Aussie Cringe
 

What made you realise . Aaarrrggh! I need to get out of this place.What was it that made you feel that you were in a ehem! "strange country"
BTW I'm not a lower middle class Englishman.

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

There was no dramatic parting of the ways for me, more that I wanted to go home to be with F&F.
But on facebook the other day I did notice a couple of my Aussie mates had joined a "I'm awesome cos I live in Australia" group and that was cringeworthy!

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Not in OZ but US.
This morning having coffee, I said something that only one of the 6 "friends" at the table got! (I can't even remember what I said) Then one I thought was a really good friend mumbles something that amounted to an eye roll, bloody foreigners type comment. I wanted to slap the woman :eek: I'm hoping she was having an off day. I'm ready to lock myself in the house.

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The day i was having coffee in the mall and saw gaggle upon gaggle of "mature" women dressed up in sequin tops, gawdy high heels and dripping in bling just to do the shopping.
I was terrified i would end up like them :eek::eek:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Someone summed it up beautifuly the other day, after a trip to the UK they couldnt face coming back to the mediocre and boring lifestyle that they realised they were getting used to. Thats it, to put up with it you just start to dumb down...

For me I just thought I would go stark raving mad:rofl: if I had to live here the rest of my life:eek:

Look its a great place for a couple of years, but there really isnt that much to hold my attention for a lifetime.

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

I thought I would be decadent and have oysters and they returned deep fried.
Ads for the Good Guys,The big butcher etc.

The farmer wants a wife on telly.

That f****** dirge of a national anthem.

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

I guess for me (living in the Cayman Islands) it was listening to one too many local prats asking "do you know who I am? I am a CAYMANIAN".........

I just had this overwhelming urge to go "A what?" "A who?" "Oh you're a nobody"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Any man that appreciates well made clothes should never be allowed to languish in such a place so devoid of style.:cool:



That and the telly's crap. :rofl:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

I do get rather sick of the news constantly starting with some aussie sport heroes :unsure: wrapping their thighs round each other and gazing at each others butts. :rofl:

Sometimes they even speak, this weeks news, er derm aussie public shocked hero punches his girlfiriend lights out:rolleyes: Yeah what a hero:blink:


I know its boring 'ere but surely something more interesting than that happened today.

Or maybe it didnt:D

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Australia, for me, is a loud arrogant knowitall adolescent and, now, with me being a mellow middleaged lady there is just nothing that we have in common any more. I dont know that there was a defining moment when the cringe factor started, it's always sort of been there but if you can stand back and look at it dispassionately with a mild snort of objective derision that's fine.

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

:rofl::rofl:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

My son was asked "Ford or Holden?"

How about the AFL club songs? . Now I do get embarrased listening to them.

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Oh God, where do you start with a question like this?

I was watching a couple of young Aussie blokes being interviewed by SBS news a number of years back. They had got into some sort of trouble at sea and had to be rescued.
When the interviewer asked one of them -"What helped you cope while you were waiting to be rescued?"
The young guy replied - 'Aawww, mate! Just being Ostrayaaaaan":rolleyes::eek:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Ok so I've mentioned this before.

I remember posters on this site justifying Australia as a great country and mentioning that Leo Sayer,Hank Marvin and now the great Phil Spencer had emigrated to Oz.
I really thought I would piss my pants with that one.

Those sticks with numbers in restaurants make me cringe

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

The penchant for trakkie daks, thongs (if observing a dress code) or bare feet (if not). Lack of a decent haircut (male or female), either no make-up (when they could do with it) or far too much (found another use for the old man's trowel?). My OH did tell my after about six months of living there that I was starting to wear my trakkies outside and that I needed a decent haircut as I was starting to look like 'one of them' - pulled me up short that did and my personal standards are now firmly back in place! ;)

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Now I have questions for those who have lived in OZ.
What are the sticks with numbers in restaurants and what are trakkie daks?

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

haaaaa. can someone find a photo?

This thread is :rofl:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

trakkie daks = jogging bottoms/ tracksuit pants

In a lot of the restaurants they use sticks (i even got a wooden spoon once) with numbers denoting your order number.
But in fairness Morrisons do that here!! But just with laminated number squares

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Has anyone seen Strictly Ballroom?

I remember walking into Myers in Melbourne and seeing women who looked just like that. I thought it was made up...nooooo. It's for realz.

Cringes:

"little aussie battlers" gaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Australia "punching above it's weight" internationally. :rolleyes:
Ostraaaya is the best place everrrrrr (nearly always said by some bogan who never left)

They are not as popular as they think they are. Common question in Vancouver? "Is that an australian accent?" me: "no, nz" them: "oh that's better, I don't really like Ozzies". They're seen as full of themselves. Kinda surprised me to be honest.

Gotta admit trakkie daks are a kiwi thing too. Oh, the shame.

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

I'm married to a kiwi and lived there for a couple of years, and yes, they are prolific there too :o

My husband HATES it if someone mistakes his accent for an Aussie :rofl: He usually says "dont upset me, i'm having a good day so far" :lol:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

OK I get it, then ewww going out in Trakkies is very bad. There's a fast food restaurant here, Carl's Junior who gives you a stand up plastic thing with a number and they deliver to your table, I like it better than standing about and waiting for them to shout and hand you a tray of food.
Hmmm the more I read the less I want to ever visit OZ.

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

I'm a Kiwi too, and when I get mistaken for an Aussie I say 'no need to be so insulting!'. :lol:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

My particular beef is the cringeworthiness of the about to be Aussies. Wanting to go to Oz - what the hell is it with the yellow brick road thing? it's Australia for heavens' sake - say Oz in Australia and the locals will look at you like you just stepped out of a pumpkin. Also, what is it with this Live the Dream type thing? - the fine line between dream and nightmare always makes me think people should be wholly awake before they set off for their "New Life". Hey, I dont know what they think a 24 hour plane ride will do to their lives! Make them all as rich as Donald Trump and look like Elle McPherson??? Give their kids brains that they didnt have in UK????

Heck, I dont know why even thinking about Australia and the image it promotes to the world, wants me cringe - and want to throw up!

OK vent over, I just needed to get that out of my system!

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

Manky hair do's.
Bare feet.
The OZ accent..urghhhh cringey.

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i worked with a guy who was giving me a bit of verbal for being english so i gave it back twice as hard and he said "i know you blokes (english) have the bulldog spirit but over here we have "the cattle dog spirit" !! wtf! :rofl::rofl:

also the saying "have a teaspoon of concrete and harden up"

the words bogan and larikin

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

OH went to an event put on by the Australian consulate, to promote Australia. I think it was tied in with the movie coming out.

He came home :huh:

First of all, there was not enough food for all the guests, and it was cheaply run. It seemed tacky. There were a series of endless and boring self-congratulatory(from the Canadian POV) speeches by ozzie bureaucrats. Then they showed a documentary about the wonders of Australia.

It focused on snakes, crocs and spiders and how lethal they were.

OH was like "What exactly are they trying to sell? Go to Australia and get bitten by a snake?"

Then there was the big TV travel campaign for Australia, again, tied in with that POS movie "Australia". the Line was "where the bloody hell are you?" which was supposed to connect with customers on every continent :rolleyes:

Um, not. Maybe next time they should realise not everyone is in love with Aussie crassness as they are themselves.

And yeah, I don't get the "live the dream" talk either.

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"mateship" as if no one else has mates only Australians

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

:rofl:

Adjective of the week. Let's all use it once this week. :thumbup:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

LOL!:lol:

Having a bad morning Quoll.:rofl:

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AFL players running through the paper banner at the beginning of a game always makes me cringe.

Bare filthy feet,

Bald top of the head, a mullet and goatee combined on one man are a nice look too LOL,

Men wearing really short shorts and worn down thongs. Very fetching, NOT.

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Yikes Quoll, when's your next trip home? Sounds like you're ready for it! ;)

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Agree in general, but must object about the word bogan - they REALLY do need that word in their vocabulary! :D

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To deny Australia the word 'bogan' would be 'un-australian':D

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LOL, was ready for it yesterday. Am thinking of Christmas but DS was talking about coming here for Christmas and I dont know if he will get leave or not (I suspect not) so plans much up in the air at the mo. I do always feel better if I have a trip booked or planned at least.:thumbup:

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

First can I say I have read all of the 3 pages so far and I have had a really good chuckle...made my day!!! I just want to say "What made you realise"........all of the replies to this question are my answers...and a lot more....lol....great therapy.....this though really gets my goat.....Icon....and then Aussie Icon.......I have to breath very slowly when I read that....lol...now an Icon here can be an AFL player,Rugby Player....Movie Star...oh anything....and I get really fed up when I read "I love Australia and will move back one day to raise my kids....just here because of the work" this is usually said by actors,musicians being interviewed for an Australian Magazine (which I honestly only read if I have really,really nothing else to read)...what a load of ...well I will be polite..."tosh".....if your rich and famous you don't need to be overseas and also listening to Aussies in America..they have a slight American accent, Aussies in the U.K they are a slight English accent but low and behold when the same actoros are being interviewed in Australia they sound like Crocodile Dundee...what the.....oh one last thing...the AFL advert on Fox....(played with Irish music) "It's the Fastest, Toughest...biggest game on Earth"...now that is a down right lie...but what the heck the Aussies believe it and there in I end my case....wow do I feel better....

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

I used to get that in Van, with a London accent.

To be honest Vancouverites can also be a tad irritating with their constant, how wonderful is this place attitude.

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the almost tribal/ third-world way many of them wander the streets/shops eg barefoot, shirtless, in pyjamas and slippers and leaving the swimming pool in dressing gowns rather than showering and drying off prior to getting in your car - and I am referring to adults in all of this not children. I will never go grocery shopping barefoot or in my nightie as long as i live (unless of course dementia sets in in which case i may!)

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

was just speaking to my little brother on the phone earlier and something he said about his boss's wife gave me a flashback to a cringeworthy moment that was also a lightbulb moment.

It was on a lunch 'date' with a my relatively new social circle - mainly ex pat women but a few aussies. one of the regulars could not make it so basically the whole time was spent ripping into her - I couldnt believe how mean they were being to someone who was supposedly their friend. Not to sound like a brag, in the UK i enjoyed the company of clever women who had careers, proper hobbies and interests (not just seeing a private trainer once a week), something to say about current affairs etc. so there I am sitting in amongst these completely vacuous women and I am thinking.........."what am I doing here??? get me the flock out of here"

of course I may just have been unlucky and of course there are plenty of ex-pat women who are lovely (me for example LOL)but certain parts of australia do seem to breed these types. its probably just me, but i cringe when i think of how desperate i was just to make some friends. :(

Re: Aussie Cringe
 

I was at work 'client golf day' mainly male clients' I was joking with one english / aussie client I knew well and he happened to trip over landing on my hand.... I laughed and said oops sorry didnt mean to have a quick squeeze.... to which he guffawed and said any time....

5 minutes later a female australian colleague who is around 42 ( i'm 36) took me to one side and expressed how horrified she was I had said that and that I should perhaps aplogies to him .....

That was one point when I just felt like screaming... how bloody small minded and outdated....

women know your place.... AGHHHHHHH I love being home!