What It Means To Be Australian: A Simple Guide

By Melida Kopelman 1 year ago

Introduction

I was born and raised in Australia, but I am also American. I have made a conscious decision to study in Australia because it is an amazing place with friendly people and many opportunities to travel to other countries.

You can buy a house with a mortgage and not live there, because it’s a good investment.

  • You can buy a house with a mortgage and not live there, because it’s a good investment.
  • Houses are assets, not just somewhere to live.

You think it’s normal to have 4 or 5 types of lettuce in your fridge.

If you only have one type of lettuce in your fridge, you are missing out. A good Australian is never one to shy away from a salad or two, and they know that variety is key when it comes to making a healthy meal. You may even find yourself with four or five types of lettuce at any given time! This doesn’t mean they’re trying to get as many nutrients as possible; rather, this is just another way we show our commitment to being a nation that doesn’t take ourselves too seriously–and we like our food fresh and exciting (even if it’s just an iceberg).

You can’t remember the last time you saw a spider, let alone had one in your home.

You can’t remember the last time you saw a spider, let alone had one in your home.

This is because Australia has no venomous spiders. You know that thing where you see a spider crawling across your kitchen floor and panic because it might be dangerous? That’s not an issue here! Spiders are actually an important part of our ecosystem and they don’t pose much of a threat to humans at all. In fact, only two species of Australian spiders are medically significant: the redback (Latrodectus hasselti) and its cousin Prospect Hill Black Widow (Lactrodectus mactans). But even these little guys aren’t dangerous unless they bite you–and even then it’s just going to hurt like hell for awhile before fading away into nothingness (unless someone gets bitten by multipleredbacks).

Making it onto the property ladder is more important than having a decent job.

If you’re young, it’s easy to feel like your future is bleak. You might not be able to afford a house, and renting is so expensive that it doesn’t even seem worth it anymore. You have to save up for years before being able to get on the property ladder – and even then, your mortgage payments will probably be more than what you spend on rent now! But don’t worry: once you do buy your first property and start paying off those monthly bills, everything will start looking up again! The best part about buying property is that it’s such a good investment – unlike other forms of saving money (such as putting cash into savings accounts), buying property means that one day soon all those years’ worth of hard work could pay off big time when someone comes along wanting buy this place from me at twice its current value.”

Your favourite fruit has always been mango, even when it was just a smelly yellow blob that came from another country and cost 60 cents.

You’re not sure why it is you love mangoes so much, but you do. Maybe it’s because they’re sweet and juicy and have a delicious smell. Maybe it’s because they come from another country where people speak another language and have different customs. Whatever the reason, when you were a kid your favourite fruit was always mango–even when they were just smelly yellow blobs that cost 60 cents!

You’ve never seen an Aborigine on TV except maybe as part of a tourism ad for Kakadu National Park with crocodiles roaming about aimlessly nearby.

You’ve never seen an Aborigine on TV except maybe as part of a tourism ad for Kakadu National Park with crocodiles roaming about aimlessly nearby.

Aborigines are the indigenous people of Australia, and they have been living here for over 50,000 years. They aren’t a separate race; they are simply the first Australians. There are around 600 different Aboriginal groups in Australia today, each with their own language and culture but all united by their deep connection to this country’s land.

You think all of Australia’s amazing wildlife exists solely for our benefit – not theirs.

You think all of Australia’s amazing wildlife exists solely for our benefit – not theirs.

You might see a koala and think, “Ahh! Cute! I’ll take a photo!” When you’re done getting your photo, you’ll move on to something else without thinking about what that koala wants or needs. You don’t care if the koala has been up all night looking after its baby; it’s still cute enough for you to want to snap a picture of it anyway. This is part of being Australian: we think we own everything here, including animals like kangaroos and koalas who have lived here for thousands of years before us humans arrived on their shores by boat (or plane).

Australia is an amazing place but I love it because it’s so diverse, people are very friendly, there are many opportunities to travel to other countries and most importantly there is plenty of work available!

Australia is an amazing place but I love it because it’s so diverse, people are very friendly, there are many opportunities to travel to other countries and most importantly there is plenty of work available!

I’m not just saying that because I am Australian. My experience has been a great one so far and I look forward to what lies ahead for me here in Australia.

Conclusion

Australia is an amazing place but I love it because it’s so diverse, people are very friendly, there are many opportunities to travel to other countries and most importantly there is plenty of work available!