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Facts and fiction
1 Before you read a) Think what you know about the USA and Australia including big cities, weather, people, sports, interesting facts, flora, fauna, nature, and food. b) Read the text and compare if you have that information on your list.
What Australians think about Americans A. Now being Australian I have to admit that I still don’t believe anywhere really beats the Australian coast, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that America’s coastline matches it. You should see the stunning scenery down Oregon highway 101, or Big Sur in California, or the Outer Banks of North Carolina. B. In Australia, college football is huge and cheerleading is a sport. I’ll never forget rocking up to my first college football event in the US and the stadium was full of about 40,000 screaming fans. The whole town was there. Not only that but there were brass bands, baton twirlers, and cheerleaders. Now these cheerleaders are not your run of the mill pom-pom shaking girls you might find at half-time in Australia – they are expert acrobats. C. Many students you meet at US universities are from other parts of the country. It seems something of an American tradition to broaden one’s horizons by applying to study in a different state. This is handy because it allows you to meet people from all over the country in a short period of time. But at the same time, I met many Americans who, once their studies were done, were happy to settle somewhere and not travel again, despite having never left the country. In contrast, Australians tend to go to university in their home city, and embark on an international trip during a gap year or over summer or once studies are finished. I seem to run into Australians wherever I go in the world. Many of them have never travelled outside their home state within Australia though! D. There are so many levels of eating out in the US. There are three main “food groups” I miss when I’m back home in Oz. The hamburger, for one thing, is a national art form and you can get it everywhere. The crispiest bacon, the freshest ingredients, cooked exactly how you like it, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I also miss American style barbeque. If you’ve ever been to a Buffalo Wild Wings you’ll know what I mean. Ribs, wings and fries with barbeque sauce. And celery sticks and iced tea. Yes, yes, you can get this sort of food anywhere in the Western world but again, you can’t get it as good
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