Many Americans pay for a tour to a foreign country and come back with enthusiastic accounts of forming friendships on the trip . . . with their fellow American travelers. Business men who get paid to go to Australia usually get to stay at a chain franchise hotel and get to mingle with other businessmen from around the world.
When they come back to the USA folks will ask: "What are the Australians like?" and those folks will reel off a list of Kodak moments (such as shots of Bon Scott's statue in Fremantle) and spout travel platitudes.
Staying in Hostels we did not encounter very many fellow Americans nor did we get a chance to chat with many Australians. We mostly got to talk to fellow vagabonders from throughout the British Empire plus a goodly number of European youths. We made an effort to talk to Aussies so that we could blog our reply in more detail to the "What are Australians like?" question.
If you love New York City (and who doesn't?), you will feel quite at home in Sydney, but are New Yorkers just like the folks in Concordia Kansas? The Sydney vs. Perth debate is very similar to the rivalry between New York City and the City of our Lady Queen of the Angeles (AKA L. A.).
At a hostel in Kalgoorlie, (the Word spell check challenges the name of that city in the W. A. [AKA Western Australia]) you are more likely to encounter a Kiwi seeking work than a person from Sydney.
Regional loyalty is an interesting phenomenon. Somebody in Australia thought it would be better to reshoot episodes of "The Office" with local geographical references rather than showing reruns of the American series (which was inspired by a series in England).
If the Aussies make a joke about Skimpie's being the most famous saloon in Australia would that be better than a reference to the Amereica's best corner bar? When Johnny Carson was hosting the Tonight Show from a studio in New York, he helped Hurley's achieve that distinction, but now that he's gone and Hurley's is too; what is the most famous gin mill in the USA?
Australians make as much of a fuss about the Melbourne Cup as Americans do for the Kentucky Derby. Can your American neighbor who has taken a tour of Oz tell you when that race is held?
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