Aussie Facts and Fiction

Thought I'd take a moment to clear some rumours about Australia. So here goes...

Australians say, "Let's throw another shrimp on the barbee."

FALSE. First of all, Australians don't have "shrimp" as we know it in the States. What they do have is a larger variety of shrimp, which is called "prawn." Second of all, I've never heard of a BBQ refered to as a "barbee." They usually just say barbeque. So no, no one ever says that stupid phrase and I hate Ace Ventura for ever saying it in the first place.

Kangaroos are friends.

FALSE. Australians actually consider kangaroos as pests. They frequently eat crops and run out in front of cars, causing massive damage. In the outback, people frequently shoot 'roos as a means of population control. So while foreigners like myself may consider kangaroos the awesomest things ever, to Australians, they're nothing special.

Australians drink Fosters beer.

FALSE. This was just a marketing ploy created by an American company trying to sell an image. During my time in Australia, I've only seen one Foster's beer consumed, and that was by a South African student. Foster's is available in some places, but it's not popular at all. If you want a real Aussie beer, try VB (Victoria Bitter), Toohey's, or Carlton. My personal favourite of them all is VB or Carlton Cold.

"Good'ay mate" is a common expression.

TRUE. Although I still sound like a moron when I say it.

The toilets flush/swirl counter-clockwise in Australia.

FALSE. Just to get this out of the way first and foremost, like most of the rest of the world, Australians don't refer to the place where you relieve yourself as a "bathroom" or "restroom" - it's called a toilet. And actually the toilets here work much differently than in the States. They don't really "swirl" at all. Instead, everything is just sort of washed down with some jets of water and it never really swirls. Aussie toilets have two buttons rather than a single lever to flush; one is a "half flush," suitable for flushing urine, and the other is a "full flush," which is for disposing of other sorts of excrement. The mindset behind these options is conservation of water; why flush more water down than you need to clean out the toilet? Australians have it right when it comes to toilet design... there are no plungers or anything in any of the toilets because they never get clogged - it's amazing!Australians love to drink, so beer must be cheap in Australia.

Since Australia is full of beer drinkers, beer much be cheap.

VERY FALSE. The Aussies may love their beer, but they pay for it. A carton of VB costs around $40AUD, compared to a case of Miller Lite at around $17USD in the States. When I first arrived, I was a true-blue VB drinker, then dropped to Carlton Cold at around $35/carton, and now I've recently discovered a new beer called Amsterdam that sells for only $29/carton. What a deal! There's only one beer priced below that - Resch's - at $28/carton, but that's not so good. For the foreseeable future, I'll stick with Amsterdam. On a side note, boxed wine, referred to as "goon" is extremely cheap and a popular drink among uni students. Casks of goon go for about $8, so when cash is really tight, you go for the goon.

That's all I could think of for now. If anyone has any thoughts or conceptions about Australia they'd like to see verified or debunked, just post in my comments and I'll update.