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

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

No, clearly 'thongs' of either sort (your meaning or ours) would not in anyway improve professionalism at most workplaces I can imagine. The imagination revolts at the inrushing images!

[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*

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I'd argue that, at least, some parts of Australia have far more respect for and interest in the arts than most parts of the United States.

[rickey-a.livejournal.com]

*snorfles*

* Media critique* but, but, we have Jon Stewart ;P

* Constant natural disasters and vice versa

[suttonwriter.livejournal.com]

The politics is definitely true, as is the wearing flip-flops to work. As far as the natural disasters go, I'm afraid we're catching up. . .

[jadzialove.livejournal.com]

Flip flops to work are already prevalent in warm climates (such as mine). Men and women, in the right work atmosphere. Though the men mostly tend to wear less sparkly ones...

We're about to get an epic storm too, here on the east coast. We've had tornadoes, an earthquake and now a hurricane all in one week.

I'm not arguing your points - I think you've got something here! I just wanted to tell you about my exceptions. :D

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

Haven't been to America but the one thing I noticed most in OZ was how many people were active and interested in art. Maybe more craft than the art you are thinking of, but I've been to a lot of homes and there seemed an individual, idiosyncratic interest of arts/crafts I haven't gleaned from the US from the countless films and books I took in.

ETA: right, I saw you meant gov spending, but also that someone else agrees with my assessment on the personal level!


Hey, you are MAKING your storms and floods? I only knew about the fires. Did you send those two months of rain to me?

Yeah, thongs. Today I noticed I was the only person in this international city suffering in skin-hurting sweaty sandals while every single other person looked breezily health-footed in thongs. Had to ask a shop assistant if the plastic bit was meant to be taken off the string. Still haven't got any (can*t buy shoes).

ETA: but since there were mostly winter boots in the shops now, the only thongs on sale were plastic - and outnumbered by Crocs or Croqus which ... yeah, even if they cover yucky toes, they are still way worse. Summer-wellies. Heavy heavy plastic shoes with holes that look like wooden clogs only heavier and less cool.

Really feel for you - can*t sleep for the cough, cough can*t better with lack of sleep. Drug yourself and get better.

[shu-shu-sleeps.livejournal.com]

As usual a rather insightful assessment (from my biased Aussie point of view) and once again tea (very nice tea at that) went up my nose as I chortled reading your comments about Tony Abbott. I really should learn that it is dangerous to drink tea when reading your posts. I also think it was incredibly sad and highly reflective of govt attitudes toward art that Simon Crean and Malcolm Turnbull were unable to attend Margaret Olley's (for non Australian's - a national treasure and amazing and influential artist) state memorial service due to Abbott's petty postering this week in Parliament. What he (and many other pollies of various flavours) doesn't seem to realise is that art (in its many and varied forms) nourishes the nation's soul.

As for the thongs/flipflops argument - I wouldn't ever wear that type of footwear to work and I don't want to think about my colleagues underwear choices, though the thought strays across my mind that my military colleagues may find it difficult to tuck their t-shirts into a thong as required by their 'how to wear your uniform' guidelines.....

[drgaellon]

It's going to be STORMAGEDDON!

[pushdragon.livejournal.com]

Lovely. And can I add to the last list 'Callous refugee policy'. Perhaps if Australia had land borders, we'd lose our terror of immigration and stop describing desperate refugees arriving in numbers too small to make a decent Sheffield Shield crowd as an 'invasion'. Why can't we swap Tony for 4000 refugees from the Malaysian camps? Probably Malaysia knocked that back as a bad deal.

[lokifan]

Oh Tony Abbott. Such a wanker. People who ask for a SHANDY on the Australian campaign trail - with LIGHT BEER - do not deserve to be elected!!

Irony and healthcare are necessary parts of life :)

[subtlefire.livejournal.com]

Still with the sleep-deprivating cough? Ugh, I'm so sorry.

I was going to comment on the other things, but my sleep deprivation just kicked me in the general facial area. How about: I agree with a lot of it, some of it I need to look up to know what you're talking about, and I'm sorry about the flip flops! They're comfier :)

[sevenwindows.livejournal.com]

I'm thankful that thongs have OH&S bannination in my workplace. The Australian type. No-one's had to codify the US type. Yet.

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

I missed the earthquake, but I'm flying home during the hurricane! AWESOME.

I agree about the flip flop thing though. :T Unless it's super hot, in which case, I can understand.

[alicambs.livejournal.com]

I thought I had foot wear sorted, we Brits worse flip flops (well other people wore them I hate them), Americans and Aussies referred to them as thongs which was a bit bizarre cos we Brits knew that thongs were actually bits of string pretending to be knickers. Then I arrive in New Zealand to find that said footwear is called neither flip flops nor thongs but jandals! :-)

[alicambs.livejournal.com]

I thought I had foot wear sorted, we Brits wore flip flops (well other people wore them I hate them), Americans and Aussies referred to them as thongs which was a bit bizarre cos we Brits knew that thongs were actually bits of string pretending to be knickers. Then I arrive in New Zealand to find that said footwear is called neither flip flops nor thongs but jandals! :-)

[bk7brokemybrain.livejournal.com]

LOL. good points.

I am currently in NYC waiting for Hurricane Irene to blow us away. We have been subjugated to 24/7 disaster coverage since the 5.8 earthquake the other day, and now all the hurricane coverage. In the meantime, between rabid warnings about getting away from the imminent flooding, there were reports of two more earthquakes in NY State and Maine.

SRSLY! WILL YOU GAYS STOP KISSING EACH OTHER AND PISSING OFF GOD??!!!

[rubyemerald-1.livejournal.com]

A thong with sparkly bits. That's a hair's breath away from a vagazzle!!!

[auntpurl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the irony thing, Americans just don't get that. I've had to work hard at it since I moved to the UK. At first, I literally didn't know when anyone was serious or joking. We're just so damned SINCERE.

[kitty_fic]

So what is Australian health care like? Now I'm curious!