Being Australian - I'm curious as to how Australia is seen from the out-side.
What does an American thin of when they think Australia? How are we seen by the Chinese, Japanese, Belgian... (you get the idea)?
Both politically and culturally speaking.
As an Australiam , I see Australians as people you would love to meet - they're great in every bla bla bla...
No, I'll shut up. But I hear that some Americans think we ride kangaroos to school.
The bad things I have heard are that there is still a significant amount of racism present in people, and that it is not safe for women to travel there alone.
The good things I have heard are that it is a great place with a really laid-back attitude, good weather, nice scenery and loads to do!
Obviously there is the stereotype of the Australian with the "hat with the corks" going down to the "billabong". But I think that's just Steve Irwin. 
| SunburnedCactus wrote: |
The bad things I have heard are that there is still a significant amount of racism present in people, and that it is not safe for women to travel there alone.
|
we're no more racist etc. than anywhere else... there was just that unfortunate incident in sydney that gave us a bit of a bad image (note that every pig-head in oz was there, because an unfortunate person in the media advertised it).
in fact, other than that one incident, we're pretty damb racially tolerant. where i am you get bashed for dissing someone on that kinda basis.
as for female travellers... i'm not quite sure where that got started lol | SunburnedCactus wrote: |
| The bad things I have heard are that there is still a significant amount of racism present in people, and that it is not safe for women to travel there alone. |
Are you referring to the recent Cranulla activities? That was because all the lebonese gangs had taken over the Cranulla beaches and were bashing innocents for fun or money. The "riots" were retaliation to all that. The day after the "riots", one guy was bashed by like thirty ethnics. He was totalled, had his arm broken no more than 50 metres from a cop station.Pretty place with sunshine and pretty people. A nice community spirt where neighbours are good friends.
My view is severely distorted by Neighbours though.
| a.han wrote: |
| Pretty place with sunshine and pretty people. A nice community spirt where neighbours are good friends. |
Depends where you are. Where I am (not being racist or anything), it's like mini-China. And a couple months back there were some gang wars and shootings near where I was. I live in a pretty dodgy hood, but apart from that (and a few other places) Australia's pretty chill.never been down there... but any place that has summer this time of year can't be bad in my books 
every place has the good and the bad obviously....im not a type of person to judge anyone on where they live or how they live... only on how they treat others.. every nationality has thier idiots... and a few bad news headlines isn't going to effect my opinion of an area without first hand experience. Mind you, i come from winnipeg manitoba canada, a place who's claim to fame is "murder capitol of canada" and i think its a nice place to be honest. (Obviously the people just don't tolerate a lot of things lol)
on that note, Australia looks like a beautiful place from what i can tell, and i'd love to go visit it someday.. (that and it seems a lot of hot chicks are from there as well) I always thought of it as being a very hot, dry place. I never gave much thought to the attitudes of the people there, it seems people the world over are pretty much the same, so to catagorize the Australian as being anything other than another human being is totally absurd.
Plus I love the accent, very cool 
I'm from Canada, and I don't know a lot about you Australians, but I've never had anything against Australia. Seems like a cool, fun, beautiful place from what I've heard though.
Well, since I'm from Melbourne, Australia, I must say it's a great place here Only bad thing is the weather recently (the forecast for yesterday was 43 degrees celcius 
) There's not very much racism here at all. Australians, Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Chinese, etc are all in my neighbourhood, so I'd say that it's pretty racially diverse here (which is quite a good thing).
Overall, Melbourne is rated the #2 best place to live in, only topped by some other place (Canada I think). We've also got the cleanest tap water in the world (I heard that you can't drink the water in other places in the world, is this true?!?!)
Well, I know there a something like two coastal cities in the world where cruisers (luxury ship things) don't stop to refill their water - one of them is Adelaide. Seriously, the water there is disgusting.
Also, I know that pretty much every Dane (Danish person) really wants to go to Australia, I think because of the huge contrast in weather conditions or something.
| daniel15 wrote: |
... There's not very much racism here at all. Australians, Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Chinese, etc are all in my neighbourhood, so I'd say that it's pretty racially diverse here (which is quite a good thing). ...
|
Hi Daniel, Just to pick up from what you said there, and to insert a piece of usless trivia, Melbourne is the second largest Greek city in the world outside of Athens.
Which says alot for our (I'm australian, living in Tasmania atm) society. I'm sure this thread was spawned out of curiosty about what impact the events in cronulla would have on how we are viewed externally. Now little Johnny (John howard our PM for those of you out there who wish to know) came out at said that it would have no impact on how we are viewed by the rest of the world. I think that Little Johnny must be hiding behind his eyebrows
if he thinks that that sort of thing will go un-noticed, what with the events in Paris and the fact that this happend shortly afterwards and was plastered over the international media, Reuters, AFP, BBC, CNN (blerch). DW-World, and others, I find it hard to belive that people will not have formed some view about our country.
I look forward to reading more replies to this and hope that the recent events in New South Wales will compound with the older coverage of Pauline Hanson doesn't add more fuel to the (percieved) fire.
-Splint | Vrythramax wrote: |
I always thought of it as being a very hot, dry place. I never gave much thought to the attitudes of the people there, it seems people the world over are pretty much the same, so to catagorize the Australian as being anything other than another human being is totally absurd.
Plus I love the accent, very cool |
Dry? Lol - maybe in the NT or Western Australia, but I know at least here in Melbourne there's been a storm pelting rain down nearly every night for a week..
Hot - yeah,l you got us there. Today's an absolute relief at 26'C - it's been 35-44 for the poast week. (as well as wet)Sydney Opera House is pretty much the figure head of Australia for me.
Also, I hear there's huge-ass killah spiders. | blackheart wrote: |
Dry? Lol - maybe in the NT or Western Australia, but I know at least here in Melbourne there's been a storm pelting rain down nearly every night for a week..
Hot - yeah,l you got us there. Today's an absolute relief at 26'C - it's been 35-44 for the poast week. (as well as wet) |
You're the only person I know here that's also from Melbourne ... Is anyone else from Melbourne?The US loves you idiots!!! You, the English, and the homosexuals. Its a sure way to get a sitcom or a leading male actor off the ground.
The Australians I have meat seem to enjoy a good bit of drinking and have trouble avoiding profanity, even during a public address at a large meeting.
One thing though, you guys have tornados. Only a few each year but at least you have them. We have hundreds every year. You also have a very diver climate, desert, jungle, forest, and mountains. Pretty cool.
I heard that you guys are forced to vote or else you get fined or something...
Is this true and how do you guys feel about that? (yeah I know there's a huge topic on voting somewhere)
| Insanity wrote: |
I heard that you guys are forced to vote or else you get fined or something...
Is this true and how do you guys feel about that? (yeah I know there's a huge topic on voting somewhere) |
Yea - course. I find it hard to believe that it's optional in the U.S. I mean, how lazy would you have to be anyway not to go? Either lazy in physically getting there, or lazy in not wanting to think about/research which candidate is better.
I mean, it's such a fundamental thing - you need the entire population to vote to get what's best for anyone.
And some people might grumble a bit about having to actually go and vote - but at the same time they don't have a problem with having to vote... if that makes sense...? People know it's for the best of the country, and democracy.
But yea - it still amazes me that the US allow it to be an optional thing.
| horseatingweeds wrote: |
One thing though, you guys have tornados. Only a few each year but at least you have them. We have hundreds every year. You also have a very diver climate, desert, jungle, forest, and mountains. Pretty cool. |
We don't have many tornados, lol. One a year if we're (un)lucky in any even semi-populated area.
But diverse - hell yeah.
It's hot as here but if I drive for three hours I'll be in the snow.
Also, if you look at Melbourne, the climate's diverse as as well. It's been 35/43 for a week, but today it was only 26... and sometimes it'll be 15 one day and 30 the next. pour like monsoon season and then be dry as a bone... one day after the other.
I pity the Melbourne weathermen. | Vrythramax wrote: |
| Plus I love the accent, very cool |
we have an accent?Australia is a great place.
The people are great.
I am a New Zealander, I lived there for more than 18 years.
I used to think it was a little racist untill I lived in a country that has real racism.
Some drunk in a bar or at a party or a loudmouth on the street making some stupid racist comment does not make a country racist. It happens everywhere.
Aussie has great beaches great weather and really good people. It has fair laws and as close as you will ever see to "justice for all".
I've been in Indonesia nearly seven years. You want to know racism?
Indonesians of chinese origin had to have special I.D. cards to prove they were Indonesian citizens, even if they were third or fourth generation Indonesian. The law changed about two years ago. But they still cannot get passports or other public services without prove of citizenship, even thoough they carry the normal KTP I.D. card issued to all Indonesians.
Their passports indicate their ethnic origin also.
That would not be legal in Australia.
The immigration laws here make Australia look like a holidy camp for foriegners.
A few idiots don't make a country racist only governments and politicians can do that and Australias are vaery musch answerable to the people, maybe because of compulsory voting. 
You have a great country and a good system of government.
You should all be proud of the accomplishment. I'm not from Australia so you are definitely curious to know about my take on Australia. Firstly, I have never been to Australia so my opinion on Australia is purely on my perception of Australia by my own knowledge through films, newspapers, general knowledge and other sources.
Well, Australia according to me is a very clean and friendly place for outsiders. I know many Asian students are studying there and many families wanted to settle there. Education is very good, second or third to UK and US.
But when it comes to power, overall power I should say, economy, military and others Australia isn't ranking very high one reason may be due to its small size and also Australia seems to be a peace-loving country.
Another plus point of Australia is its one of the best and most preferred tourist destinations in the world.
So, the overall impression of Australia as a country is EXCELLENT. Let's see, when I think of Australia - obviously the kangroos play a part in that picture. Not that you ride them to school or anything, just that they live there. I also think of the outback, Alice Springs, and Sydney.
I've never heard anything bad about Australia, and the weather is usually nice, the beaches look great, and the people are really laid back. And I love the word "mate."
Finally, I lost the geography bee state competition because I didn't know Australia bordered the Indian Ocean, I thought it was all Pacific, so I learned something new that day.
I've never been to Oz but I think Aussies are hilarious. Definitly some of the friendliest people I've met. I've booked my ticket for 6 months in Australia and New Zealand, with the work permit and everything, so I'm excited to live and learn a little bit down under. I've just watched a pretty good Australian film, "Little Fish" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382810/,
it's worth taking a look at. It's pretty dark, drugs and depression in the suburbs of Sydney, but shows promise from the Australian film scene.
Cheers,
tbsly | daniel15 wrote: |
| blackheart wrote: |
Dry? Lol - maybe in the NT or Western Australia, but I know at least here in Melbourne there's been a storm pelting rain down nearly every night for a week..
Hot - yeah,l you got us there. Today's an absolute relief at 26'C - it's been 35-44 for the poast week. (as well as wet) |
You're the only person I know here that's also from Melbourne ... Is anyone else from Melbourne? |
Yeh I am - I guess that makes three of us. | madsencarl wrote: |
Yeh I am - I guess that makes three of us. |
Nice I never thought I'd see anyone from Australia here, let alone Melbourne. My old web host (WebPlanetHost, no longer exists) had one or two people from Australia (from Sydney unfortunately 
) and I was like, "Wow, another person from Australia is a member here!". That person was also the guy that owned the web host
Come see my post "Are you from Australia?" It's just another country to me. You're better than the US, different from the UK, and just as far away as you can get from me, hehe. I haven't found a more expensive flight! I wanted to fly there and visit a few people.
I don't think you ride kangaroos to work/school. I don't think it's possible to ride a kangaroo. But I'm not american... I'm Canadian. There's a big difference - whether they know it or not - we do.
Some Americans think I ride a dogsled to work and live an in Igloo... I've convinced them that I have a pet pengiun (even though pengiuns live in the south, not north) and that I have central heating in my igloo. I've spoken on the internet with them and they asked if I had electricity ***THEY WERE SERIOUS, NOT JOKING***. Not all americans are this ignorant, but just because you hear one say 'do you ride kangaroos?' I wouldn't worry that the world thinks such things.
"How'd you get so smart? You didn't get that smart in Canada, did you?" - quote one american I spoke to
Of course not. We don't have education facilities here. We're a third world country.
Now politically, I read a bit about your political system a while ago... It sounds fun - everyone that can vote HAS to vote. I like it. People can't complain.
As for racism... I very much doubt you're more racist than certain other countries... in fact, I'm pretty sure you're not. I've never seen or heard any reason to believe such suggestions. I can go by the people I've talked to from there, but I don't base my opinion of the entire country on them alone.
I'm assuming you have good people and bad people - like anywhere. A lot of people seem to be saying that there are good people and good weather. You get bad weather too, right?
Your toilets flush the opposite way of mine? You've got some animals that can't be found anywhere else? (or at least not many other places) You have accents? Well, everyone has an accent... to everyone else from other places.
| Quote: |
| The US loves you idiots!!! You, the English, and the homosexuals. Its a sure way to get a sitcom or a leading male actor off the ground. |
..................................... see what I mean about american opinions?
So my opinion overall about Australia... well I don't really have one. I like the voting system. It -does- make sense, as others have said. The people are different there like everywhere else - you can't base your opinion on the country of even half of it's people. That's generalization. I have no negative thoughts about your country, your political leaders, etc ... mainly because you haven't done anything really dumb to put yourself in world news. I occationally hear about accomplishments of Australian scientists or actors and such... but then, I hear that kind of thing about most countries. | munkey_boy wrote: |
| Vrythramax wrote: | | Plus I love the accent, very cool |
we have an accent? |
Holy crap!
F*** you Steve Irwin
| Quote: |
| You get bad weather too, right? |
Well, in Melbourne, our weather is really weird. It's hot one day, but cold the next. Usually, we have the "The Melbourne Weather ™" which is basically the four seasons in one day. In other words, it's sunny, then windy, then raining, then sunny again (or the same but in a different order).Aus is the most racist country ever , u may not see it in big riots , but people who worked there have told me this , AUS hate Asians , mostly black people ,
i was not surprised ,when lehman made comments about murali being black , and it was not only Lehman , Macgrath , pointing and many other aus cricketers , have done this kind of thing ,
but i love Steve waugh , brett lee , and Warne ,
these guys are really good ,
apart from cricket , i have heard from my freinds who work in aus , that people there dont treat them good , Race is a big problem ,
Plus Aus is very selfish , it takes all the resources from is land without sharing anything with NZ . Aus doesnt even need to extract so many resources , but it still does and hurts the envoirnment ,
Aus wants to get in to Asean , but india doesnt want a Bully in thier Team
| Devil wrote: |
Aus is the most racist country ever , u may not see it in big riots , but people who worked there have told me this , AUS hate Asians , mostly black people ,
i was not surprised ,when lehman made comments about murali being black , and it was not only Lehman , Macgrath , pointing and many other aus cricketers , have done this kind of thing ,
but i love Steve waugh , brett lee , and Warne ,
these guys are really good ,
apart from cricket , i have heard from my freinds who work in aus , that people there dont treat them good , Race is a big problem ,
Plus Aus is very selfish , it takes all the resources from is land without sharing anything with NZ . Aus doesnt even need to extract so many resources , but it still does and hurts the envoirnment ,
Aus wants to get in to Asean , but india doesnt want a Bully in thier Team |
Um, where did/do your friends work? Because where I live racist biggots get bashed. Literally.
I mean, certainly some places might have issues - but any country would have hot-spots for cultural discrimination.
I mean, I've got friends of every race, culture and religion... and I'm in with the punk anarchists... | Devil wrote: |
| Aus is the most racist country ever , u may not see it in big riots |
Leb gangs were taking over the Cranulla beaches by mugging and bashing randoms. That was the rebuttal. The day after the riots, one guy was bashed and had his arm broken by at least 30 ethnics.
| Devil wrote: |
| but people who worked there have told me this , AUS hate Asians , mostly black people |
Just a heads up - something like 10% of our whole population is Asians and Indians. And with 100,000+ migrants afrom Asia and India each year, that number is sure to grow.
| Devil wrote: |
but i love Steve waugh , brett lee , and Warne ,
these guys are really good |
You forgot Ponting and Gilchrist.
| Devil wrote: |
| Plus Aus is very selfish , it takes all the resources from is land without sharing anything with NZ . |
They have mountains and sheep. And they can get their own recourses, they're not babies.
Don't diss Australia. Just, don't. | blackheart wrote: |
Being Australian - I'm curious as to how Australia is seen from the out-side.
What does an American thin of when they think Australia? How are we seen by the Chinese, Japanese, Belgian... (you get the idea)?
Both politically and culturally speaking. |
Hi there, i'have visited australia twice over the last 6 years, just queensland and victoria and i love it... I think you guys and girls a very laid back and enjoy your beatiful country
| madsencarl wrote: |
| Devil wrote: | | Aus is the most racist country ever , u may not see it in big riots |
Leb gangs were taking over the Cranulla beaches by mugging and bashing randoms. That was the rebuttal. The day after the riots, one guy was bashed and had his arm broken by at least 30 ethnics.
| Devil wrote: | | but people who worked there have told me this , AUS hate Asians , mostly black people |
Just a heads up - something like 10% of our whole population is Asians and Indians. And with 100,000+ migrants afrom Asia and India each year, that number is sure to grow.
| Devil wrote: | but i love Steve waugh , brett lee , and Warne ,
these guys are really good |
You forgot Ponting and Gilchrist.
| Devil wrote: | | Plus Aus is very selfish , it takes all the resources from is land without sharing anything with NZ . |
They have mountains and sheep. And they can get their own recourses, they're not babies.
Don't diss Australia. Just, don't. |
I used to like pointing and gilly , but not any more now ,
i did forget steve irwin , he is good , and funny ,
did u forget that aus needs immigrants ? in the 60s i think they got some million immigrants from Europe , and even today they want some 20000 skilled workers , but they want it from europe , cuz they are white . | Devil wrote: |
I used to like pointing and gilly , but not any more now ,
i did forget steve irwin , he is good , and funny ,
did u forget that aus needs immigrants ? in the 60s i think they got some million immigrants from Europe , and even today they want some 20000 skilled workers , but they want it from europe , cuz they are white . |
You got a real chip on your shoulder, huh? We don't "need" immigrants, and we only emphasise getting "skilled workers" from Europe because we only ever get small number from that area. We want to encourage them to come so there are more even numbers of workers coming to Australia from every country.
We want it to be more even, instead of having 75% from Asia, and only like 5% from Europe. We wish to have allmajor regions at something more even - around 25%
It has nothing to do with skin colour. People from Europe are hardly all white, anyway.i know at least a dozen people who've been to australia, and a now another dozen including myself who'd love to go.
Us Irish love your country
It's the perfect holiday destination, travel up the east coast and go to syndey for the new year, and if you've time, travel as far as the west coast.
that's bonsai Beach, surfer's paradise, Sydeney, Melbourne, the load.
Australia, a whole continent as a country. Vast resoures, little population. Number one in education, cricket, production of rice. A country, where helicopters are used as ambulance. Most of places without any population. Open sex and gambling as part of most Australians. People living there from more than hundred countries.
Most of Indians knows Australia for cricket.
| nam_siddharth wrote: |
Australia, a whole continent as a country. Vast resoures, little population. Number one in education, cricket, production of rice. A country, where helicopters are used as ambulance. Most of places without any population. Open sex and gambling as part of most Australians. People living there from more than hundred countries.
Most of Indians knows Australia for cricket. |
Um, not so sure about the open sex and gambling... coz - not really.
Especially not the gambling, I mean, we have tats lotto and casinos like anywhere else, but it's hardly an epidemic. | Devil wrote: |
Aus is the most racist country ever , u may not see it in big riots , but people who worked there have told me this , AUS hate Asians , mostly black people ,
i was not surprised ,when lehman made comments about murali being black , and it was not only Lehman , Macgrath , pointing and many other aus cricketers , have done this kind of thing ,
but i love Steve waugh , brett lee , and Warne ,
these guys are really good ,
apart from cricket , i have heard from my freinds who work in aus , that people there dont treat them good , Race is a big problem ,
Plus Aus is very selfish , it takes all the resources from is land without sharing anything with NZ . Aus doesnt even need to extract so many resources , but it still does and hurts the envoirnment ,
Aus wants to get in to Asean , but india doesnt want a Bully in thier Team |
We aren't a racist people. I can cite paralell examples from other cultures in terms of racist comments/individual actions, and there is no logic in judging an entire country on a couple people
As for NZ, they're a separate country. We don't have to share with them any more than China or Canada do.
I'm not sure if I follow any of the logic in that entire post.I think it's a beautiful place with some seriously misguided individuals living there.
I have a couple friends there and have considered job offers from there. From what I've heard, culturally it's not much different from the US. There seems to be considerably more racially ignorant people there, but you have that everywhere to some degree. Of course, you'll never get an Australian to admit to it, or any 'faults' for that matter. (We have some prime examples of that right here on the board.)
Politically I have no idea except what I've heard on a few news casts, so I try not to make judgements on that. (It would be stupid to pass judgement on something you know little to nothing about, don't you think blackheart?? ) 
They're much more self-centered than some other countries. More concernted about themselves, yet more than willing to slam anyone for not doing enough for someone else. Hello folks. I thought I'd add a few words. Firstly to explain who I am and why I feel I've got something to add. I'm an East Londoner through and through (proper cockney), but my wife is from Melbourne so I obviously have a lot of cross-hemisphere love to give.
Aussies seem to be beating themselves up about the whole race issue at the moment, mostly because it is a political hot potato (Howard is a nasty piece of work, but so are a lot of people). I don't think you guys are any worse in terms of bigotry than most other countries (especially the UK).
Most of the people I know Like Australia and her people and, as shown in the commonwealth games ending ceremony, you have a healthy ability to take the mick out of yourselves.
If u say Australia, i think of kangeroes :s. And Aboriginals, a warm country nice to live.
| S3nd K3ys wrote: |
I think it's a beautiful place with some seriously misguided individuals living there.
I have a couple friends there and have considered job offers from there. From what I've heard, culturally it's not much different from the US. There seems to be considerably more racially ignorant people there, but you have that everywhere to some degree. Of course, you'll never get an Australian to admit to it, or any 'faults' for that matter. (We have some prime examples of that right here on the board.)
Politically I have no idea except what I've heard on a few news casts, so I try not to make judgements on that. (It would be stupid to pass judgement on something you know little to nothing about, don't you think blackheart?? ) They're much more self-centered than some other countries. More concernted about themselves, yet more than willing to slam anyone for not doing enough for someone else. |
Would it not also be ignorant to base your judgement of a country's stubborness on one on-line, misguided individual?
And in terms of racial tolerence, we are no different to anywhere else. It's just the selective media (newscasts) you get overseas. It's the same with other countries and what we see here.
I.e. the crunolla riots - the idiots of our country were there, the rest of the country looked on in horror. And the incident was a two-way street, in terms of retaliation and reretaliation. | blackheart wrote: |
...
And in terms of racial tolerence, we are no different to anywhere else. ... |
Riiiggghhhhttt...
You sure went from "we're not racist" to "we're just as racist as any other country" rather quickly.
When it comes to Rugby and Cricket Aussies suck
Apart from that I have had loads of Aussie friends in South Africa and in the UK, great people, down to earth, friendly, no bad things to say about Aussies.
As for the country I would love to visit there and would like to live there even more. Great country side, open spaces great peopel and plenty or rugby and cricket.
top notch bunch of people the Aussies. | springbok wrote: |
... and plenty or rugby and cricket.
|
And plenty of Aussie Rules... unless you visit Queensland, I'd suggest you look into it. At least in Vic it's THE dominant sport.
| S3nd K3ys wrote: |
| blackheart wrote: | ...
And in terms of racial tolerence, we are no different to anywhere else. ... |
Riiiggghhhhttt...
You sure went from "we're not racist" to "we're just as racist as any other country" rather quickly.
|
When you generalise as to an entire country - of course there are going to be exceptions. Hence, we aren't a racist country - but just like every where else we're going to have a couple red-necks.
Hence, we are just as racist as any other country. "Just as" can refer to abundance just as much as it can refer to lack there of. | blackheart wrote: |
When you generalise as to an entire country - of course there are going to be exceptions. Hence, we aren't a racist country - but just like every where else we're going to have a couple red-necks.
Hence, we are just as racist as any other country. "Just as" can refer to abundance just as much as it can refer to lack there of. |
LoL, the backpeddling begins!
You're not sure what to say at this point, are you? Perhaps you should just quit whilst the quitting is good.
| blaackheart wrote: |
| We're not racist! |
