Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

Its not so much boring...more bland...

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

I'm certain there is a difference here. With my region. You dont get half the population speaking Italian or Greek for a start.. in Perth or Brisbane.

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

"The problem, if there is one, is that Australia doesn't have very many people, and they all pretty much the same. There's no variation in culture. There's more cultural change between Sunderland and Newcastle 30 miles up the road than there is between Perth and Brisbane."


I took the above to mean you were stating there is larger cultural variation between Newcastle and Sunderland which have 30 miles between them, then Brisbane and Perth which are at opposite ends of a continent.

I wasn't talking about the weather or geography either, but the affect they have on cultural differences. No need for me to explain to you the affect different climates can have on the culture of the people who live there. Same goes for the location, geography and shared or separate histories.

In my view you would notice far less difference swapping people from Newcastle and Sunderland then people in Perth and Brisbane.

In Newcastle and Sunderland they both:
- have common knowledge about and access to the same local companies, services etc
- watch the same local tv (Look North etc) etc
- read the same papers and absorb the same cultural influences
- have the same weather
- have a shared local history as they are very closely situated
- follow the same sports in the same percentages
- get the same level and access to entertainment
- attend the same castles, visit cragside and love durham
- are governed by almost identical laws
- have the same health, education and welfare system
- have almost identical ethnic makeup and imported cultures
- think about almost everything identically

In Perth and Brisbane they:
- have no common knowledge about and access to the same local companies, services etc
- watch totally different local tv and news etc
- read different papers
- have very different weather
- have extremely different local settlement and subsequent histories
- follow totally different sports
- get different levels and access to entertainment
- visit totally different cultural icons, places
- are governed by totallly different state governments
- have different health and education systems
- have a very different ethnic makeup and imported cultures
- think about almost everything identically

All these things and more add up to the culture of a people. I'm not arguing that people in Brisbane and Perth are much different to each other, just that they are more different than those in Newcastle vs Sunderland - understandably, sometimes I think you guys miss the differences in oz but know the differences of your own country in detail.

I think if you swapped people from Perth and Brisbane they would be lost and confused for years due to the changes but Geordies and Mackems could just swap pubs, learn how to say book differently, swap the team they hated and then carry on :D

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

ha ha - I've been living in South London for 10 years and to be brutally honest there is nothing cultural about South London. Well - if you call the police helicopter hovering overhead at 3 in the morning chasing chavvy kids through the council estate cultural then fair enough.

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

Oh...it is similar to Perth then.

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

So there's culture in Perth then?

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

Plenty of Chav culture apparently:lol:

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

Believe it or not, I really miss the West Indians, now that I live here.

Growing up in the Borough of Lewisham has that effect on you.

Also It's only been the last couple of years that people will commonly talk about real football in the local pubs. That hopefully will continue to spread around the country.

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

Have you ever been to the north east of England? They don't even speak the same language in Sunderland and Newcastle.

Perhaps you think that Barcelona and Marseilles are the same too?

The point is that Brisbane and Perth are on the opposite sides of a continent and they're practically the same. You can't say that about Stockholm and Istanbul.

Essentially Australia is a continent with a single culture. Which is fine if you like it, but utterly tedious if you don't. In Europe if you don't like London you can move to Paris. If you don't like Perth you need to change continents.

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

I saw your point you just gave an example that didn't stack up at all IMO which made me think you didn't really understand the Australian cultural differences, just the British one's....hence my post...if you'd said Stockholm and Istanbul well... :)

Yes have lived in north east for 4 years...I can speak Geordie and Mackem, converse with Geordie taxi drivers, can even almost understand Geordies when they are drunk and am married to one. Newcastle is one of my favourite towns. Yourself?

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

Perhaps you should move to Sydney where you can travel from Cronulla to Canterbury to Cabramatta and experience 3 diverse cultures in a morning. :thumbsup:

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

its funny you should say that because what struck me about the comments were the number related to crime and violence in australia. it was seen to be unsafe and dangerous with booze fuelled hooligans roaming the streets etc. so all the things that people complain about in england are alive and kicking (literally) in australia.

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

yes

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

Provincial Britain in the Southern Hemisphere.

Lets be honest - each country has its own offering. If I sit here and say to myself what do I like about each then I can come up with some subtle differences that make both the UK and Australia very appealling in their own right.

Often the thing that excites a foreigner when living in a foreign land are the little differences that they don't get at home. Whether that's history, climate, whatever.

Re: Is Australia to boring?
 

Non-Aboriginal Australia is a young New World country. This means that there is not so much geographic cultural diversity as the UK or Europe. This also means that the socio-cultural profile of people living in Perth is fairly similar to that of Brisbane. However, there is considerable non-geographic cultural diversity. One quarter of the population was born overseas, there are all the different socio-economic groups you would encounter in the UK and there is considerable diversity in the lifestyles different people lead (greater than the UK I would contend).

If you add aboriginal Australia into the mix, you include the incredible diversity and richness of this country's eco-systems, you include the hugely different and diverse cultures of our neighbours - PNG, Indonesia, Pacific Islands - then I think it's fairly absurd to say Australia is not diverse or it is bland. The extent to which someone living in Australia or the UK encounters blandness has much more to do with their own particular circumstances, lifestyle and outlook on life than it has to do with the country they live in.