many australian friends), and as an exotic place that i wish to see with my own eyes one day

btw: i'm not american

[stub]

Originally Posted by Acoustiks

Rather pointless topic, if I do say so myself.

No, the "point" of this thread is "How Americans who've never been to Australia perceive it".

I would have thought that was pretty clear.

However, since you seem to have nothing to say on the subject, therefore making your own post completely and utter pointless, please have the good grace to go and post in one of the many other threads on this forum that you consider to be more interesting.

However, I think you'll find that every thread on this forum is technically pointless, from the mixing competition thread, right down to the threads where poor sods ask advice on how to have more fun on ecstasy.

p.s Dustwave, where are you from?

p.p.s I am definitely also interested to hear the perceptions of anyone who has never been to Australia (not just Americans), except people from New Zealand, because they're not people.

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Originally Posted by Muad'Dib

I believe that The Road Warrior is a documentary, Australia is really a post-apocalyptic landscape inhabited by warriors fighting for oil and gas.

Hahahaha!

You gotta be kidding me?!

We don't have flying machines yet, but our scientists are almost there...

[travelyogatrance]

well, I'm an American who has been to Australia and most of my pre-conceived notions about the country actually proved true. I expected relaxed, friendly people who say 'mate' alot and like drink (a land of drive thru liquor stores! lol) and the outdoors. I also expected sun, heat, desert, and exotic animals. I found all of this.

A few surprises too: how cold it got at night (attended my homestay sister's field hockey game in Tamworth and it was like 40 degrees F or something, did NOT expect that!); the Outback is not just dry lifeless desert; and ya'll have a rainforest (journeyed through in Cairns, absolutely gorgeous ). All in all I loved Australia and its people~you have a bangin' country to be proud of mate~

(you might find this answer useless as well )

[fugue]

All I know is that yer toilet water spins the wrong way.

(which way is the wrong way, I don't know)

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Originally Posted by fugue

All I know is that yer toilet water spins the wrong way.

(which way is the wrong way, I don't know)

A Canadian mentioned that on the TA forums (randomly, I didn't make a thread), and I was quick to remind him that down here, water in a basin/sink will spin the same way as it does in Canada...whichever way you stir it!

Our toilets don't "spin" anyway, they just drain straight downwards.

[fugue]

Haha you know I was thinking that if the water changed direction, wouldn't that mean that it doesn't spin at all at the equator?

Ok seriously. My sister lived in Australia for about 6 years, and she is married to a Jamaican. The one thing they noticed right away is that there are hardly any black people living down there. What's up with that?

[stub]

...it depends where you go.

In Darwin, which is about the only city which conforms to the foreign stereotype (crocodiles at the beach, outback/desert everywhere, kangaroos), there are a lot of native blacks (Aborigines).

However, down here in Melbourne, Syndey, Canberra and Brisbane, there are hardly any dark skinned people. Plenty of Indians and semi-blacks, but to see a true dark skinned person is really quite rare.

People of African descent tend to migrate to Europe because it is closer.

However, recently, with all the turmoil in Africa, a lot of refugees from Sudan, Ethiopia etc have been moving into government funded housing close in to the city and beginning to integrate themselves into society. I predict that in thirty years we will have a much larger population of African descent.

[quetzalcoatl]

well, i've never been to australia but i once had an australian-filipino step-mother, and i thought she was cool. i like the australian words substituted for "american words"... like "napkin" ha... what do australians call napkins??

and there's this australian couple that really likes the food at my work, so i like it when the wife comes.. i like her, she's a nice australian

and also when i was into skateboarding, i would read skate magazines and learn about australia when skaters toured there.... i learned that there are a lot of drunk kids like middle schoolers... is this false?

[stub]

Originally Posted by quetzalcoatl

well, i've never been to australia but i once had an australian-filipino step-mother, and i thought she was cool. i like the australian words substituted for "american words"... like "napkin" ha... what do australians call napkins??

Generally "serviette" means a piece of cloth that can be washed over and over, whereas "napkin" is the throw away kind from KFC or McD, though some people would also call this a serviette.

Originally Posted by quetzalcoatl

and also when i was into skateboarding, i would read skate magazines and learn about australia when skaters toured there.... i learned that there are a lot of drunk kids like middle schoolers... is this false?

If you mean that we start drinking young, then yes, that's correct. There have been a lot of articles in the paper recently discussing how we can solve the problem of underage drinking.

I started drinking my first alcohol at age 13 (that sounds bad on paper), which was 1-2 beers at big family parties, carefully supervised. By 15 and 16 we were generally getting smashed (8+) drinks at weekend parties, unsupervised. I think our beers are stronger than American beers too (4.9% alcohol)???

Aussies are big drinkers, but not as big as teh English!

[Dome48]

When I think of Australia I think "Damn these guys rock." Australia is probably our #1 best friend, always there behind us and support us. I LOVE Australia you guys rock!

I guess my initial thought when I think of Australia would probably be "Ahh killer Jelly fish, dont want to swim there!"

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Originally Posted by Dome48

When I think of Australia I think "Damn these guys rock." Australia is probably our #1 best friend, always there behind us and support us. I LOVE Australia you guys rock!

I guess my initial thought when I think of Australia would probably be "Ahh killer Jelly fish, dont want to swim there!"

That reminds me of the time that I met two Swedish girls in New Zealand who said they didn't want to go to Australia because "sharks/jellyfish will get you if you swim at the beach, crocodiles will get you if you swim in the rivers, snakes will get you if you go camping...etc"

I thought it was hilarious. That's like me saying I don't want to go to America because I could get killed by a bear. There's usually about 5-6 shark attacks a year and the offenders get hunted down and killed.

Steve Irwin's death was a freak accident, really. I've never heard of anyone being killed by a jellyfish, though they can hurt like hell when you do get stung. It was only because he got hit right in the heart.

[stub]

Originally Posted by Dustwave

i'm not american...but...

koala's dropping from trees and attacking tourists,

Also...that's hilarious. Most people see Koalas as cuddly and cute, but really they are rabid animals that will claw your eyes out if you get close enough.

Same goes for wombats.

[Onitam]

i can't wait to go to university in australia