Friendly Aussies and America
Jan 7th, 2008 by Nick
I’m going to make a blanket statement: Australians are friendlier than Americans.
Let me ask you a simple question… when was the last time you were in a public place and just struck up a conversation with the person next to you because they looked like they were from out of town? And for those of you who travel, when was the last time it happened to you? I’ve had this happen to me here a couple of times already. Completely different types of people each time. Last night it was a guy who pointed out to me that not all the buses stopped at the stop where I was at to head back to the hotel. Once we got to the right stop, we chatted about how I was finding Australia, flying Sydney to Perth vs. Boston to San Francisco, and other miscellania.
The other part of the equation is that Australians are fascinated by America and Americans. Barrack Obama makes the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald. About a third of the TV shows are American imports. And once people find out I’m from America, they immediately want to know how I like Australia.
So no one has mentioned that “Say Hi and I’ll give you ten bucks” sign we taped to your back?
Have you watched any local TV? The Wiggles?
Any British import TV - Doctor Who, maybe?
Or are you sleeping 16 hours a night?
Actually, when we were in Reykjavik, queued up at the McDonalds in the Mall [we had 25 minutes to eat before the bus tour] an Icelander who spent some time in the US overheard us talking and chatted us up.
p.s. BBC says there is flooding in New South Wales. Keeping your feet dry?
I told Nick the other night to keep an eye on Channel 7 for the Today Show. Yes, our Today Show, live from New York at about midnight-1 a.m. Aussie time. When they get to the weather and Al Roker says “Here’s what’s going on in your neck of the woods,” they flash to a map of Australia with the temps on it.
And if you find anything with Roy and H.G. on it, watch it. They’re the biggest TV comedians in Australia. Some of there stuff is pretty funny, but some of it is strictly Aussie humor that doesn’t translate well.
Hard to say — *I* am the outgoing friendly type that will strike up conversations with people that look like they are from out of town. Last month Mike and & went to Jersey Boys. I dropped Mike off and was leaving the parking deck, I heard some people asking the garage attendant how to get to the theater and I said “follow me,” and talked with them on the way. I’m also the one that will always grab a camera if I see someone from a group taking pictures “hey I’ll take the shot so you can all be in the picture.”