Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
hrrrrr nothing in common ah......... New Zealand was originally part of the colony of New South Wales dumb ass! yes Australia lol. Lets not speak of this again its the one thing Kiwis don't want to talk about!
NZ links to the UK are no stronger than Australian links to the UK, however Kiwis don't seem to mind admitting NZ was shaped by colonial rule where Australian's don't tend to like admitting that.
But NZ, like the remaining Aus colonies, was separated off from NSW long before Australia came into existence. And NZ declined to join the Australian federation when given the chance to do so.
Aus knows what its origins were; a lot of Aussies are proud of any convict heritage in their family tree. We just see that beginning in the context of the various layers of other influences and influxes have occurred since then. In short, we've moved on and are happy to be following our own path in our own part of the world, and we don't want to pretend we are still who and what we were 150 years ago.
75% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border. I have friends from Vermont and Buffalo who grew up watching Canadian TV . . . and as large a presence that US media has in the anglosphere, Canadian media has an outsized presence in the US. Far greater than the rest of the english speaking world combined.
For my friends in western New York, Toronto was their "city" just like someone from Sacramento would go to SF for more cultural offerings (or someone from Providence to Boston, New Haven to NYC, etc) just like for my friends in Vermont it was an hour drive to Montreal. There are native american reservations that straddle the border. Over the last 250 years tens of thousands of americans have fled north escaping persecution and millions of canadians have moved south for work. I have family who emigrated from Nova Scotia. There is no untangling the history of the US & Canada and the political differences are part of that tangle.
Growing up I had neighbors who grew up on either side of the Maine/New Brunswick border who were from, imaginary lines in the dirt aside, the same francophone community. I'm not really sure that it's accurate to say that the US & Canada are culturally distinct because it implies that both countries are homogenous. I think there's a cultural continuum that flows throughout north america and to say that people on either side of the Maine/NB border are culturally distinct or that people on either side of the Manitoba/Minnesota border are radically different is just silly.
I think there's a cultural continuum that flows throughout north america and to say that people on either side of the Maine/NB border are culturally distinct or that people on either side of the Manitoba/Minnesota border are radically different is just silly.
Indeed. And the first significant period of time I spent in Sydney, it felt like simply going to a bigger version of a NZ city.
75% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border. I have friends from Vermont and Buffalo who grew up watching Canadian TV . . . and as large a presence that US media has in the anglosphere, Canadian media has an outsized presence in the US. Far greater than the rest of the english speaking world combined.
For my friends in western New York, Toronto was their "city" just like someone from Sacramento would go to SF for more cultural offerings (or someone from Providence to Boston, New Haven to NYC, etc) just like for my friends in Vermont it was an hour drive to Montreal. There are native american reservations that straddle the border. Over the last 250 years tens of thousands of americans have fled north escaping persecution and millions of canadians have moved south for work. I have family who emigrated from Nova Scotia. There is no untangling the history of the US & Canada and the political differences are part of that tangle.
Growing up I had neighbors who grew up on either side of the Maine/New Brunswick border who were from, imaginary lines in the dirt aside, the same francophone community. I'm not really sure that it's accurate to say that the US & Canada are culturally distinct because it implies that both countries are homogenous. I think there's a cultural continuum that flows throughout north america and to say that people on either side of the Maine/NB border are culturally distinct or that people on either side of the Manitoba/Minnesota border are radically different is just silly.
Some very good points, many Australians, inlcuding myself, have never been to NZ.
It is still a long and expensive plane trip.
Crossing from Canada to the US is just like crossing an interstate border here - ie a non-event.
We get very little NZ media here, and only know the culture somewhat from sporting rivalries and from the sheer volume of Kiwis that migrate here. (which is spectacularly higher than the reverse scenario).
In saying that, the cultures are similar, but probably not as similar as US-Canada - despite Canada still being part of the British Commonwealth.
Some very good points, many Australians, inlcuding myself, have never been to NZ.
It is still a long and expensive plane trip.
Crossing from Canada to the US is just like crossing an interstate border here - ie a non-event.
We get very little NZ media here, and only know the culture somewhat from sporting rivalries and from the sheer volume of Kiwis that migrate here. (which is spectacularly higher than the reverse scenario).
In saying that, the cultures are similar, but probably not as similar as US-Canada - despite Canada still being part of the British Commonwealth.
Aus and NZ are so ridiculous similar its not funny, Some of you younger Aussies have some crazy ideas, I have lived in both countries, obviously there is a size difference.
Most Americans have never been to Canada!, I know plenty of Kiwis never been to Australia.
Not a lot of Aus news plays NZ. Not a lot of Canadian news plays in the USA and in reverse, whats the point of all these comments? Hell not a lot of Australian news plays in Queensland!
A lot of so called Kiwis migrating to Aus are actually Islander using NZ as a back door which also annoys Kiwis as well as Aussies.
Long and expensive trip to NZ are you on drugsl, its further to Perth from Brisbane, it not difficult to get $250 buck return flights to NZ and its only 3.5 hrs. The distance between Melbourne and Brisbane is around 1400km, chances are you will get on a plane.
Last edited by Battleneter; 07-10-2013 at 04:33 PM..
Per the media thing - you can pick up Canadian newspapers at the main train stations in the northeast corridor. If you don't live near the border you're not likely to hear much about Canada on your local TV news but then if you live in Boston you're probably less likely to hear about what's going on in Oklahoma.
Any american with kids or with the slightest interest in sports has quite a bit of exposure to Canadian broadcasting. Half of the kids shows on TV are produced in Ontario or BC (and a lot of them are on the air here in Australia but most Aussies prob. think they're "american") Plenty of american kids grew up with 'You Can't Do That on Television', 'Kids in the Hall', 'DeGrassi High', etc. All of the pro sports leagues - baseball, soccer, hockey, basketball, lacrosse - have teams in both countries. Football is the only exception and that's only because the games are slightly different but there's much consternation in Canada about the CFL being absorbed by the NFL. Some rabid CFL fans even get upset about the Buffalo Bills "colonizing" Toronto with their 2 games per season at the Rogers Centre.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derek41
Crossing from Canada to the US is just like crossing an interstate border here - ie a non-event.
It's actually almost comedic that when you drive up to the Canadian border crossing they peek in your window, say "hello.bonjour." (well, at least at the bilingual NY/VT/QC border crossings) ask for ID, ask where you're going and say "welcome to Canada."
Coming back from Vancouver en route to Seattle was a 2.5 hour ordeal with the traffic backed up for miles from the border. I've done 2 hours at the border coming back from Montreal and on one trip we got pulled aside and had our vehicle searched and everyone in the car questioned separately. We had bought a bunch of books while we were up there (maybe 20 between us) and didn't think to declare them.
US states had border crossings under the Articles of Confederation but it turned out to be a disaster for interstate commerce and that was main reason for scrapping it.
Last edited by drive carephilly; 07-10-2013 at 08:44 PM..
I think everyone who grew up in the 80's/90's in Australia remembers Degrassi. That show was huge here. I'm pretty sure everyone knew it was Canadian too. Most American shows tended to deal less with reality than the Canadian shows. I guess at the time the American equivalent of Degrassi was 90210.
Quote:
Originally Posted by [I
drive carephilly[/i] ]US states had border crossings under the Articles of Confederation but it turned out to be a disaster for interstate commerce and that was main reason for scrapping it.
That's interesting. I didn't know that. I guess it explains why the Australian Constitution specifically says trade between the states shall be free.
I don't know if it still exists but 20 or so years ago there was still an old "Customs House" near Tenterfield. ETA: It's in Wallangarra.
Australia has huge cattle ranches for one and huge wheat farms for another. In that respect its closer to the Mid West and South / SW of the USA than to NZ.
And NZ was a colony of NSW? So what? That was what 150 years ago? NY was a colony of England - they are nothing alike.
kiwis - new zealanders are more reserved - a bit like canadians
This sums up my impression also.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
