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Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by quoll
(Post 10038998)
TBH most Australians couldnt give a toss whether you are a Pom or not. As long as you dont keep on with the "back home we" or "we used to do it this way ..." you will be just fine. Of course there is racism and it isnt far from the surface - the waves of migration have made different ethnic groups the pariahs at some stage or another but with white skins and speaking English, the Poms dont come in for a share of the baiting beyond the "whingeing Pom" these days. There are other groups now which have taken the place of the Poms, Wogs and Slopes (not meaning to be racially offensive here but Aussies do have words for waves of migrants!) in the target zone
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Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by Pollyana
(Post 10039306)
My recent experience - after discussion with workmates who were equally horrified at the way I was spoken to - has led me to believe that using comments like "whinging pom" is just a handy insult. Instead of just getting abusive and swearing at a person, as someone might with another Aussie, they use some handy well-known phrases believing that those can then be dismissed as "banter". Certainly the person who abused me recently was rather stunned when the message was passed back to him that I was considering whether to complain about racial harassment in the workplace - its not something expected from Brits in Aus.
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Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by ROMFT_WO2RN
(Post 10039596)
Now if he'd called you a "whinging Taff", that would have been both accurate and acceptable :sneaky:
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Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by Amazulu
(Post 10038376)
I'm not a Pom so would never hit a woman
http://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/organise/gender.html South Africa has the highest rate of rape and wife battering in the world. One out of every four women are beaten by their partners |
Re: Australian attitudes
I lived in Perth 10 years ago. I was only small but I remember my parents having no Australian friends. Mum loves meeting new people and getting out and about, she asked if anyone wanted to go for a coffee after an exercise class and apparently the women looked at her like she had two heads. Obviously, it wasn't the 'done thing'. I remember Aussies being really cliquey(?) and keeping with their 'own kind'. The only friends we had as a family were either British or Greek. Hopefully, things have changed.
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Re: Australian attitudes
Some people make sarcastic comments about The behavior of our ancestors( as if that is our generation's responsibility) and there are concerns that Pommies come over here to tell Aussies how to do it better regarding working practices. In my view, some Australians fell intimidated by Brits and need time to get to know you. The friendliness can be superficial and it does take time to make real friends as opposed to acqaintances
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Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by Rljacobs
(Post 10040267)
I lived in Perth 10 years ago. I was only small but I remember my parents having no Australian friends. Mum loves meeting new people and getting out and about, she asked if anyone wanted to go for a coffee after an exercise class and apparently the women looked at her like she had two heads. Obviously, it wasn't the 'done thing'. I remember Aussies being really cliquey(?) and keeping with their 'own kind'. The only friends we had as a family were either British or Greek. Hopefully, things have changed.
To the OP, you'll honestly hardly be noticed amongst the many different accents here. |
Re: Australian attitudes
I havent really noticed any difference between peoples attitude to immigrants in either country, most of the problem here in the UK seems to be some of the media (Daily Fail).
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Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by Kim67
(Post 10040660)
What exactly is our 'own kind'? Australia is so culturally diverse that even within families there may be many different ethnicities. In my own ancestry I have Italian, Irish, English, Welsh, Belgian (that I can recall off the top of my head) add to that the ethnicities that have since come into our family, Greek, Indigenous Australian, Philipino to name but a few. Where did you parents live in Perth? The reason a lot of Brits don't have many Australian friends, is they often gravitate towards newer suburbs popular with British Expats but not so popular with a lot of born and bred Australians.
To the OP, you'll honestly hardly be noticed amongst the many different accents here. |
Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by hobbis
(Post 10040404)
Some people make sarcastic comments about The behavior of our ancestors( as if that is our generation's responsibility) and there are concerns that Pommies come over here to tell Aussies how to do it better regarding working practices. In my view, some Australians fell intimidated by Brits and need time to get to know you. The friendliness can be superficial and it does take time to make real friends as opposed to acqaintances
I didn't really have Australian friends until I joined the army. Sharing a fire/beer/shower/hole made me some of my best friends... :) |
Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by Rljacobs
(Post 10040267)
I lived in Perth 10 years ago. I was only small but I remember my parents having no Australian friends. Mum loves meeting new people and getting out and about, she asked if anyone wanted to go for a coffee after an exercise class and apparently the women looked at her like she had two heads. Obviously, it wasn't the 'done thing'. I remember Aussies being really cliquey(?) and keeping with their 'own kind'. The only friends we had as a family were either British or Greek. Hopefully, things have changed.
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Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by brits1
(Post 10041190)
I think its how you approach your knew life overseas...and that's just not in Aus....if you go with the mentality of walking round wearing your say sports shirts from your old country (ie Welsh,Irish etc) rather than say supporting Australia then you might get the odd comments and rightly so. I knew expats who were 3rd generation Aussies but still supported and spoke their old language at home first!!!!! We had friends that for the whole part were non British mainly other expats from around the globe and a few Australians (all be it well travelled Aussies)friends as well so we fitted in, I am not a believer in labelling anyone with a name and it's well meant...ie Pakies, Woops, Choogies, Poms and I will not mentioned some of the nicknames I have heard for Aboriginals while in Aus....(ironic as everyone apart from the latter is a migrant to Australia) its just not needed. Good luck and all the best for your new life in Aus.
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Re: Australian attitudes
I find that none minds references to the UK as long as you're not a git about it...
believe it or not plenty of Australians know about and are interested in other countries.... |
Re: Australian attitudes
Here's a question..
Why are Australians and Australian culture seen as such a novelty and so alien to people in countries such as the UK and throughout Europe when effectively most Australians are European by ancestry anyway and came out from the UK and Europe in relatively recent times? The general culture in Australia is still predominantly a British/European one. For all I know I, and many other Australians, could be distantly related to any one of the posters on here given the fact that most of us have considerable UK ancestry (albeit in my case mainly Scottish and Cornish therefore Celtic). Most of my ancestors lived in the UK and took their culture with them when they came to Australia therefore passing it down to me (as is done in families over generations). The same holds true for the vast majority of Australians, I think the current figure is around 70% of people in Australia who have mostly British Isles ancestry. Australian's have more in common with you lot than many of you are willing to concede. :p |
Re: Australian attitudes
Originally Posted by ProudVIC
(Post 10041329)
Here's a question..
Why are Australians and Australian culture seen as such a novelty and so alien to people in countries such as the UK and throughout Europe when effectively most Australians are European by ancestry anyway and came out from the UK and Europe in relatively recent times? The general culture in Australia is still predominantly a British/European one. For all I know I, and many other Australians, could be distantly related to any one of the posters on here given the fact that most of us have considerable UK ancestry (albeit in my case mainly Scottish and Cornish therefore Celtic). Most of my ancestors lived in the UK and took their culture with them when they came to Australia therefore passing it down to me (as is done in families over generations). The same holds true for the vast majority of Australians, I think the current figure is around 70% of people in Australia who have mostly British Isles ancestry. Australian's have more in common with you lot than many of you are willing to concede. :p Wanders off to find where the tin hat is...... |
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