Australia, we don’t know you, but we love you, say our American friends

He's French.

But I'm not going to turn this into a French bashing thread.

Speaking of the French...

All empires end and so one day so too will the American one. Americans will, like the French, probably remain arrogant but then it will seem quaint, world travellers will assure others it's only the case in DC, and we will still produce the best wine in the world and the most beautiful women.

It would be like an American calling Germans, French and Italians "Europeans". You miss the point. If an (Iberian, European) Spanish person met an Argentinian, a Mexican, a Chilean and a Peruvian, he could accurately speak of them as "americanos". If he met a Chicagoan, a New Yorker, and a Virginian, he could accurately speak of them as "estadounidenses".

He could still speak of those latter as 'americanos'. Which is part of the perceived problem.

I am actually a UKian.

I love a sunburnt country:)

Most Australians want to visit America, love their accents, no carp attitude, can do approach, facinated over deer hunting, the difference between country life here, verses country life there.

I've only visited Oklahoma, and a place about half an hour away from Tulsa.

A large proportion of my internet friends are American, from another Forum I Moderate on, for the past 4 years, hense why I went to Oklahoma.

We have fleas, tiny little things, you have these huge ones can't recall their name just remember picking two off me at the airport:)

The nightclub I went to, bars, were like nothing like we have but then I imagine that was a "country town" we don't have nightclubs in Country Towns, we do have "pubs" not bars either. More like each Country Town has historic buildings, old pubs 100 years old, some done up, with pokies, all you can eat salad bars and other's small and just the front bar and bar food, comprising of schnitzels, steaks, chips, salads, pumpkin soup, burgers ,probably not much different.

We don't have sonics, we have KFC, McDonalds.. We don't have any other fried food style takeways.

I live in Adelaide, City of Churches... Where I live, I can see the sea from the back of my house, and the hills on the otherside. Mostly it's 20 to 30 minutes to either the City, or beachside tourist location, called Glenelg, family are an hour away...they live in the hills.

Yes we have kangaroos, koalas, way out in the bush, kookaburras.

Yes we have snakes, again though usually way out in the bush, or unless we have feril neighbours that never cut their lawns and we are close to the hills

Yes, we have sharks but one attacks every few years...Not frequent and yes we have jelly fish, but again, rare to hear of a story of stings, I hear often, isn't Australia full of sharks and jelly fish?

Queensland is the place to go, tropical. Palm trees, beaches, resorts....

Melbourne is very "trendy" we go there at least once a year, 1hr by plane, artistic, fantastic restaurants that copy from around the world, where food is concerned.

Just thought I'd provide some information:) And happy to answer any questions to..

Yes I love Americans and as far as I can tell all the friends I have over there would love to visit here...

I have a diabetic husky, Kia, one blue one brown eye, white and grey in colour, smart girl, dosile, around 8 or 9, she was abused when we took her in, she was 18 month old so can't recall her exact age:) Got carried away with her description lols..In any event, it's too hard for us to go away overseas for a long period of time, but hopefully, year after next, we intend to go to America, after we get married, at 50 good lord, that sounds old huh:)

Yeah na, we are more like 38 in the way we act.

Australia is a beautiful place but I'm betting most of America is too.

This argument is just silly.

What some are calling Usians are people from The United States of America. I suppose they and the rest of the world back in the 1700s could have decided to use terms like United Staters or Staters , but they didn't. They used Americans and the rest of the world didn't howl or probably even comment upon it.

Mexico is actually The United Mexican States, but it was New Spain to the original Spanish colonists. If that name was kept when the country gained its independence, they may have called themselves (in English) New Spaniards like New Yorkers or New Englanders, but they didn't they chose to name their new country Mexico which was a version of an Indian name for the heart of the Aztec Empire. (Mexico City had already been established by then).

I think it’s a pretty cool name, and, I suppose, they could have called themselves The United American States or The United States of Southern North America and then referred to themselves as American as well, but they clearly had no such desire.

They won their independence in 1810 and by then the Unites States of America had existed for 34 years and its residents were calling themselves and being called by foreigners, Americans.

In other words the moniker was taken and how ridiculous would the new nation have been seen if it tried to share it with an established nation, and for what reason?

Because, damn it they too were living on a land mass Europeans named North America and so they had a right to the name as well?

Canada is also an Indian name and was adopted in the 1500s to refer to the region. I suppose they could have staked a claim to the moniker of Americans, but they didn't. As the Canadians more slowly broke ties with Britain, they stuck with Canada for their name, and I can't find a single reference of Canadian statesmen wanting to share America with the USA. Again, why would they?

The same pattern applies to the nations of Central and South America.

The notion that the colonists who revolted and established an independent nation they called The United States of America, somehow were arrogant in laying claim to the name "America" is first of all ridiculous. Secondly it was done well over 200 years ago and became accepted parlance throughout the world. Why should Americans now even consider, for a nanosecond, taking a new moniker because a few PC Americans and foreigners who are rubbed the wrong way by the US, think it is arrogant?

If it bugs you to refer to us as Americans, then don't. The number of Americans who give a damn is very small indeed.

I thought it was the genitalia on Rupert?

Found Soul

I hope you can make it back to America the year after next.

Since your last visit here was to Oklahoma you might not want to include Texas in your future trip, but by then there's an excellent chance we'll have moved back to the Charlotte North Carolina area.

If you do plan on visiting either area, send me a PM. My wife and I would love to take you and yours out for dinner.

I've loved visiting your country and have a number of friends there with whom I stay in touch. With the exception of a short stay in the Blue Mountains, I've never been outside of Sydney or Melbourne, but everywhere I went, I found Australians to be, in general, delightful people and great fun.

On a business trip to the UK many years ago I was staying with a friend who was originally from Scotland, but live in Chester. My oldest son was 4 and was in a pee wee soccer league, and so my friend insisted on buying him a Scottish National jersey.

For that small of a size we had to visit a number of shops and eventually I got bored and started shopping for other things. I came upon a rack of national rugby team jerseys and took a look. My eyes were drawn to a golden colored one and when I came to it I saw the embroidered kangaroo. Before I could even take it off the rack, I heard my friend's voice over my left shoulder:

"You'll not be buying that one!

I didn't even have time to ask why not, when he continued:

"They call their women bloody Sheilas!"

He talked me into the Scottish national jersey, but the first time I was in Australia, I bought the Ossie shirt. The color scheme had changed to include green, but it still looked sharp.

My Scottish friend was in many ways a great guy but the only people in the world he seemed to have any use for were Scotts and Americans.

All the best.

Well, this is becoming the stupidest thread going. Have fun.

They ARE Europeans.

It would be like France calling itself Europe and saying stuff like

The capital of Europe is Paris
The President of Europe, Giscard d'Estaing visited Holland today.
Europe declared today it is grounding its fleet of Concordes.
Europe declared today that there is to be a National protect the Baguette Day
Europe's principal river, the Seine, was today closed for a regatta.
Europe's Academy declared today that all immigrants must learn its national language, French.
While I was in Paris Europe banned the burqua in certain public buildings.
Europe fought strongly against freedom for its former colony, Algeria.



Here's some cuties

European President Giscard d'Estaing arrived in America this morning and was greeted warmly by the President of America, Hugo Chavez.

Can't recall current French presidents name....hangs head in shame

American President, Mr Lula Silva, is to stand down at the next American election.


'

Or the French calling themselves Europeans, which was my point.

The difference of course is that there are more than one nation that is part of Europe and there is only one nation in America.

There are three nations in North America, and many nations in The Americas

Americans don't say

Washington DC is the capital of North America
The president of The Americas, Barack Obama visited Europe
North America is the birthplace of Jazz

Seeing so much of the discussion on this thread has been about language & cultural interpretations ....

Here's Obama talking Oz slang (or "Strine" = Australian) during his recent visit here.

And before anyone takes offense at the title of this video, "taking a bash" at something = having a go, or trying something new out, giving it your best shot ...... OK?



http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2011/s3371223.htm

couldn't get at it through your link msO, but tracked it down using the headline

http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/top-news-headlines/xsz5fhl?cpkey=ef368835-bd44-4556-b913-27ab30e05d85||||

Just reposted it with an edit, Beth.
The link now works.
My mistake with the first attempt.

ALL of our supermarket garlic comes from China. Istarted growing garlic seriously about 2 years ago. It almost is like another season of growing (along with spinach). Ive added several hundred square feet each year and I now have two Amish kids doing my planting. Ive had some interest from a local produce auction about selling them to produce stands.

I assume that the silly person who voted down my last two innocuous posts didn't appreciate Obama's best efforts at talking "Strine"?

I think he meant well.

Sometimes, honestly, you've gotta wonder about some people here.

I didn't vote you down, but he only said 4 strine things, I was expecting a whole routine, lol.

Well thank you for your integrity (again), Ceili.
(I always appreciate your posts)

But yes, he could have done a whole lot better, I agree.
Especially with such a doting audience.
I think his Oz advisers on "Strine" weren't too sharp.
But then, they were probably bureaucrats.
And what can you expect from them?

Some good pics of prez Obama and PM Gillard towards the end of this clip.
Bit of chemistry happening there, it would seem.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-20/talking-pictures/3682490

Oh dear.....that's SO never a good idea. I wish they wouldn't.