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Old 04-21-2011, 08:02 AM
 
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Agree with most all that has been mentioned. Speaking for myself have never found Australians to be particually open folk (,in fact i would go as far as to say inhibited) now nor twenty five plus years ago. With the advances in technology,as others have stated,this has somewhat accelerated the lack of direct communication further.
It can be a rather lonely place for many......
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Old 04-21-2011, 08:48 AM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by the troubadour View Post
Agree with most all that has been mentioned. Speaking for myself have never found Australians to be particually open folk (,in fact i would go as far as to say inhibited) now nor twenty five plus years ago. With the advances in technology,as others have stated,this has somewhat accelerated the lack of direct communication further.
It can be a rather lonely place for many......
No, I put a lot of this down to our strong ties to Britain, a country famous for it's reserve. Despite this, I find many Britons actually more open to actually talking with you/having a bit of banter with you than Australians. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but I have found say Italian Australians, despite the fact they are still Australians, a little more open/expressive than Anglo Australians.
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Old 04-21-2011, 04:05 PM
 
Location: Newcastle NSW Australia
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Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
No, I put a lot of this down to our strong ties to Britain, a country famous for it's reserve. Despite this, I find many Britons actually more open to actually talking with you/having a bit of banter with you than Australians. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but I have found say Italian Australians, despite the fact they are still Australians, a little more open/expressive than Anglo Australians.
Obviously WA is still more British influenced than any other state in Australia, I don't want to keep raving on about that.
British accents are somewhat of a rarity in many parts of the east, compared with their spectacular presence in WA.
And another thing, just because they talk more does not equate to friendliness.
We got to know some Brits in WA, but they don't want to know you the minute they learn you are leaving the place.
This is not necessarily a feature of British, but also the isolationism that exists in certain states and even country areas.
Many country people similarly have never worked out, or choose not to know and don't want to know, that there is a big world outside of their (often mundane) country town.
Just like those Brits we knew, you leave a country town and ""you've left"" - ie you might as well have left the planet.
Country people also talk a lot about you, ie gossip, and want to know all your business - but not you on a personal level.
I suppose the friendliness is at a very superficial level.
Still, this is probably a modest improvement on places like Sydney - where often you don't know your neighbours - and they would never give you the time of day or acknowledge you anyway.
Where we live now, on the western suburban fringe of a medium sized city, a mixture of country and suburban attitudes can be seen.
Many people work shift work (Hunter Valley mines etc) - so you rarely see some many of them.
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Old 04-21-2011, 05:02 PM
 
Location: Lexington, KY
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I can't say if it is better or worse now than 20 years ago, but as an American tourist who was fortunate enough to visit Sydney and Melbourne in late May 2010, I can say I thought that most people I meet went out of their way to be helpful and friendly and seemed genuinely interested about where I was from. Some even offered help without me asking.

I was having problems when I arrived in Sydney with my electric adapter. I knew about the plug differences but the one I brought didn't convert the wattage, frying my small personal fan and I was afraid it would fry my iPhone and laptop. I was exploring on my own in the CBD of Sydney while my friend was at work and I stopped at a McDonalds for some food and some free wifi. I was using a prepaid phone talking to my friend about my problem and a young lady, probably no older than 25, came up to me and told me that I should go to the Apple store which was basically next door and I could get my stuff charged for free. We talked for a little bit and she was very nice and again, she volunteered to help me. Most people I met in Sydney seemed genuinely interested that I was from Kentucky. I guess most people in Sydney are most accustomed to running into Americans from LA, NYC or San Fransisco. I went to the Apple store and it was the debut weekend of the iPad so the place was packed, yet the employees there had no problem with me charging my stuff and talked to me quite a bit even though they knew I wasn't a paying customer.

I actually don't think I ever meet anyone in Australia that I would describe as cold or even rude. I was actually pleasantly surprised on how friendly and talkative everyone was. Except for the airport shuttle guys. But that's a different story.
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Old 04-21-2011, 06:55 PM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by Derek40 View Post
Obviously WA is still more British influenced than any other state in Australia, I don't want to keep raving on about that.
British accents are somewhat of a rarity in many parts of the east, compared with their spectacular presence in WA.
And another thing, just because they talk more does not equate to friendliness.
We got to know some Brits in WA, but they don't want to know you the minute they learn you are leaving the place.
This is not necessarily a feature of British, but also the isolationism that exists in certain states and even country areas.
Many country people similarly have never worked out, or choose not to know and don't want to know, that there is a big world outside of their (often mundane) country town.
Just like those Brits we knew, you leave a country town and ""you've left"" - ie you might as well have left the planet.
Country people also talk a lot about you, ie gossip, and want to know all your business - but not you on a personal level.
I suppose the friendliness is at a very superficial level.
Still, this is probably a modest improvement on places like Sydney - where often you don't know your neighbours - and they would never give you the time of day or acknowledge you anyway.
Where we live now, on the western suburban fringe of a medium sized city, a mixture of country and suburban attitudes can be seen.
Many people work shift work (Hunter Valley mines etc) - so you rarely see some many of them.
Well I didn't mean only in a direct sense, but because most of our culture, even where there aren't many British migrants fresh off the boat, is still heavily based on the English. You're right some parts of rural Queensland, for instance, are heavily Irish, and I wonder if Australians with Irish ancestry are any different to those with English or Scottish ancestry (I doubt so much for younger people). Since you think of the Irish as a bit more open and jovial compared to the stoic English.

I suppose at the end of the day most people are pretty private, whether in the city or country, and living in a country town for a year has seemed to confirm that.
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Old 04-21-2011, 07:01 PM
 
Location: Next stop Antarctica
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Originally Posted by Ozgal View Post
Definitely - It seems that younger people can't communicate with the older citizens of their community. when I worked in retail at the local shopping center, the older ladies just wanted a chat. Sure, hearing about their grandkids wasn't exactly riveting -- however seeing their excitement was nice.

That is one thing I really noticed, the divide. I have seen cedar boys -- and the only time I've gone out west was to the NAB cup game at Blacktown/Rooty Hill.... its very different to where I am living.... I didn't really feel this divide in Melbourne - sure there are affluent and less affluent areas, but I didnt feel it so strongly .... it really seems to matter where you're from here.
Have to agree on one thing and that is younger people in Australia do not communicate with older people, when visiting the USA i was amazed at how many young people wanted to have a conversation and were very polite. Not so here i'm afraid.
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Old 04-21-2011, 07:06 PM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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I wonder if Roythe13th's and cushla's experiences were because they were foreigners and people tend to be curious about people from other places. Conversely, though, middle aged people don't strike me as very friendly either and seldom strike up a conversation with young people.
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Old 04-21-2011, 09:27 PM
 
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Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
No, I put a lot of this down to our strong ties to Britain, a country famous for it's reserve. Despite this, I find many Britons actually more open to actually talking with you/having a bit of banter with you than Australians. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but I have found say Italian Australians, despite the fact they are still Australians, a little more open/expressive than Anglo Australians.
Have argued for ages that Brits are more developed in communication as well as being more multi dimensional than Australians,whom it often appears to me shy away from one on one contact.

Yes i tend to agree with your observations with regards to Italian Australians,could this perhaps be a result of their family dynamics,perhaps?
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Old 04-21-2011, 09:30 PM
 
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Originally Posted by cushla View Post
Have to agree on one thing and that is younger people in Australia do not communicate with older people, when visiting the USA i was amazed at how many young people wanted to have a conversation and were very polite. Not so here i'm afraid.
Agree and found a similar thing when in Europe last year.

Ageism has i feel always(or for a rather long time) been rather rife in Australia,nothing new there
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Old 04-21-2011, 10:09 PM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by the troubadour View Post
Have argued for ages that Brits are more developed in communication as well as being more multi dimensional than Australians,whom it often appears to me shy away from one on one contact.

Yes i tend to agree with your observations with regards to Italian Australians,could this perhaps be a result of their family dynamics,perhaps?
I think the Italians and the Irish have always been more family-orientated than the English as well, and this continues even today after many generations of living in Australia. In that sense they have a greater sense of connection to others. Our culture is becoming more similar, but I don't think we have reached the stage of America where your Americaness totally overrides your ethnicity, as we've had alot more recent immigration.
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