Heres a lovely list of Australias attributes from a visiting American. Print it out and stick it on your fridge so you can read it every time you thinkyou aregoing to pot!!
'Value what you have and don't give it away.'
There's a lot to admire about Australia, especially if you're a visiting American, says David Mason (US writer, professor and poet from Colorado).
More often than you might expect, Australian friends patiently listening to me enthuse about their country have said, ''We need outsiders like you to remind us what we have.''
So here it is - a small presumptuous list of what one foreigner admires in Oz.
1. Health care.
I know the controversies, but basic national health care is a gift.
In America, medical expenses are a leading cause of bankruptcy.
The drug companies dominate politics and advertising.
Obama is being crucified for taking halting baby steps towards sanity.
You can't turn on the telly without hours of drug advertisements - something I have never yet seen here.
And your emphasis on prevention - making cigarettes less accessible, for one - is a model.
2. Food.
Yes, we have great food in America too, especially in the big cities.
But your bread is less sweet, your lamb is cheaper, and your supermarket vegetables and fruits are fresher than ours.
Too often in my country an apple is a ball of pulp as big as your face.
The dainty Pink Lady apples of Oz are the juiciest I've had.
And don't get me started on coffee.
In American small towns it tastes like water flavoured with burnt dirt, but the smallest shop in the smallest town in Oz can make a first-rate latte.
I love your ubiquitous bakeries, your hot-cross buns. Shall I go on?
3. Language.
How do you do it?
The rhyming slang and Aboriginal place names like magic spells.
Words that seem vaguely English yet also resemble an argot from another planet.
I love the way institutional names get turned into diminutives - Vinnie's and Salvos - and absolutely nothing's sacred.
Everything's an opportunity for word games and everyone's a nickname.
Lingo makes the world go round.
It's the spontaneous wit of the people that tickles me most.
Late one night at a barbie my new mate Suds remarked, ''Nothing's the same since 24-7.'' Amen.
4. Free-to-air TV.
In Oz, you buy a TV, plug it in and watch some of the best programming I've ever seen - uncensored.
In America, you can't get diddly-squat without paying a cable or satellite company heavy fees.
In Oz a few channels make it hard to choose.
In America, you've got 400 channels and nothing to watch.
5. Small shops.
Outside the big cities in America corporations have nearly erased them.
Identical malls with identical restaurants serving inferior food.
Except for geography, it's hard to tell one American town from another.
The ''take-away'' culture here is wonderful.
Human encounters are real - stirring happens, stories get told.
The curries are to die for. And you don't have to tip!
6. Free camping.
We used to have this too, and I guess it's still free when you backpack miles away from the roads.
But I love the fact that in Oz everyone owns the shore and in many places you can pull up a camper van and stare at the sea for weeks.
I love the ''primitive'' and independent campgrounds, the life out of doors.
The few idiots who leave their stubbies and rubbish behind in these pristine places ought to be transported in chains.
7. Religion.
In America, it's everywhere - especially where it's not supposed to be, like politics.
I imagine you have your Pharisees too, making a big public show of devotion, but I have yet to meet one here.
8. Roads.
Peak hour aside, I've found travel on your roads pure heaven.
My country's ''freeways'' are crowded, crumbling, insanely knotted with looping overpasses - it's like racing homicidal maniacs on fraying spaghetti.
I've taken the Hume without stress, and I love the Princes Highway when it's two lanes.
Ninety minutes south of Batemans Bay I was sorry to see one billboard for a McDonald's.
It's blocking a lovely paddock view. Someone should remove it.
9. Real multiculturalism.
I know there are tensions, just like anywhere else, but I love the distinctiveness of your communities and the way you publicly acknowledge the Aboriginal past.
Recently, too, I spent quality time with Melbourne Greeks, and was gratified both by their devotion to their own great language and culture and their openness to an Afghan lunch.
10. Fewer guns.
You had Port Arthur in 1996 and got real in response.
America replicates such massacres several times a year and nothing changes.
Why?
Our religion of individual rights makes the good of the community an impossible dream.
Instead of mateship we have ''It's mine and nobody else's''.
We talk a great game about freedom, but too often live in fear.
There's more to say - your kaleidoscopic birds, your perfumed bush in springtime, your vast beaches.
These are just a few blessings that make Australia a rarity.
Of course, it's not paradise - nowhere is - but I love it here.
No need to wave flags like Americans and add to the world's windiness.
Just value what you have, pray for it, work hard for it and don't give it away.
__________________
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the most of everything they have.
Heres a lovely list of Australias attributes from a visiting American. Print it out and stick it on your fridge so you can read it every time you thinkyou aregoing to pot!!
'Value what you have and don't give it away.'
There's a lot to admire about Australia, especially if you're a visiting American, says David Mason (US writer, professor and poet from Colorado).
More often than you might expect, Australian friends patiently listening to me enthuse about their country have said, ''We need outsiders like you to remind us what we have.''
So here it is - a small presumptuous list of what one foreigner admires in Oz.
1. Health care.
I know the controversies, but basic national health care is a gift.
In America, medical expenses are a leading cause of bankruptcy.
The drug companies dominate politics and advertising.
Obama is being crucified for taking halting baby steps towards sanity.
You can't turn on the telly without hours of drug advertisements - something I have never yet seen here.
And your emphasis on prevention - making cigarettes less accessible, for one - is a model.
Yes we do have one of the good health system but it could be better...-See European system's.
2. Food.
Yes, we have great food in America too, especially in the big cities.
But your bread is less sweet, your lamb is cheaper, and your supermarket vegetables and fruits are fresher than ours.
Too often in my country an apple is a ball of pulp as big as your face.
The dainty Pink Lady apples of Oz are the juiciest I've had.
And don't get me started on coffee.
In American small towns it tastes like water flavoured with burnt dirt, but the smallest shop in the smallest town in Oz can make a first-rate latte.
I love your ubiquitous bakeries, your hot-cross buns. Shall I go on?
There are some great little food place out of the way.. 1 of the few RV parks I stayed in had one of the best barbeque Rib's you could ask for.. they were so good that you had to order them the night before to get them.. NOT massed produced..
- give me Take-away in America anytime.. When you order a Drink[soft drink] they charge $1 for a large cup and you can refill if you want.. go to a restaurant and order soft drink they will come and refill it as many times as you want and NOT charge for the reFill's [Get that in OZ, hell no]
3. Language.
How do you do it?
The rhyming slang and Aboriginal place names like magic spells.
Words that seem vaguely English yet also resemble an argot from another planet.
I love the way institutional names get turned into diminutives - Vinnie's and Salvos - and absolutely nothing's sacred.
Everything's an opportunity for word games and everyone's a nickname.
Lingo makes the world go round.
It's the spontaneous wit of the people that tickles me most.
Late one night at a barbie my new mate Suds remarked, ''Nothing's the same since 24-7.'' Amen.
4. Free-to-air TV.
In Oz, you buy a TV, plug it in and watch some of the best programming I've ever seen - uncensored.
In America, you can't get diddly-squat without paying a cable or satellite company heavy fees.
In Oz a few channels make it hard to choose.
In America, you've got 400 channels and nothing to watch.
Yes American's do have a system of cable/paytv system's.. But the Shows that they get we have to wait month's if not year's to get to watch them..
It's only been in the last few years that we are starting to see the same day broadcast of shows from America to Australia and that is simply due to the fact that you can get access to the show's via the web at about a 1-2hr delay compared the normal TV channels, so yes they are getting smart in the releasing fo some show's to the general network's at a near time frame..
I could name a huge amount of show's that I know some people like me would love to watch.. Gold Fever[Which has been in the USA for year's10yr+..], Ice Cold Gold, Any documentary
5. Small shops.
Outside the big cities in America corporations have nearly erased them.
Identical malls with identical restaurants serving inferior food.
Except for geography, it's hard to tell one American town from another.
The ''take-away'' culture here is wonderful.
Human encounters are real - stirring happens, stories get told.
The curries are to die for. And you don't have to tip!
Small shop's.. Yeap USA does not have small town shop's..LOL
Yes in Large town's and city's smaller shops are falling by the wayside.. but then some of the best place I shopped in while traveling around happened to be the small town's, yes they had their Walmart's and other places but they still had a small hub of store's. 1 small town had a Fabric shop that dealt with Quilting supplies.. and craft gear.. A small Craft jewelery supplier's.. The American version of the Salvo's.. can I say more.. Mind you once to go further East the Selection get less..
6. Free camping.
We used to have this too, and I guess it's still free when you backpack miles away from the roads.
But I love the fact that in Oz everyone owns the shore and in many places you can pull up a camper van and stare at the sea for weeks.
I love the ''primitive'' and independent campgrounds, the life out of doors.
The few idiots who leave their stubbies and rubbish behind in these pristine places ought to be transported in chains.
From this Claim is Where I basis my comment that I think this person live's/comes from the East coast.. I had no issue's Boondocking on the west coast.. in fact I actually found people on the West coast/middle America that where quiet willing to allow me to park in their front yard and even provide a power lead for me..
7. Religion.
In America, it's everywhere - especially where it's not supposed to be, like politics.
I imagine you have your Pharisees too, making a big public show of devotion, but I have yet to meet one here.
8. Roads.
Peak hour aside, I've found travel on your roads pure heaven.
My country's ''freeways'' are crowded, crumbling, insanely knotted with looping overpasses - it's like racing homicidal maniacs on fraying spaghetti.
I've taken the Hume without stress, and I love the Princes Highway when it's two lanes.
Ninety minutes south of Batemans Bay I was sorry to see one billboard for a McDonald's.
It's blocking a lovely paddock view. Someone should remove it.
Over 17,000 mile covered in America and I can tell you that I spent most of them NOT on the major Highway system of America.. You Don't need to travel major roads to get where you want to get especially if your not in a rush to get somewhere.. In fact some of the back roads have some of the best views around.. with over 15,000 photo's taken there was some really good stopping and photo opportunities..
Follow routes like route 66, or even route 20 which is one of the original wagon train route's.. I traveled it from west to east.. stopped at a Place and took some great photo's. Ever wanted to see the place that was depicted in the Movie "Close encounters of the 4th Kind" Devil's Thumb is an interesting place..
Camping in America in the national Park's is Far cheaper than what we have to deal with here.. buy a Yearly Park Pass for about $60dallar's and get access to Every national park in the USA.. Camping Fee's of $5.00 per person. so camping in Yosemite National Park for 3day's cost me $15.00.. Could you beat that..
9. Real multiculturalism.
I know there are tensions, just like anywhere else, but I love the distinctiveness of your communities and the way you publicly acknowledge the Aboriginal past.
Recently, too, I spent quality time with Melbourne Greeks, and was gratified both by their devotion to their own great language and culture and their openness to an Afghan lunch.
10. Fewer guns.
You had Port Arthur in 1996 and got real in response.
America replicates such massacres several times a year and nothing changes.
Why?
Our religion of individual rights makes the good of the community an impossible dream.
Instead of mateship we have ''It's mine and nobody else's''.
We talk a great game about freedom, but too often live in fear.
There's more to say - your kaleidoscopic birds, your perfumed bush in springtime, your vast beaches.
These are just a few blessings that make Australia a rarity.
Of course, it's not paradise - nowhere is - but I love it here.
No need to wave flags like Americans and add to the world's windiness.
Just value what you have, pray for it, work hard for it and don't give it away.
America is a great place to go.. yes it got it fault's..
Juergen
__________________
IF I say something Dumb.. Just Smack me..
I'm full of Knowledge.. I don't profess to know EVERYTHING, but I'm constantly Learning new thing's..
