I loved reading about your new year. 1 litre bottles of beer?! WOW.
Yeah, I was amused to imagine you and Matt's sister & her boyfriend running into each other out there. Australians traveling abroad sharing a piece of home with each other for the holidays. I haven't met up with any Americans since I have been over here yet, but I passed a Backpackers Hostel in downtown Melbourne where I saw some people walking in and overheard a bit of a familiar accent. It warmed my heart a bit to hear.
I never realized how super conscious of my own accent I would be until I was over here. My own voice sounds so weird to me sometimes in contrast. I wonder what Aussies think of Americans in general. Matt's folks took us to *Mackers for lunch one day thinking that this would be a welcomed treat for me. Bleh! I had a good laugh about the stereotypes.
Good luck with the quest for laundry. I am sure you have solved the issue by now. I have had to buy emergency panties on vacations before. Assuming any stores would have been open then.
(For fellow Yanks. *Mackers = slang for McDonald's in Australia)
Laundry is being done as I type... I'll put it on the line in a moment. Argentine is civilised enough not to use dryers when it's thirty-something degress celcius outside. =)
I normally run into Aussies while travelling all the time, but I'm running into fewer travellers in general here in South America. This surprises me, because it's vibrant, beautiful and inexpensive. But I always meet as many Australians in my travel as Americans, even though there are 15 times as many Americans in the world as Australians. It's because at any time, 5% of Australians are overseas.
Yes I have noticed the Australian love for travel, it is probably one of the reasons why I feel such kinship to this culture. A family member of Matt's was telling me about the trend for kids to take a year off after high school to travel abroad before starting Uni. I know that people choose to do this in America as well, but it sounds like it is a much more common thing here in Oz.
Thanks for that article. It definitely matches a lot of what I have been hearing and observing here. Not in the spiteful hatred sort of way, but just in a concern and dispassion for some of the American influences now being felt here. Of course, I completely agree with a lot of them as they are the same traits that I dislike about the U.S.
There are many things that I love about America. Our innovation and daring to push the limits on conventional ideas & creative thought. Whenever there is a truly beneficial and positive idea it burns through people and seems to create a great wave of information that can shift things in amazing ways. Of course this goes the opposite way as well. The Bush era has proven this tenfold.
I have had some good conversations out here about these things and have possibly helped to show that there are many Americans just as upset about these issues as Australians. I was talking with one of Matt's friends about the issue of credit card debt and the irresponsible manner in which credit companies target people, as well as the irresponsible ways that people use credit to fund their insane shopping frenzies. Increasing product demand as more things are rolled out for the masses to buy and fill their already gluttonous homes with, only to end up flooding into the landfills and increasing our waste. ugh!
It is a trend that I would like to see change in the U.S. and not continue to grow overseas. What emptiness are we really trying to fill anyway? /rant
I am still very positive about our world outlook and traveling has only cemented this more. People are lovely.
Yeah, I was amused to imagine you and Matt's sister & her boyfriend running into each other out there. Australians traveling abroad sharing a piece of home with each other for the holidays. I haven't met up with any Americans since I have been over here yet, but I passed a Backpackers Hostel in downtown Melbourne where I saw some people walking in and overheard a bit of a familiar accent. It warmed my heart a bit to hear.
I never realized how super conscious of my own accent I would be until I was over here. My own voice sounds so weird to me sometimes in contrast. I wonder what Aussies think of Americans in general. Matt's folks took us to *Mackers for lunch one day thinking that this would be a welcomed treat for me. Bleh! I had a good laugh about the stereotypes.
Good luck with the quest for laundry. I am sure you have solved the issue by now. I have had to buy emergency panties on vacations before. Assuming any stores would have been open then.
(For fellow Yanks. *Mackers = slang for McDonald's in Australia)
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I normally run into Aussies while travelling all the time, but I'm running into fewer travellers in general here in South America. This surprises me, because it's vibrant, beautiful and inexpensive. But I always meet as many Australians in my travel as Americans, even though there are 15 times as many Americans in the world as Australians. It's because at any time, 5% of Australians are overseas.
I recently read an article about Australians' attitudes towards Americans:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/how-we-love--and-hate--americans/2007/12/09/1197135289420.html But don't worry, no matter where you go in the world, the more interesting, educated people understand that not all Americans support U.S. policy and culture.
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Thanks for that article. It definitely matches a lot of what I have been hearing and observing here. Not in the spiteful hatred sort of way, but just in a concern and dispassion for some of the American influences now being felt here. Of course, I completely agree with a lot of them as they are the same traits that I dislike about the U.S.
There are many things that I love about America. Our innovation and daring to push the limits on conventional ideas & creative thought. Whenever there is a truly beneficial and positive idea it burns through people and seems to create a great wave of information that can shift things in amazing ways. Of course this goes the opposite way as well. The Bush era has proven this tenfold.
I have had some good conversations out here about these things and have possibly helped to show that there are many Americans just as upset about these issues as Australians. I was talking with one of Matt's friends about the issue of credit card debt and the irresponsible manner in which credit companies target people, as well as the irresponsible ways that people use credit to fund their insane shopping frenzies.
Increasing product demand as more things are rolled out for the masses to buy and fill their already gluttonous homes with, only to end up flooding into the landfills and increasing our waste. ugh!
It is a trend that I would like to see change in the U.S. and not continue to grow overseas. What emptiness are we really trying to fill anyway? /rant
I am still very positive about our world outlook and traveling has only cemented this more. People are lovely.
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