Hi, This post is primarily directed at the Czech natives. I am just curious to know what do Czechs think of Australia and Australians?? Even if you have not visited Australia, can you please tell me what you think of Australia, as a place to visit, live and what you think of the people?? Also, how is Australia portrayed in Czech Republic?? Thanks!
Well, I think The Gods Must Be Crazy takes place in Africa - in Kalahari desert. Besides having some friends in Australia, I learned a lot about Australia from the inspector Bony mysteries written by Arthur W. Upfield.
Actually there's quite a big czech community in Sydney (I think it's even the second biggest one (after Chicago)). During the communist era many people who fled from Czechoslovakia settled there so I gather they must generally like Australia for some reason, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered travelling to the very opposite side of the planet.
Evian, I'm not Czech but I have known several Aussies in my day. One thing that strikes me is that all the Aussies I have ever been in contact with have been very funny and humorous people. I had the pleasure of being in the company of a couple of very outgoing Aussie girls once while in Tokyo. They were working in a hostess bar on a 6 month contract. Those girls were so glad to see a white guy walk in that place! That was a night I'll never forget. Aussie chicks rule!! Paul
What's not to be liked about Australia? It's beautiful, peaceful, has good climate, lots of different cultures sharing a country without any apparent trouble etc.. I read a study a while ago (sorry, cannot remember the details to be able to refer to it) that stated Melbourne to be, all things considered, the most liveable city in the world. (UPDATE: apparently this survey was done by The Economist in 2002 and Melbourne shared the 1st ranking with Vancouver. "Melbourne was rewarded for its excellent lifestyle based on outstanding scores for safety, culture and environment, education, recreation, weather and infrastructure") My aunt's family flew to Australia for a vacation back in 1991 for a few months. We're still waiting for them to return
Snakes and sharks, maybe? Only joking. I see Australia in a similar way. I cannot remember any trouble in the world caused by Australians - very few powerful countries can say this.
Thats quite surpirsing, as many Australians don't paticularly like Melbourne (other than of course Melbourners), probably because of its extreme climates and very industrialised compared to other large cities in Australia. I know I'd prefer Vancouver.And that seems strange, because Brisbane was actually voted Australia's most liveable city - don't know who by. :? I have always wanted to visit Eesti (Estonia) aswell as Riga, Latvia. They seem like such nice, clean places obsessed with their national identity. By the way, what really did happen to your aunt's family hahahah??!! They can't of stayed in Australia on vacation for over 13 years lol???!!!
Well I guess that pretty much depends on who's doing the survey. I'll come and see both Brisbane and Melbourne sometime soon and conduct a survey of my own We like to call it being proud of our national identity When national identity is all you've had left of your country for 50 years, it's pretty normal. It is also natural to small nations in general. Met any Icelanders lately? You will be very welcome in Estonia. Cannot vouch for Latvia there... Australia is a very hospitable country. I have two second cousins now on that side of the family, and neither of them speak Estonian as their first language
Australians? Fun-loving, relaxed, adventurous, athletic and -- if I'm not mistaken -- they beat Czechs in beer consumption per capita. :wink:
Ah, well, but Fosters is not beer now, is it? I'm sure many countries beat the Czechs in water consumption
Course they do, even per capita. Beer is better than water and what is more important, beer is usually the cheapest drink you get in pubs. Eva: I've made some Googling - Czechs seem to keep their long-term standard of 160 liters per year per capita (babies and non-drinkers included) in the last 10 years. I have not found up-to-date figures for Australia, but this material (pdf) indicates about 100 liters in the late 90's.
Huh... if we take it that maybe half of the whole population drink beer, it would be 320 litres per face. A beer in a pub is usually half a litre, so that's 640 beers per year, which makes more than 12 per week. Now if one were to limit his drinking to Fridays and Saturdays, it would mean 6 beers both nights. Every week throughout the year. And that's just the average!
Well, there is a considerable amount of people who finish their workdays with ten or so beers in a pub Also, many families still buy a box (25 half-litre bottles) or two on Saturday shopping - many traditional Czech meals just ask for a beer. My average is about three or four beers a week, occasionally more (I had six 12° ones this Tuesday, but don't tell anyone ). With this, I am somewhere near the middle of the Gauss curve, I guess.
Yes well, considering the statistics, if beer was available in Australia for the same price as it is in the CR, there'd probably be no Australians left to tell
Yesterday in Mlada Fronta Dnes, the front page stated that Czechs are embarressd to be the largest consumers of beer in the world....they still hold the title on consumption per person/liter. They surpassed the Germans 3 years ago...Australia isnt even a contender ! BTW- I too would like to see Latvia, but not until they get a new national anthem! OH OH OH Latvia is not cutting it :} In beer there is wisdom, in Vodka there is love, and in water there is bacteria :-{
I stand corrected although I don't think that the statistics are fair. There are many tourists helping themselves to beer and that drives the numbers up. Or am I wrong again?
