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How have you found the Aussies?


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My ol' grandma used to tell me a story:

A guy, fed up with his life, came across a beautiful town in during his travels. He bellied up to a bar there and asked the barkeep, "Sir, this is a beautiful town and I think I might like to settle down here, what are the people like that live here? " The bartender looks the man up and down and says " well, what were the people like where you came from?" to this the gentleman replies "that's why I'm looking to move, where I came from the people were all sons-o-bitches, I can't stand them so I'm moving to get away from them." The bartender then replies "well, all the people here are just like that, sons-o-bitches, best keep looking." The gentleman thanked the bar tender and went on in search for his own paradise.

 

A few days later another man come into the same bar and asks the barkeep the same question. The bartender says "well, what were the people like where you came from?" The man replies "the people are awesome and I'm just moving to experience something new." The bartender replies "the people here are just like that! They are awesome and you'll love it here!" The gentleman thanked the bartender and enjoyed his new life in the new town with his new friends.

 

Of course the moral of the story is, you'll find good folks and bad folks everywhere you go. What makes the difference is the baggage you carry with you. Remember, like attracts like so be what you want to attract and you'll find the people that are similar. I've traveled all over the work and found good, friendly, happy & accepting people wherever I go and Australia was no exception!

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My ol' grandma used to tell me a story:

A guy, fed up with his life, came across a beautiful town in during his travels. He bellied up to a bar there and asked the barkeep, "Sir, this is a beautiful town and I think I might like to settle down here, what are the people like that live here? " The bartender looks the man up and down and says " well, what were the people like where you came from?" to this the gentleman replies "that's why I'm looking to move, where I came from the people were all sons-o-bitches, I can't stand them so I'm moving to get away from them." The bartender then replies "well, all the people here are just like that, sons-o-bitches, best keep looking." The gentleman thanked the bar tender and went on in search for his own paradise.

 

A few days later another man come into the same bar and asks the barkeep the same question. The bartender says "well, what were the people like where you came from?" The man replies "the people are awesome and I'm just moving to experience something new." The bartender replies "the people here are just like that! They are awesome and you'll love it here!" The gentleman thanked the bartender and enjoyed his new life in the new town with his new friends.

 

Of course the moral of the story is, you'll find good folks and bad folks everywhere you go. What makes the difference is the baggage you carry with you. Remember, like attracts like so be what you want to attract and you'll find the people that are similar. I've traveled all over the work and found good, friendly, happy & accepting people wherever I go and Australia was no exception!

 

When I walked into my first Aussie pub back in 1978, in Perth, I was convinced that as soon as I opened my mouth, the room would fall silent, rather like a scene from a Western in fact, and then I would find myself lying in the middle of the street. 'We don't take kindly to strangers in these parts, especially POMMIE strangers!'

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Same as anywhere, most peoole are friendly and recognise that Australia is built on immigration, but you'll get the odd obnoxious one. The only difference is you, at home you are not an immigrant so would probably never have noticed that sort of behaviour which can be anything from a light hearted joke to physical abuse in extreme cases.

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Mmm, yes unfortunately it does bring back memories for me too, I could never understand the need for validation. If you love your country why keep asking what others think of it, it's irrelevant. I guess it is the result of being a young country and not being secure in your skin. The media are by far the worst for this, generally I find the Australian media extremely inward looking and xenophobic.

 

Yes, rather like the morning TV presenter who said 'And now let's go over to Trudy who'll us what the weather is going to be like today in this great country of ours'...

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Yes, rather like the morning TV presenter who said 'And now let's go over to Trudy who'll us what the weather is going to be like today in this great country of ours'...

I like the Australians who imagine that you would want to be more like them and so will come up and offer spontaneous advice on how you might go about it.

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I like the Australians who imagine that you would want to be more like them and so will come up and offer spontaneous advice on how you might go about it.

 

Never met one of those. In fact in both offices I have worked about half the people were from non Australian backgrounds.

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He is not just talking about his own experiences. He is making generalisations based on his prejudices:

 

People do comment on other skin tones here.

But it is more out of ignorance than any thing else.

I am white, even Aryan looking with my shaved head and blue eyes, Mrs Pob is not she has a slight colour to her skin.

I get asked why did I marry someone with brown skin?

I get asked/told your wife is a bit brown isn't she?

My wife gets told that she "Speaks very good English" This is usually accompanied with a loud voice and slow speech. She then informs them that she speaks good English because it is her first language and she is a English citizen.

My wife gets asked "What are you?", not "Hey you have a really exotic look, where are you from?" I guess there are different ways to ask the same question and not offend any one.

 

Now why would people make these dumb ass comments, I would say it is out of ignorance, now if it is not out of ignorance, that would just make them racist. So I am giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are not worldly enough and have not been educated to treat all people as equals.

 

I find that Australians have a very ignorant "island" mentality similar to the Americans.

They lack cultural awareness.

Sometimes they say quite hurtful things, but they mainly do this out of ignorance.

Back in the Sixties and Seventies you would have said that the English had a very "Island" Mentality, lots of people emigrated and took their attitudes with them and passed this on to their children.

 

I want to see some statistics, not just how three or four unhappy people on PIO feel about Australia. Look at the number of British people who have emigrated to Australia, and then look at the numbers who have returned PERMANENTLY to Britain.

Look at any statistics you like and derive your own opinions from them if that is what you wish.

I have written the truth from my point of view.

I also do not feel the need to defend Australia and make it out to be heaven on earth. I prefer a more honest approach and to tell the truth both good and bad.

 

 

I have never suffered any prejudice in remarks or deeds from Aussies. Oh, tell a lie, one did overhear me at the SCG making some comment about the Aussies, and leaned over to remind me just how many Ashes series in a row that the Aussies won.

I'm just guessing, but you are probably white.

 

Based on my own experiences, I meet very few Pommies or Irish who are unhappy here, which is perhaps just my opinion, but at least it is backed up by the statistics.

 

Sorry for the use of red, I just wanted my response to stand out, it's not meant to be a teachers mark or any thing.

 

But you yourself will have to agree that racism and peoples perception of racism will come from their socio-economic group, the lower down on the scale the more likely they are to experience it and the higher up they will experience less.

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Australians, like people anywhere, are not all the same. Some are nice, some are not so.

 

But as an average I have found people not to be the same as those in Britain, especially not the same as Scots and people in Northern Ireland. There is a general tendency towards avarice and people tend to judge you on your material possessions. There is also a lot of snobbery about where you were educated - your choice of university matters. The idea that Australia is egalitarian isa big myth.

 

There is also a tendency towards defensiveness and aggression. It is not that unusual for complete strangers to come up to you and insult you to your face - picking an argument with your clothing, demeanour, haircut, skin colour, etc. If you make a mistake - especially when driving - do not expect any sympathy. Even as you pull over or wave a hand in apology, you can expect a hoot of the horn and hand gestures. Perhaps they think that forgiveness will be taken as a sign of weakness.

 

Despite a much touted sense of mateship, it is rare that an Australian will ask anyone for help; and rarer still that it will be offered unasked. In the workplace, teamwork is taken as a sign of weakness and people spend more time protecting their own backs than trying to work with others to deliver a good job. If someone offers advice unbidden, beware as it is just as likely to be a trick to get you to do something disadvantageous as it is likely to be helpful. By the same token, don't expect anyone to accept your help as it is likely to be met with suspicion.

 

Australia is also shockingly right wing, as some people have said upthread. This means leaving vulnerable people to fend for themselves as you pull up the drawbridge; it means seeing people of non-white races as a source of cheap labour rather than as colleagues and equals.

 

On the other hand, Australia seems to be much more accepting of gay people than Britain. I suspect it is also much more abstemious with the alcohol than Britain.

 

Yes, I would tend to agree with most of this: avarice is certainly true, manifested by the almost manic acquisition of rental properties, while a national trait could be summed up as extra-competitiveness and a fear of showing weakness.

 

Also perhaps a fear of iconoclasm - Aussies generally are suspicious of anyone who confronts the status quo of a comfortable middle-class existence: backpackers are sponging deadbeats, environmentalists are long-haired lefty deadbeats, the unemployed are bludging deadbeats, asylum seekers are criminal, sponging, bludging deadbeats...

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... racism and peoples perception of racism will come from their socio-economic group, the lower down on the scale the more likely they are to experience it and the higher up they will experience less.

I'm not sure I agree. I think it exists in all socio-economic groups, but perhaps operates in different ways. Espcially in the workplace, the discrimination can be more pernicious the further up the tree you go.

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The Aussies are great once you learn to understand them correctly especially their sense of humour

 

I feel we should adjust to them as we chose to move to their country

 

Life is great here if you want it to be

 

The old 'fit in or FO' trope? All well and good, but they didn't 'fit in' did they? Board shorts and barbecues aren't really authentically Australian are they...

 

The culture here evolved and continuing waves of immigrants are fully entitled to participate in that evolution.

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When you use comparator or superlative terms (i.e. wealthier or wealthiest) then ranking is exactly what it is.

 

Learn to English.

 

Ranking is rating into an order of significance. I was using it as a descriptor...with no significance attached to "wealthiest" or "poorest".

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The old 'fit in or FO' trope? All well and good, but they didn't 'fit in' did they? Board shorts and barbecues aren't really authentically Australian are they...

 

The culture here evolved and continuing waves of immigrants are fully entitled to participate in that evolution.

No wonder I don't post here much now

 

I posted my view on what I see and how I feel WTF

 

Always someone wanting to have a go at a simple view of what someone finds after living in a country for 5 years

 

Again this my my view and mine alone so no need to reply if you don't agree with it

 

*edit*

I thought I was in chewing the fat by mistake

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Uggh!, just had a flash-back to my early years here, the almost weekly invitations from my partner's friends and family to say something nice about Australia. It was usually along the lines of;

Them: "Hey Homesick, bet you couldn't do this in Pommie land eh, eh?!!

Them #2: "Nah, well I've heard it never stops raining long enough...wouldn't go to that sh*thole if you paid me....bet you're glad you're here and not there right?"

Me: "No, it's true. Unless I was actually trapped in a burning building, I don't think that I could experience such extreme heat back home, or see so many insects close up....it's, erm,......definitely an....experience....."

 

Or, on the few occasions that I mistakenly switched on the radio;

DJ: "So what is it about Australia that you love so much, is it the climate, the great beauty of this country or the great Australian people?"

American or British superstar: "Yeah, it's like, all of that, yeah, Australians are just the best man and I'm really grateful to Optus/Motorola/Pepsi etc for paying me sh*tloads to come down here and rock with you guys, coz you guys are the best!"

 

And people wonder why I live a reclusive lifestyle! :wink:

 

Brings to mind the reported quote from the ancient American actress Ava Gardner way back in about 57 after/during filming an end of the world film in Melbourne at the time. Her response was something along the lines, when asked how she liked Australia/Melbourne, that she couldn't think of a place more apt to partake in such a film. No love lost there.

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Also when Roger Federer was asked by an idiot reporter "What do you think of our beaches?" Federer replied "I'm not a beach person. I prefer mountains." One of the worst cringey TV people who always carries on with comments/questions about Australia is David Koch. Can't stand him.

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The old 'fit in or FO' trope? All well and good, but they didn't 'fit in' did they? Board shorts and barbecues aren't really authentically Australian are they...

 

The culture here evolved and continuing waves of immigrants are fully entitled to participate in that evolution.

 

'Participate!' Exactly! BBQ's with an ethnic feel. How very Australian! If you want to wear board shorts (and surf shirts), do so. Nobody cares if you can't surf. If you want to hold BBQ's, ditto.

 

No one ever told me to 'FIFO' either. It's just an urban myth, much like 'living the dream.'

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Brings to mind the reported quote from the ancient American actress Ava Gardner way back in about 57 after/during filming an end of the world film in Melbourne at the time. Her response was something along the lines, when asked how she liked Australia/Melbourne, that she couldn't think of a place more apt to partake in such a film. No love lost there.

 

1957 eh? Nearly 60 years ago. Whereas, on the ABC last night - on Four Corners - there was an American soldier who had been posted here, talking about how much he admired the way the Australians marked Anzac Day.

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Some say what they think people want to hear. Aussies can't get enough praise and are serious in their acceptance of it. No I spoke of migration. Like Warren Mitchel before him rang the praises of Australia but always returned home. May well have said similar when in Canada for all we know. Now there are other personalities like Spike Milligan.....

 

You still don't get it, do you? So I'll repeat...

 

The topic is not whether Parkinson or Warren Mitchell or any other Pom liked/disliked Australia or wanted/didn't want to migrate.

 

The OP said:

 

I have read and heard Aussies can be very rude

 

Marisawright replied:

 

I think a lot depends where you come from in the UK

 

That reminded me of Parkinson saying that, as a Yorkshireman, he had a sense of familiarity with Australian bluntness.

 

Right...I'm off to stack 2 tons of firewood.

 

In the meantime, you go ahead and continue twisting other posters' comments for your own personal agenda.

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'Participate!' Exactly! BBQ's with an ethnic feel. How very Australian! If you want to wear board shorts (and surf shirts), do so. Nobody cares if you can't surf. If you want to hold BBQ's, ditto.

 

No one ever told me to 'FIFO' either. It's just an urban myth, much like 'living the dream.'

 

Why does it have to be a barbecues is the point I am making... Let's face it, in 1880s Australia few if any had barbecues or wore surf shirts/board shorts. Were those guys not genuine Aussies? I'm sure the first guy who ventured into the sea with a surfboard was considered unAustralian, but he did it anyway - good luck to him.

 

It's an evolutionary thing - if new residents want to celebrate their Australianness by playing the Eton Wall Game, eating roast goat or praying to Mecca, they should be encouraged to do so. It might catch on - AFL, cricket, and surfshirts might die out in a hundred years - who knows.

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Just managed to walk by a building site without being told to FIOFO phew!

 

Oh and I wasn't told how to be an Aussie either.

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Just managed to walk by a building site without being told to FIOFO phew!

 

Oh and I wasn't told how to be an Aussie either.

 

Can people tell you are a pom just by looking at you from a distance ?

 

Must be the union jack braces.

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