I’m a pretty big movie buff, and a hardcore trekkie (nerd alert!) to boot. Last night, at the Sydney Opera House, J.J. Abrams and the cast of the new Star Trek movie had their world debut. The red carpet was rolled out, reporters were everywhere, but sadly, I was unable to attend.
Today, Hugh Jackman and the cast of the new X Men Origins movie are premering the movie at the famous Cockatoo Island, in the middle of the harbour – one of set locations for the movie.

So why Sydney? Is it because each film features a prominent Australian actor (Star Trek has Eric Bana, while Xmen has Hugh Jackman)? Is it because of the favourable exchange rate between the American and Australian dollar? Or is it because Sydney is truly a destination city, and people (actors and directors included) want to find an excuse to travel here?

Whatever it may be, Sydney seems to have been getting a lot of press lately. It’s a good thing too, the Australian economy needs all the help it can get, and showcasing two big movie world premieres in some of the most scenic parts of Sydney is likely to do some good. As for the movies, I’m excited to see both, but Star Trek – that’s the one I’ll be in line for on opening night. Yes, I’m a trekkie. And proud of it.

My long haitus on the site has been the result of a 2 week holiday back to the States. Back to visit family, to visit my 2 week old neice, and to further plan for my upcoming wedding in September. It was a good trip; no a great trip, but it was a whirlwind of a trip nonetheless. Two weeks of nonstop activities has me longing for a holiday from my holiday. It’s good to be home though. It’s very good to be home. While I miss my friends and family, and always will, I’ve realised that Australia fits me. It’s a really good fit actually. Fifteen minutes into my drive from the Los Angeles airport, I remembered why I was always frustrated on Southern California highways. Fifteen minutes into a shopping experience at a local mall in San Diego, I remembered why an economy of scale has its positives and negatives. Fifteen minutes after I left, I remembered that I’m 7,000 miles away from my closest friends and family.

Living overseas has always been an adventure, but after returning home for the first time since leaving 18 months ago, I’ve been able to refresh my thoughts and truly understand and remember why I was so excited and jazzed about moving to another country. More specifically, Australia.

The majority of my trip was spent in San Diego, however between my partner and I, we had trips to Los Angeles (Disneyland), San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Each of these locales, although all quite different from each other, had traits that very similiar; traits that I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed had I not been out of the country for the past 18 months.

1.) Excess - That’s right, excess. America is all about excess. I love food, a lot, but I found myself rarely being able to finish the meal that was given to me. The portions were absolutely huge. People say that I’ve lost weight since moving to Australia. I was never THAT big to begin with, but I suppose I can see why. Unlimited refills on drinks (not a common occurance in Australia), towering mountains of french fries and more salad dressing that I know what to do with sat before me at almost every meal I had. I must say though, the unlimited refills on coffee struck a very pleasing chord.
Especially in Las Vegas, where excess is the norm, everything (and I mean everything/everyone) was in excess. Drinking, gambling, food ($9 Prime Ribs) were abundant. You couldn’t help but be surrounding by an uneccesarily large amount of everything, everywhere you went.

2.) Traffic - Traffic, and the way people drive. Large suburbans driven by soccer moms who, according to them, are the single most important person on the freeway, made only worse by the fact that they’re tailgating you in the slow lane because your 75mph just isn’t fast enough for them. Perhaps I’m stereotyping, perhaps not. Either way, drivers in Souther California as a whole, don’t use their blinkers, don’t let you in when merging, don’t understand where the fast lane is, and seem to think that driving 90mph while talking on their cellphone, weaving in and out of traffic in their SUV to get to their destination 2 minutes earlier, is the most important issue of the day.

3.) Outlook - This may seem a bit weird, but American’s need to lighten up, myself included. Things are too serious. Watching newcasters on TV, seeing people interact in a business environment, daily life seems to be a bit to rigid. Now I’m not saying that Americans don’t know how to have a good time, but c’mon, life is funny. Laugh at yourself, slow down, smell the roses. It’s not all about rushing from one place to another and checking things off your list. I know everyone has that kind of day every once in awhile, but have a chat with the barista at the coffee shop, talk to your coworkers, understand what’s going on around you. People tend to shut themselves off in Southern California. Windows on their cars are up with the A/C full blast, people walking around with iPods on, they order their coffee whilst on the phone, barely giving the person working the time of day; this is the kind of stuff that is a stark difference for me, between Australia and America.

While life would be different in any country, and each have their positives and negatives, this past trip has shown me that my decision to live in Australia was a good one. It’s one that has more positives than negatives associated with it, and although it has put me 7000 miles away from a great number of people that are important to me, I know that the ones that are truly great friends and great family members we’ll see on a pretty regular basis. To be honest, between Skype, Vonage VOIP, and email, I talk to my parents on almost a daily basis, and my closest friends almost every other day. The world is getting smaller. Maybe that’s a good thing? Fifteen years ago, Australia would have felt a lot further away, more isolated.

Either way, I love it here.

Australians have always been considered some of the more relaxed and friendly people that you’ll ever meet as you travel throughout the world.

But is this changing?



As the world gets smaller through the advent of modern technology, this wonderful country isn’t as removed as it once was from the rest of the world. All of a sudden, Australia isn’t a big island in the middle of the ocean anymore. Australia is now a major player on the world market, and a “no worries” attitude doesn’t necessarily cut it when dealing with the international business market. The world is becoming a much more competitive place, and as it grows smaller, the fight to keep your head above water can become a bit more difficult. The “no worries” attitude doesn’t always fly. How long will we be able to hold on to this laid back attitude?

I’m not going to sit here and predict if the Australian outlook on life will change over the coming years, as it would be futile. It’s not if, but when. Australia has had an influx of immigrants from overseas over the last decade. Almost 1 in 4 residents of Sydney are foreign born, and when you have that kind of exterior influence on a country, customs and attitudes will change. While these can change rather quickly, stereotypes don’t. Fortunately, Australia has a great stereotype on the international scene, and these stereotypes aren’t shunned by the average Aussie. Backyard BBQ’s while throwing back a few stubbies and appreciating your close mates is part of what makes you an Aussie. While I’m relatively new to this lifestyle, only being in Australia for about 14 months now, these stereotypes are easy to adopt.

While Australia becomes a more of a world player, it’ll never be a economic benchmark. But Australians seem to be OK with that.

I would too, especially if that meant holding on to a “No Worries!” attitude.

Have a look at this:

“Australians are still heavily dependent on cars to get around but a few more of us are getting public transport to work. Almost every household recycles or reuses some waste, but every Australian produces 1.6 tonnes of rubbish each year, most of which goes straight to a tip. De-facto relationships are up sharply, but marriage is still by far the norm.

Welcome to the confusing kaleidoscope of an ageing, worried, generally healthy, slightly overweight nation portrayed in Year Book Australia 2008. Governor-General Michael Jeffery launched the annual snapshot of Australia in Canberra this morning. The 780-page tome, produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is an occasionally quirky look at the country and how it sees itself.

For instance, seven in 10 adults believe their own neighbourhoods are over-run with crime and public nuisances, with car hoons copping the most stick. Forty per cent of Australians complained of dangerous and noisy driving in their areas, while 33 per cent feared burglaries and 25 per cent worried about vandalism. Yet just 3 per cent of households had a break-in during the 12 months surveyed and 1 per cent of households reported a car theft. That said, if your car was pinched, it was pretty unlikely to have been retrieved. Only 11 per cent of stolen cars were recovered within a month.

The snapshot shows the median age of Australia’s 20.7 million population is 36.6 years, up 5.5 years over the past 20 years and likely to get older and older. While there seem to be some signs of a mini baby boom in some suburbs recently, the fertility rate of 1.81 births per woman (up from 1.73 births per woman in 2001) is still way below that required to replace the number of people dying or departing these shores. In the real baby boom years after World War II, rates peaked at 3.5 babies per woman in 1961. Marriages seem to be lasting marginally longer, with the average time between the altar and the divorce court being 12.6 years, up from 11.9 years a decade ago. And while there are many more de-facto couples now than at the beginning of the decade, rising by 25 per cent to almost 1.2 million people, this still represented only 15 per cent of all people who lived as “socially married”.”

It’s an interesting report, this”annual snapshot” is. It almost portrays the country as trying so very hard to keep its head above water, but can’t. More people leaving this country than births? I suppose they don’t factor in the amount of people who WANT to immigrate here. The social attitude is a far cry from the picture this report paints. Perhaps it’s just that this reporter decided that it was better to concentrate on the bad statistics seeing as, and as much as I hate to agree, bad news and negativity is what makes news. There’s never breaking news about the good events that go on in our lives these days.

Australia is a strong country, and is getting stronger everyday. It’s a country that is starting to realise that it can stand on it’s own two feet and become a world player without having to lean on America. Noise, the lack of births, defacto relationships; these all point to a growing country. The country is expanding, women are staying longer in the work force, and the focus isn’t entirely on marriage anymore, but rather a career.

Is this necessarily bad news?

I recently came across a discussion that sparked my interest.

Do we, as a culture believe that being intelligent is a virtue? Do we think smart people are “stuck up”? Do we value educational achievement as a society or only in individual families? I’ve had people tell me that they never watch the news, read a paper or check out a news site on the internet. Do adults in our society value learning new things or is it viewed as acting “intellectually superior” to do that?

I was never the “smartest kid” in the class growing up, but often times felt there were some kids that just didn’t care about their education, and it was evident that their parents didn’t either. These kids often ridiculed the kids that took their education seriously, and would make it known that they “looked down” on them. This behavior, as I look back on it, was prevalent from middle school through college. It seems to me that this behavior isn’t necessarily a “one off” thing, but something that is in fact inherent in American society.

Could this be a worldwide epidemic, or a trait found only in America?

Do you like American football, or as some refer to it, “Gridiron”? Well, if you’re moving to America, you don’t necessarily have to like it, but you’ll need to accept it. You see, Superbowl Sunday isn’t all about football. Granted it revolves around the big game, but it’s also a day for many Americans to get together to socialise, eat great food (well, junk food) and enjoy the day with friends. As a matter of fact, this is the second biggest snack day of the year. Research by the Calorie Control Council and the Snack Food Association finds that Americans will eat 30 million pounds of snacks on the big game day. That breaks down to 11.2 million pounds of potato chips, 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips, 4.3 million pounds of pretzels, 3.8 million pounds of popcorn and 2.5 million pounds of nuts. So, sit down and tune in to the most watched game of the year. For many people across the country, Superbowl Sunday is a break from the monotony of winter and the snow that’s piling up outside. Although not technically an American holiday, it’s truly an American tradition.

Even casual sports fans will take part. After all, watching the great ads are as much a part of the game as the game itself. Advertisers spend millions of dollars for a 30 second advertising spot during the game, so naturally, the ads are generally top notch. It’s where many advertisers put their best foot forward and release their new advertising theme for the year. Watching commercials has never been so much fun.

So sit back, and enjoy the game, enjoy the food, but most importantly, enjoy the company.