A Canadian in Australia
So today marks 365 days of me living in Australia (in addition to it being Canada Day) and it's certainly been an interesting year for me. In this entry, I will talk about my average interaction when meeting an Australian for the first time.
When Australians hear me speak, it doesn't take long for them to realize that something is awry. The more tentative Australians will ask where I'm from, but the bolder ones will flat out guess, which I always find much more interesting. To some Australians, I apparently sound either Irish or English, but those with better hearing can easily detect my North Americanness.
And when they do, you can see the internal struggle on their face as they try to guess whether I'm American or Canadian. Ultimately, it's a fruitless exercise since urban middle class Americans (for the most part) sound just like urban middle class Canadians. Anyway, once they've gotten this far down the conversation, the Australian must make a choice: is he Canadian or American? It normally goes like this.
"Are you American?"
"No, I'm Canadian."
"Oh no, I'm so sorry."
Alternatively.
"Are you Canadian?"
"Yes."
"Oh, thank goodness. I wanted to say American, but I didn't want to offend you."
So yeah. Australians love Canadians and think calling us Americans is the worst insult ever. Clearly they are not aware of our reputation for politeness and easygoingness.
Oh good, they have both of these emoticons.
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