Homework

[deathpixie]

So, I have to do a 5 minute Powerpoint presentation for school on Thursday and I need the help of my non-Aussie friends. Common perceptions/impressions/myths you have or have heard about Australia and Australians - GO!

Comments

[cherryice.livejournal.com]

Everything in Australia is trying to kill you!
Marsupials!
Deadly snakes and spiders!
Platypus! Which can also poison you!
Shrimp on the barby!
Tall poppy syndrome!
Deadly jellyfish!
Ayers rock/Uluru!
Aboriginal peoples!
Sydney Opera House!
Didgeridoos!
Bushmeat!
Crocodiles!
Invasive species!
Bushfires!
Beer!
Desert!
Flooding!
Drought!
Walkabouts!

[technophobia.livejournal.com]

Words mean different things there.

Thong
Root
Chocolate Thunder From Down Under (that story never stops being funny)

[yonaelka.livejournal.com]

I suppose it doesn't count if I lived with a bunch of Aussies?

In case it does count, here are some things I learned that made me wonder if it was all Aussies or if it was just the ones with whom I lived (pretty sure the spending money on drugs/beer instead of bills was just the idiots with whom I lived).

--At a backyard barbecue (possibly with bonfire), it is not uncommon for drunken Aussies to sit together and sing old Oasis songs loudly enough to hear it on the other side of the house and possibly down the street.

--The males of your species LOVE Irn-Bru.

--You all don't really drink Foster's that much. Lots of other cheap beers, yes. But not so much Foster's.

--Along the "words mean different things" theme: Piss. And that's really not just an Aussie thing. That's more a Commonwealth issue. Because it's got a multitude of meanings. To be pissed here in the US means to be angry. To be pissed in the Commonwealth countries means to be drunk. To acquire piss is to get the liquor. Taking the piss is making fun of someone.

--I have never met a bad-looking or overweight Aussie guy. In my head, they're all average-to-muscular and just gorgeous. On a scale of my old friend Kerry's ex, Matt Eddy, who was skinny-to-average, to the guys from Thunder from Down Under).

[threnody.livejournal.com]

Nonsensical nicknames for everything, often longer than the actual word.
Everyone loves vegemite/marmite
All insects are out to kill you
It's stupid hot all the time.

That's about all I've got.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Australians are all racist, homophobic, backwater rednecks.*

And they all giggle when you use the word 'root'.

*This is a thing that I obviously know not to be the case, but I keep hearing stories that feed into it. Having a friend from Queensland probably doesn't help.