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I've spent half of my life in Australia, half in the States.
About 25 years in each.
The differences are apparent both politically and socially.
However, many things are similar.
The standard of living is higher in Australia.
The U.S. has a much higher level of poverty and whilst things are generally cheaper in the states and people tend to have more, in Australia quality is more important.
The big differences to me are family, values and food.
There's a large European culture in Aust which has influenced society greatly since the 60s.
As a previous chef I can tell you that the availability of quality fresh foods is much higher in Australia. I like the little Greek and Italian fruit stores and butchers. Most of these have died in the states; at least on the west coast. The east coast has much better choices and quality of foods than the west coast.
Food is far more important and most in Australia buy quality.
Wine and beer is superior too.
Australia leads the world in wine technology.
The restaurants are among the best in the world, far superior to the states in my experience.
Labor laws are stricter.
There's more security in your job than in the states.
Australians are absolutely better educated too.
Schools are harder, stricter but I feel that's a good thing.
Most Americans don't even know the capital of Australia.
Because they get 4 weeks a year vacation they travel overseas a lot too.
This is where many get educated as travel is a great educator.
They may have a few less toys in their homes but they live better.
They place more importance on the basic and important things in life.
I've spent half of my life in Australia, half in the States.
About 25 years in each.
The differences are apparent both politically and socially.
However, many things are similar.
The standard of living is higher in Australia.
The U.S. has a much higher level of poverty and whilst things are generally cheaper in the states and people tend to have more, in Australia quality is more important.
The big differences to me are family, values and food.
There's a large European culture in Aust which has influenced society greatly since the 60s.
As a previous chef I can tell you that the availability of quality fresh foods is much higher in Australia. I like the little Greek and Italian fruit stores and butchers. Most of these have died in the states; at least on the west coast. The east coast has much better choices and quality of foods than the west coast.
Food is far more important and most in Australia buy quality.
Wine and beer is superior too.
Australia leads the world in wine technology.
The restaurants are among the best in the world, far superior to the states in my experience.
Labor laws are stricter.
There's more security in your job than in the states.
Australians are absolutely better educated too.
Schools are harder, stricter but I feel that's a good thing.
Most Americans don't even know the capital of Australia.
Because they get 4 weeks a year vacation they travel overseas a lot too.
This is where many get educated as travel is a great educator.
They may have a few less toys in their homes but they live better.
They place more importance on the basic and important things in life.
People are far more genuine in Australia too.
I lived in Australia for 4 years and I have been in the US for just over a year now. I don't know where you lived in the US but in my experience where I live in New England has far more superior food choices and quality than in NSW. The meat here is much tastier, the quality of the fruit and vegetables are also far better.
Cost of living may be on par in some areas but generally most things are far cheaper here than Australia, especially electronics and whitewear. I absolutely disagree about quality being better in Australia. There is a lot of cheap junk there from China.
I have met some of the nicest people here with great attitudes and sense of humour that I simply did not experience in Australia. I don't think Australians are any more genuine that any other race on earth.
I've spent half of my life in Australia, half in the States.
About 25 years in each.
The differences are apparent both politically and socially.
However, many things are similar.
The standard of living is higher in Australia.
The U.S. has a much higher level of poverty and whilst things are generally cheaper in the states and people tend to have more, in Australia quality is more important.
The big differences to me are family, values and food.
There's a large European culture in Aust which has influenced society greatly since the 60s.
As a previous chef I can tell you that the availability of quality fresh foods is much higher in Australia. I like the little Greek and Italian fruit stores and butchers. Most of these have died in the states; at least on the west coast. The east coast has much better choices and quality of foods than the west coast.
Food is far more important and most in Australia buy quality.
Wine and beer is superior too.
Australia leads the world in wine technology.
The restaurants are among the best in the world, far superior to the states in my experience.
Labor laws are stricter.
There's more security in your job than in the states.
Australians are absolutely better educated too.
Schools are harder, stricter but I feel that's a good thing.
Most Americans don't even know the capital of Australia.
Because they get 4 weeks a year vacation they travel overseas a lot too.
This is where many get educated as travel is a great educator.
They may have a few less toys in their homes but they live better.
They place more importance on the basic and important things in life.
People are far more genuine in Australia too.
1. Food Quality. I find that the quality of food in the US is much better and there is more choice and cheaper prices. I don't know where you lived in the US but I've lived in NYC, the suburbs of NYC, New Hampshire seacoat and the SF Bay Area and I've never had problems finding superb quality of food. If I were a grower in Chile, I'd go after the US market before making a go for the Aussie market due to sheer size. Larger population = lower prices. I do patronize local farmers markets and you can't get fresher than finding a live caterpillar in your corn (which I set free).
2. Education. Please advise as to what your sources are. I have not found any source that clearly states that Australians are better educated than Americans. I would love to review your sources. From what I found 28% of Americans had Bachelors degrees (4 years). I found a Australian government study that stated that depending on age bracket Australians are catching up or have caught up with the OECD. However, the same survey stated that Australia still lags the levels in the US. Also, the main rankings for Global Universities (Times of London, Shanghai Jiao Tong) show that UK and US unis dominate the tops ranks. ANU does well but it has never been in the global top 15. so if you have an academic source you can share, I'd love to pass it on to my friends doing their PhDs at Adelaide.
3. Genuineness of Aussies. Have found no difference between Aussies, Canadians and Americans. Ive met my share of plastic people in all countries and my share of genuine people in all 3 countries as well. Ive found people are people and its how you approach them.
4. Poverty rate in Australia is 13% (2002 Aus census), in the US it is 12.5% (2007 US census). So pretty comparable.
5. Restaurants better than US. OK.. sources? I like to read up on things. What are reliable global rankings? Is there a Michelin global ranking guide? Otherwise, obviously this would be subjective.
Actually I have been genuinely surprised at the level of education here in NE.
I work with many health professionals who have Master's degrees. Certainly in NZ and Australia that level of advanced qualification was not the norm at all.
On a day to day basis I consider Americans very knowledgeable compared to a fair few of the rural Australians I met.
Well, I suppose it's all very subjective and dependent on region, city, budget, etc., but restaurants here in Perth are an overall disappointment for us, compared to anywhere we've been to in the US. Not just service but food.
It's fallen off in the 10 years we've been here. Traditionally good places now serve blah food, some of it cooked downright poorly. Used to be that your average Italian restaurant here was a good bet. We've dropped a few off our list in the past few years because they've gone down the tubes. Not just after one experience, we've given them a couple of chances. Australians love to rave about Pub Food, but that, too, has been a downer. Expensive for what's basically greasy, unimaginative, poorly cooked food. You can luck out on the odd dish, on the odd day, but go back and 9 times out of 10, you're disappointed.
The Australian thing is to throw bacon on everything, or egg or both. Good way to hide the lack of effort and flavour. Caesar Salads are a heavy mess, with no effort put into making a good dressing because all they do is throw a bunch of chopped up thick bacon, chopped hard boiled egg, way too much cheese, on lettuce coated in thick bottled mayonnaisy dressing, and there you go. For $12-$15 in most places. Blech!
The upside of the whole eating-out debacle here is that it's made me a much more creative, better cook. We eat way better at home than what 85% of the Perth restaurants can serve up. And that's not really bragging, as it's not that hard to supercede food in Perth restaurants. Actually most of what you can get out of the freezer section at Trader Joe's and Costco is far superior to the equivalent in average/above-average restaurants here in Perth.
We've got an amazing variety of local seafood but it's not cheap. $35/kg at least, with some fish up around $65/kg - local stuff too. Lot cheaper to buy frozen crap out of some toxic cesspool sea in Asia. Fruit & veg in local markets are the way to go. Cheaper and better than supermarkets where you can pay close to $2 for one under-ripe peach if you're not careful. Strawberries are great this time of year, direct from the local grower's stand, but they've shot up in price since last year. The same punnet I paid $8 for last year was $12 last week. There are some real gems here as far as fruit, veg, meat, fish but the big difference we found is that you have to work a lot harder to stretch your dollar here - drive further, spend more time shopping. And that's a real b***h for those of us who hate shopping.
Actually most of what you can get out of the freezer section at Trader Joe's and Costco is far superior to the equivalent in average/above-average restaurants here in Perth.
I forgot to add Trader Joe's to the things I missed when I lived in Oz. I craved their mushroom risotto. It was a cheap meal in itself. Too bad I can't send you frozen food stuff from TJ's else I'd do it! Though we know how crazy Australia Customs can get with food items!
2. Education. Please advise as to what your sources are. I have not found any source that clearly states that Australians are better educated than Americans. I would love to review your sources. From what I found 28% of Americans had Bachelors degrees (4 years). I found a Australian government study that stated that depending on age bracket Australians are catching up or have caught up with the OECD. However, the same survey stated that Australia still lags the levels in the US. Also, the main rankings for Global Universities (Times of London, Shanghai Jiao Tong) show that UK and US unis dominate the tops ranks. ANU does well but it has never been in the global top 15. so if you have an academic source you can share, I'd love to pass it on to my friends doing their PhDs at Adelaide.
He/she might have been talking about pre-university education (secondary, main, grammar, whatever you want to call it).
He/she might have been talking about pre-university education (secondary, main, grammar, whatever you want to call it).
Who knows. It was not made clear. I would still like to read the sources that they used to derive their conclusion(s).
Last edited by minibrings; 09-13-2009 at 04:19 PM..
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