Cross Cultural Tips

[blamebrampton]

Still plaguey. Will be fine once I can sleep without any coughing. Way behind in sending out flist love, but LOVE!!!! to all of you, especially the ones having crap weeks.

Very shortly, I have noticed that Australia and America have been exerting cultural influences on each other more strongly of late, and just wanted to share a few hints on the topic.

Things Australians SHOULD do more like Americans
* Personal and corporate philanthropy
* Respect for and interest in the arts
* Recognition of people achieving in academic fields and celebration of those achievements

Things Australians SHOULD NOT do more like Americans
* Politics (I'm looking at you, Tony Abbott!)
* Health care (Still looking!)
* Pop music (OK, this time it's whoever that crap was on 2Day that was playing in the Turkish pizza place. But I feel certain Tony Abbott's probably bought the CD.)

Things Americans SHOULD do more like Australians
* Irony. Some of you have the hang of it, but it needs wider acceptance
* Health care
* Media critique (there's not enough mixed ownership here, but there is a solid focus on cross-checking and making loud reports about perfidy when certain outlets are crap)

Things Americans SHOULD NOT do more like Australians
* Constant natural disasters
* EPIC STORMS
* Wear flipflops to work, even if they have some sparkly bits glued on. They're not professional. And I have been here too long as I originally wrote thongs and then realised the enormous potential for cross-cultural confusion.

Stay safe you East Coast kids. That earthquake looks like fun in comparison, I'll bet.

Comments

[nenne.livejournal.com]

I think it's hilarious that you native English speakers have cross-cultural confusion. :D Where does that leave the rest of us I ask. How are WE supposed to keep up?

Everyone should, by the way, have more irony in their lives. It is survival mechanism number one. *nods solemnly*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I have to say that I usually understand Norwegian cultural quirks (indeed, most Scandinavian ones) more easily than American ones. I think that's because while we all had about 1000 years of cultural development together, over the last 250-odd years Britain and Scandinavia have had to work well with each other on any number of big issues, while the Americans of been of cheerfully forging their own path, sometimes wonderful, sometimes wacky.

Of course, when it comes to this all coming out in English as a language, we're all doomed :-)

And YES!

[nenne.livejournal.com]

There is that. We have a long history as almost-neighbours.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Mostly the good sort who look after each other's garden over the holidays ;-)

[nenne.livejournal.com]

Indeed! :)