Top Five Things I Loved About Australia:
1. Everyone is friendly and helpful, even the ones that look like assholes. (This of course could be proven wrong, but everyone I met was really nice.)
2. It's okay to be at a pub having a beer at 10am. I guess it's okay here if you're in San Francisco or some other large city, they tend to frown at you if you order a beer with the breakfast menu on a Tuesday morning in Anchorage.
3. It's easy to get around. Once you have a map. And an idea of where things are. And aren't afraid of Public Transportation. I never drove, but there were always plenty of tours for the 'backpacker' crowd...of which I'm too old to be a part of without looking pathetic. But that's just my opinion.
4. There are about 3000% more women there than in Anchorage. Not that I met any of them. Well, that's not true. I did talk to a woman on a train for a while. She turned out to be 16 so I pretty much avoided women after that. And she started talking to me first so it wasn't like I'm a perve or anything.
5. Closest thing to an egalitarian (class-less) society. And I don't mean they're without class, they just don't care what you do because what you do doesn't equal who you are. Very big difference.
Three Annoying Things about Australia:
1. Little phrases that EVERYONE said. "How're you going?" "No Worries" Seriously. I was pretty annoyed until I realized I was saying "No problem" all the time.
2. Not understanding conversations. I seriously couldn't understand an Australian unless they were speaking directly to me and using mono-syllabic words. WTF? I'm not saying they can't speak, I'm saying my ears could hardly pick English words it recognized. I swear it was like listening to Brad Pitt's character in 'Snatch'. It got to the point that I would talk to Canadians just to hear a "North American" accent. But it's not nice to eavesdrop so I guess I shouldn't be so mad about this one.
3. Kind of the opposite of #2...they didn't understand me either. Sometimes you can pronounce words differently. That's why there are dictionaries, so you can learn to pronounce words. Apparently they only have one way of saying everything. And any other way is wrong. Wankers.
1. Everyone is friendly and helpful, even the ones that look like assholes. (This of course could be proven wrong, but everyone I met was really nice.)
2. It's okay to be at a pub having a beer at 10am. I guess it's okay here if you're in San Francisco or some other large city, they tend to frown at you if you order a beer with the breakfast menu on a Tuesday morning in Anchorage.
3. It's easy to get around. Once you have a map. And an idea of where things are. And aren't afraid of Public Transportation. I never drove, but there were always plenty of tours for the 'backpacker' crowd...of which I'm too old to be a part of without looking pathetic. But that's just my opinion.
4. There are about 3000% more women there than in Anchorage. Not that I met any of them. Well, that's not true. I did talk to a woman on a train for a while. She turned out to be 16 so I pretty much avoided women after that. And she started talking to me first so it wasn't like I'm a perve or anything.
5. Closest thing to an egalitarian (class-less) society. And I don't mean they're without class, they just don't care what you do because what you do doesn't equal who you are. Very big difference.
Three Annoying Things about Australia:
1. Little phrases that EVERYONE said. "How're you going?" "No Worries" Seriously. I was pretty annoyed until I realized I was saying "No problem" all the time.
2. Not understanding conversations. I seriously couldn't understand an Australian unless they were speaking directly to me and using mono-syllabic words. WTF? I'm not saying they can't speak, I'm saying my ears could hardly pick English words it recognized. I swear it was like listening to Brad Pitt's character in 'Snatch'. It got to the point that I would talk to Canadians just to hear a "North American" accent. But it's not nice to eavesdrop so I guess I shouldn't be so mad about this one.
3. Kind of the opposite of #2...they didn't understand me either. Sometimes you can pronounce words differently. That's why there are dictionaries, so you can learn to pronounce words. Apparently they only have one way of saying everything. And any other way is wrong. Wankers.
So was Australia a vacation or a business trip? Either way, I'm jealous. Thanks for responding, I need some SG AK friends.