Letting the Nation Down
Posted Monday, July 21, 2008, 5:10 PM by Lonely Planet
As an Australian I'm a constant disappointment to other travellers.
I don't follow AFL or cricket, have never been near a surfboard, and have a pathological fear of many things Australia is famous for - sharks, crocodiles, serial killers...
Worse still, I don't watch Neighbours.
During a brief stint working as a teacher in Scotland, my students were appalled to learn I didn't know who Natalie Imbruglia was ("but she was on Neighbours!").
After a trip to the Northern Territory my American friend laughed when I told her my constant fear of croc attacks had interfered with my enjoyment of the great outdoors. Apparently I am meant to embrace all the 'deadlies' my homeland has to offer.
"You are sooo not Australian!" she said. "Australians love to boast about cheating death!"
My idea of an outdoor adventure is an afternoon in a beer garden; I keep good company with my closest Parisian friend who drinks neither wine nor coffee, and hates small dogs.
Are you letting your country down? Travelled with someone who is? Turn them in to us.
- Louise Clarke is an inhouse Content Producer at Lonely Planet
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5 Comments:
I am Canadian. I don't follow hockey and I don't understand lacross.
The problem is, not even Australians know who we are, let alone who we're 'supposed' to be.
The "Death-Cheating Aussie" is a myth, or at least a misguided conclusion. We're raised to be shit-scared and with good reason. Most things not only CAN kill us, they actively TRY to.
I had an unremarkable Australian upbringing, and yet I've been chased by deadly snakes three times, bitten by dozens of spiders, woke up with a 4" centipede in my bed one morning, and a stray trap-door spider another (possibly looking to nest in MY 'trap door'). I've fallen off a cliff onto a 15' wide Red Ant nest (they didn't appreciate me 'dropping in'), have been attacked by jellyfish and blue bottles (Portugese Man O' War) and been bitten on the hand while body surfing by 'something' which made marks not unlike a small-ish shark. (I can testify that the smell of crap in a pair of Quicksilver Board-shorts seems to be an effective shark/barracuda/whatever-it-was repellant)
All before the age of 15.
I was shit scared of 'bitey' things then and am sensibly still shit scared now.
The reason we SEEM to be fearless crazies when we're overseas is that we're so used to living in a Rube Goldberg-esque death-trap, that we think other countries (Except perhaps Africa) are about as dangerous as the Ball-Pit at the local Ikea.
In Ireland and Scotland I would happily scramble through dusty roof-spaces or under houses in the knowledge that the bitey-est thing I might come across would be a rusty nail, pigeon-poop or the odd over-fed, lard-filled house-mouse. In Australia, you couldn't pay me to crawl under a house like I used to as a kid. I've seen too many beasties and monsters to ever, ever make that mistake again. Besides, we've got imported fearless European trades-people for that kind of malarkey now.
I, for another, am totally letting my nation down.
There is some unwritten rule among the 'backpacker' clique that as an American I am supposed to constantly hate America and bash it relentlessly regardless of the company I am in.
I don't do this and I am secretly very glad to be American.
So there, all you backpackers, I said it!
I was born in America but grew up mostly in Sydney, Australia and somehow, managed to, according to my aussie friends retain quite a strong american accent (although americans usually think I sound brittish or kiwi - go figure).
I also work as a bartender and am constantly presumed to be an american/brittish/kiwi student on a working holiday.
I had a very aussie beach culture upbringing and although I enjoy the beach I can't surf to save my life - I was once dubbed "wipe out queen of coogee" by my more proficient mates.
Apart from the beach, I'm not very outdoorsey and freak out when faced with almost any insect even when I know they're harmless.
Having worked in a tourism related industry has exposed me to many american travellers and while I am proud to be american it can sometimes be embarrassing too. Most americans are very friendly though also very patriotic which is often misunderstood as arrogance or ignorance.
That is sometimes the case but aussies are just as bad - I've heard many a drunken punter announce stridently that "Australia is the greatest country in the world and anyone who disagrees should get the hell out!" sound familiar?
You can't blame americans for not knowing as much about the rest of the world as aussies; theres not as big a travel culture over there as we're taught to see america as the king of all nations - why would you want to see another country when you live in the best one right?
Thankfully that all seems to be changing with more and more young americans backpacking and working in other countries and totally immersing themselves in the culture - the bridge climb and plastic koala fridge magnets don't count as "aussie culture" anymore.
So as far as being american goes, here's one who is proud to be one AND can locate Australia on a map.
Guess I'm kinda letting two nations down huh?
I'm supposed to run to an Indian restaurant (run by people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka - but always called an Indian restaurant nevertheless) - every time I travel outside India. Enjoying other cuisines and not craving for 'real food' at least once a day, is considered very 'un-Indian-like'!
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