Ask Me Anything! Australian Edition!

FallenNinja said:

No idea, never tried one. Never even seen one, for that matter. They don't sell 'em over here.

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Do you have people tell you how much they like your accent? If so,is it common?

Also,I love Australian accents.

I have a number of friends who live in America, several of whom are female, and there's even a guy (Who's straight, which makes it funnier), who tells me that my accent, and the Australian accent in general, is mega-hot. Hard for me to believe, considering I hear it every day all the time, though it was interesting when I visited the States, to be the only Australian in a thousand miles.

Firstly I'd like to say you're country is beautiful. I visited for a month and I'd gladly go back if I could afford it. Your weather is much warmer there than up here in Canada. At least in winter, that is.

Have you ever left Australia for a vacation or trip of any sort? If yes, Where did you go and how did you like it?

Australia has it's perks, sometimes!

And yes, yes I have. I've visited the USA twice. Tucson, Arizona, to be precise... In the middle of Summer, just to make things more interesting. It was interesting, to say the least. There's a lot more variety in places to eat, my first time going to places like Denny's and Ihop, the whole diner thing, I personally love. Shopping was good fun, seeing as we don't have anything like Walmart, and I had plenty of money saved away to spend, and everything was pretty cheap over there was a good bonus. I got caught in a monsoon, went through Border Patrol checks, which had me nervous the first time, but I guess I was white enough for them not to bother checking me... Getting wasted was good fun, and again, surprisingly cheap. Oh! I have to say that Pizza in the States was much bigger and more satisfying than they are here! That was a nice surprise... Spent two days driving up to the Grand Canyon, only for my brain to not be able to process just how damn big it was. Then turned around after being there for like, two hours. There's only so much you can look at something like that before you get bored...

And I've also been to Singapore twice. I have friends who have family there, so we decided to meet up and spend christmas there. Hot, but humid, there was so much activity there. Always something going on, no matter what time of the day. Always something to go see or do, and meeting my friend's family, who live there, was a nice, local touch. Spending an afternoon in a small house with a dozen people, and no air conditioning... It's a trial, but it's really fun at the same time. Lots of life in that place. Needed a lot of showers though... >.> Hot + Humid = Sweaty...

I like travelling, and as I've said before, I'd LOVE to visit Canada one day. Jeez, I've been screwing around with the idea of MOVING there some time in the future, just because it seems awesome.

We have our awesome moments. Although winters here are a lot harsher than Australia, in some areas more than others. If you ever visit there is a lot to see, as each province has its own perks to offer. We have a lot of similarities to the U.S.A, other than our accents and different terminology (I've been told we have accents. I haven't noticed them at all, but supposedly they exist).

In your travels, have you ever been called British for your accent? How does it make you feel?

I've been called a Pom once or twice, but I'm pretty sure it was just to stir some shit. I think, though that if I got genuinely confused for a British person, that I'd be mildly insulted, and compelled to educate the offender in the very great differences between the Australian and British accents. And then go on to further educate them in the differences between ours, and the New Zealand and also the South African accents. Because I've heard a lot of people claim that they all sound similar, but to my ear, that can't be further from the truth.

And yeah, I've heard that Canada can be colder than the devil's balls, but that's what thermal underwear is for, right!? That and being indoors, with a fireplace an junk >.>

One of my best friends is from New Zealand and her accent is quite distinguishable from an Australian one. And only the east side of Canada gets that cold. If you're on either coast the winters aren't bad at all, and the prairies get cold winters, but it rarely goes below -30C (excluding windchill).

What are your favorite perks about living in Australia?

ONLY -30C? Jee, wowzers, that's practically SUMMER! I think the coldest I've ever had was about... -7C, and that was when I was camping as a kid, and I slept through most of it. It's one of the things that I'd seriously have to steel myself for, if I ever moved to Canada, but like I said, it means more reasons to own a fireplace. Which is awesome.

One of my favourite perks about living in Australia... Would probably be that I work a data entry job that's barely above minimum wage, and make more than $20 an hour. It's pretty nice. Though that does only balance out the Australia Tax, where we pretty much pay double for just about everything, and when it comes to housing, you'd best bend over and lube up, 'cause you're in for a rough ride.

Where I live -30C is a blessing compared to some areas in Canada. Yes it is cold, but a few layers, and a fireplace always help. We are also cheaper than Australia. I only know this from visiting Australia and paying double or more for everything that we have back here too.

Out of curiosity, what is minimum wage in Australia? Or is it different in each state/territory?

I think the lowest you can legally pay someone here, is $17 an hour. That being said, I think that depending on the kind of work you're doing, e.g. Construction, Office Work, IT, etc. The minimum wage can change depending on which one your job falls under. Generally higher than $17 an hour though...

Wow our minimum wage in my city province is $10...and I don't know about eastern |Canada, but most of western Canada has the same minimum wage. I'd love to make $17 an hour! Although with the conversion rate I'm sure it almost equals out.

What is your biggest turn off(s) in a person?

Oh, you'd be surprised at how strong the Australian Dollar is. At the moment, $1AUD = $1.02CAD, so yeah, you'd be making MORE money over there after conversion. We just pay twice as much for everything, that's all.

My biggest turnoffs in a person would probably be... Smoking. I really, REALLY can't stand it. Stinks, and it lingers, and just... Yeeaah. Also, stupid people. It might sounds a little snobbish of me, but I can't stand Bogan/White Trash kind of people. They're usually ignorant, angry, disrespectful people that just irk me the wrong way, from the way they dress, to the way they speak, to the way they act.

I feel like I should probably add an addendum to that point, in that, I don't necessary HATE Bogan/White Trash people, but I generally expect the worst from them on sight. I've known a few that are REALLY nice people, and REALLY helpful, but it seems around here, in this day and age, that that's the rare exception to the rule.

Canada could take a few notes from Australia. More for the minimum wage, less for the crazy prices. And yes smoking can be annoying. Stupid people moreso, because it's irritating.

Any pet peeves?

Too many to count. In a literary stance, people who can't grammar right. People who are inconsiderate get on my nerves pretty quick. When you're trying to help someone, but they just get angry at you no matter what you do.

WHEN PEOPLE DON'T CLEAN UP THEIR OWN MESSES. Biggest pet peeve I have, definitely.

Those all seem like logical pet peeves. I agree with the grammar one; very annoying trying to read sentences with numbers substituting letters, or abbreviations on every second line. Although it annoys me more when people repeat sentences, or even words over and over within a sentence. Coming from a writer's eyes it is very irritating.

I believe I've run out of questions off the top of my head. Wait, I have one more.

What philosophies motivate your life, if any?

I actually super hate it when people repeat themselves when you're talking to them, as in a discussion, or something like that. It's like... I heard them the first time, saying it over and over again doesn't change what I think, or change facts, I haven't forgotten what you said ten seconds ago, so there's no need for you to say the exact same thing over, unless I ask you to repeat yourself.

The philosophies that I currently roll with are probably best summed up as; Take one thing at a time, go with the flow, and prioritise on what's important. It's perfectly cool to have a long term goal, but always focus on one thing at a time, take one step, don't get overwhelmed by all the steps that you need to take to get to where you're going. Don't stress if life throws you a curveball, just try and go with it, think it through and see where it can take you, or if you can just deal with it. And don't let the mundane things in your life take up your focus, always keep your eye on the prize, always remember what you're striving for, what you want to do, where you want to be.

I've actually cut my hours back at work lately, so I can start a full time Software Development course, to try and get my life on track and sorted. First classes actually start in a week pretty much, so I'm getting a little nervous/anxious. But yeah, one step at a time, one class at a time, till I get to the end of it.

Great philosophy! Simple, easy to remember, and works for a wide variety of things.

Have you read any good books lately?

The last books I read were the Song of Ice and Fire books, but that was a while ago. Been reading through the SCP Wiki lately, just to kill time on the daily commute, to and from work.