Aussie Aussie Aussie!!! (by Joe)

I would like to declare a long and fondly-held prejudice:

Over a decade of Ashes thrashings to the tune of smug Australian radio commentators throughout my formative years has given me a strong, particular and far from positive opinion of our competitive antipodean cousins. So it pains me to say that we've not met an unpleasant Australian all the time we've been here.

We've found them consistently warm, friendly, laid-back and chatty (albeit on perhaps a slightly shallow level - these are Australians, after all). We've also been pleasantly surprised not to have been confronted by too much blatant pom-bashing.

And although we haven't heard anyone say "Fair dinkum", we've been fascinated to find that they really DO say things like "G'day mate"; "Gonna be a ripper today"; "No worries"; and "I was wrapped, mate" (note - I'm still not sure if 'wrapped' means 'extremely pleased' or 'extremely disappointed', so I just smile sympathetically and nod lightly in response).

We've also noticed a strong sense of community spirit amongst the people here. For example, we've seen a lot of volunteers doing benevolent activities, bus drivers genuinely behaving like they hold a 'duty of care' to their passengers, and come across much general helpfulness - not just to us as tourists but to other Aussies as well. Oh, and they don't litter their streets either.

My guess is that much of this comes down to having a strong national identity and culture. Whilst Australia is more multi-ethnic than you might imagine, there is undoubtedly a strong sense of 'Aussie-ness' in which everyone can share. This appears to involve a sense of community spirit, maintaining a sense of humour, appreciation of sport, and above all, believing in Australia and its future.

Compared to Europe, life and attitudes appear simple in Australia and there is a fresh, uncluttered straightforwardness to thought and decision-making. It certainly doesn't appear to take much to make them happy: sunshine, a beach and sporting success appear to do the job.

So where does this leave me and my fondly-held prejudice? Well, as ever there's a flip-side way of looking at all of this (and I'll choose to take it):

Easily pleased; unswervingly optimistic; fixated by ball-games; and blindly loyal to some 'Aussie ideal' ...

Perhaps I'm an angsty pom, but in the relatively short time we've been here I have been unable to dispel the notion that many of our friendly Australian cousins my be, well, just a tad 'simple'.

Left - an Australian Rules Football fan

Joe