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please don't take offence

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Beatka, some form of reverse snobbery has come in in the last 20 years or so- many Aussies actively seek a convict background! It used to be a mark of shame.

Your perception of us as a nation of unique animals is fairly common, but as a high proportion of us live in the cities, many Aussies have never seen a kangaroo or emu in the wild.

I think we live in a Paradise, but I may be just a liitle biased ..

Pardon me for introducing a negative note into this, but more than a few Yanks of my acquaintance really dislike Australia, as they entered into that nasty Anschluss with Hitler in '38 or thereabouts, and they gave us that terrible Kurt Waldheim who magically forgot about four years of his life. "Ah-nult" movies (with the possible exception of Kindergarten Cop) generally stink, and just try getting a table at any of Wolgang Puck's restaurants! And that stupid "Sound of Music" movie--what a bunch of malarkey! They didn't run from the Nazis by taking to the mountains; in point of fact they took a train!

ROFL!

Coolupway, don't be so negative about Australia or any other country, just think how many atrocities one might accuse the U.S. of!

Yes, among other atrocities, many of our citizens are unable to distinguish between a straight post and a facetious one.

You’re so right Beata. Look in your own backyard Coolup. US atrocities huh! If it wasn't for the US hindering Japans attempt to establish a base in north Australia we would have a neat rail bridge running from Jakarta to Darwin. It would have been a lot easier getting to Bali and nobody would ever have to fly Garuda Airlines again! Thanks a lot. You yanks should be ashamed.

And don't have a sly shot at Arnie. He part owns half the holly planet and I heard he knows Nicole, therefore he's one of ours and we look after our own. Any man that drives a vehicle that most modern armies don't have the technology to knock off the road is a mate of mine!

I can't defend Julie Andrews though...

Bertho and Beatka, coolup just got you both, but good!

He had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when he posted- he said nothing about Australia... re-read the post, and think of AUSTRIA

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But it is bizzare you must admit.

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We are a bizzare lot- why else would we live in a land where every second animal is capable of poisoning us?

I did my family tree, and unfortunately my forebears were law-abiding settlers- we only arrived (from that little cold and wet group of islands called England) in 1850...

I will definitely miss this thread a lot, but I have to put an end to this discussion for now, because I am going away for a few days to this fairy-tale little country named Luxembourg that cannot be accused of committing any atrocities except for being home to some of the European Union institutions .

Yes, I know about the "Anschluss" of Austria and Kurt Waldheim being Austrian, it just crossed my mind that Coolup must have gone crazy . But please note that I told him: don't be so negative about Australia or any another country! .

Btw I have been to Austria and had some great friends there, so Coolup stay away from that country, too! .

Lol, I got it Ozz. I was giving the Sepo's a back handed compliment. I've read too many of Coolups posts to get sucked in.

I see no one yet has defended Julie Anthony.

Have fun in Luxor Beata

Our country? I'll let someone else sum it up:

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die-
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold-
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land-
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand-
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

My Country by Dorothea Mackellar (1885 - 1968)

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Want to know a bit more? See here.

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Sa there yous go: it's not just about kangaroos, koalas, crocodile wrestling, sports (including cockroach races, thong throwing, or any other for that matter), Les Patterson (*shudder*) and beer swilling ockers and sheilahs!

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Julie Anthony, you say Bertho? She sings the best version of our national anthem at footy games! Oh, and Julie Andrews can sing too!!

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So ... Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?

This place (where I live) is reeling in shock at present, we have just had a Senatorial by-election and one candidate had spent 30 years in Australia - oh boy did he have a different style of electioneering to the norm! We are used to quiet good manners and a clean fight, this guy was gloves off and went for the jugular. This is the first time we have had cheering and booing at hustings.

Your guy won, now the fun will really begin, he intends being a one-man opposition. Yeah, he had my vote.

Coolupway, I thought your comment about Kurt Waldheim etc. was sensationally. Thanks for the laugh!!

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I have secretly thought that Australia must have a top-notch education system to produce so many quick and witty souls

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It would seem so Lea. I can only say that most of our resources for teaching are now coming from Australia and New Zealand, who seem to know what is needed in a truly practical sense, especially in EAL teaching. I can't tell you how useful the reading schemes and back up materials for Phonics and comprehension are, and how enjoyable and appropriate the children learning to read find the graded schemes. Compared to the stuff available in UK , it is all very refreshing.