Top 4 Things I Like About Australia
1. The gorgeous weather - it hasn't been below 75 here yet!!
2. The accent - while it can sometimes be annoying, it's usually rather cute. I'm picking up some of the slang unconsciously now... "wanker" "dodgy" etc.
3. The casualness - I haven't met anyone impenetrably uptight.
4. Being different - It's interesting to be on the outside looking in sometimes.
Top 4 Things I Hate About Australia
1. Racial Bigotry - I have run across so much blatant racist talk about Aborigines here. It's common and accepted. It's how I imagine America about two hundred years ago.
2. Homophobia - When I get home, I'm goiing to kiss the steps of Demarest. People here need to loosen the fuck up about this. Now I know how it feels to be silenced, for fear of physical retribution. It hasn't happened yet, and I'd like to keep it that way.
3. The Suburbs - this is a problem that is of course not unique to Australia, but being stuck in them and having to walk 45 minutes to see a friend is bloody annoying, particularly at night.
4. Cost - EVERYTHING here costs money. I need to pay an extra 17 dollars a month for a 500 meg download quota. Everything here is more expensive, and since the American economy isn't booming anymore, things here are MUCH more expensive than the exchange rate should indicate. Everything needs to be shipped in.
I was over Don's house tonight, and I really like Don. He's a good guy, and he's really nice about letting us use his stuff, play his video games, what not... but the things that him and Ruben were saying about Aborigines... man, see above. It drives me crazy. Though they weren't unreasonable about it. It was jokes mostly, but behind every joke there's a hint of honest sentiment. When I responded that the problems that Aborigines have stems from a systemic destruction of their culture that echoes through their society even today, Ruben shut up and Don almost agreed with me (or at least didn't disagree with me). It's aggravating you know? When I'm confronted with racism like this, it's like the person immediately grows horns and turns evil and ugly and it makes me sad.
It just makes me really sad.
1. The gorgeous weather - it hasn't been below 75 here yet!!
2. The accent - while it can sometimes be annoying, it's usually rather cute. I'm picking up some of the slang unconsciously now... "wanker" "dodgy" etc.
3. The casualness - I haven't met anyone impenetrably uptight.
4. Being different - It's interesting to be on the outside looking in sometimes.
Top 4 Things I Hate About Australia
1. Racial Bigotry - I have run across so much blatant racist talk about Aborigines here. It's common and accepted. It's how I imagine America about two hundred years ago.
2. Homophobia - When I get home, I'm goiing to kiss the steps of Demarest. People here need to loosen the fuck up about this. Now I know how it feels to be silenced, for fear of physical retribution. It hasn't happened yet, and I'd like to keep it that way.
3. The Suburbs - this is a problem that is of course not unique to Australia, but being stuck in them and having to walk 45 minutes to see a friend is bloody annoying, particularly at night.
4. Cost - EVERYTHING here costs money. I need to pay an extra 17 dollars a month for a 500 meg download quota. Everything here is more expensive, and since the American economy isn't booming anymore, things here are MUCH more expensive than the exchange rate should indicate. Everything needs to be shipped in.
I was over Don's house tonight, and I really like Don. He's a good guy, and he's really nice about letting us use his stuff, play his video games, what not... but the things that him and Ruben were saying about Aborigines... man, see above. It drives me crazy. Though they weren't unreasonable about it. It was jokes mostly, but behind every joke there's a hint of honest sentiment. When I responded that the problems that Aborigines have stems from a systemic destruction of their culture that echoes through their society even today, Ruben shut up and Don almost agreed with me (or at least didn't disagree with me). It's aggravating you know? When I'm confronted with racism like this, it's like the person immediately grows horns and turns evil and ugly and it makes me sad.
It just makes me really sad.
