Jump to content
  • entries
    353
  • comments
    2,639
  • views
    159,213

A Canadian in Australia


SPIRIT

881 views

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.

 

:flagcanada: :flagaus:

Oh good, they have both of these emoticons.

  • Upvote 5

7 Comments


Recommended Comments

When my parents visited Australia and told people they were from Alaska, the locals still thought they were Canadian. I've heard the Canadian > American thing happens in a lot of countries.

 

:music:

Link to comment

as a canadian, do you think other canadians are jerkbags, because apparently that's a thing.

Well I once worked at a national call centre back in Canada so absolutely yes.

  • Upvote 6
Link to comment

When my parents visited Australia and told people they were from Alaska, the locals still thought they were Canadian. I've heard the Canadian > American thing happens in a lot of countries.

 

:music:

Americans have a bad international reputation, from what I hear. We're selfish entitled brats. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment

Whenever I've gone abroad people don't seem to have much trouble picking me as an American once I open my mouth. Usually they also get a lucky guess (based on stereotypes) that I'm from Texas.

 

I think I'd rather them puzzle over it.

Link to comment

 

as a canadian, do you think other canadians are jerkbags, because apparently that's a thing.

Well I once worked at a national call centre back in Canada so absolutely yes.

 

 

yeah I must agree

(was probably luroka's original source)

Link to comment

 

 

as a canadian, do you think other canadians are jerkbags, because apparently that's a thing.

Well I once worked at a national call centre back in Canada so absolutely yes.

 

 

yeah I must agree

(was probably luroka's original source)

 

(actually no its just something i've heard)

Link to comment
Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...