From: John Beckett 

You're all welcome down under, as far as I am concerned.

However, of course, it's a pretty big shock to go anywhere. Many US people
seem to find the smallness of Australian methods a bit tedious. With 20
million people in a very large land, we can't afford some of the grand
infrastructure seen in the US.

Apparently also, there is generally much greater specialisation of skills
in US workers, whereas many Australians are expected to do a bit of
everything. One male American I met had married an Australian, and they
were trying to make a go of it here. He installed large airconditioning
systems in city buildings. In the end, he couldn't stand the comparatively
slack methods of the Aussies, and they went to the US. I know other stories
that turned out differently, with Americans happily adjusting to Australian
life. But I suspect they had more of a culture shock than would be thought.

I don't want to leave you with the idea that all Australian methods are
slack, so I will tell you about an Australian paratrooper I met. He trained
other paratroopers. They occasionally had joint exercises with US forces.
For example, a couple of hundred soldiers would jump out of a few planes
over an isolated area, and they would have to trek somewhere.

Anyway, the Australians planned to have zero casualties per exercise,
whereas the Americans EXPECTED to get a couple of broken legs - and they
usually did.

John


Richard B.  wrote in message
news::
> On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 11:50:48 -0400, "Robert Comer"
>  wrote:
>
> >> Australia is apparently relaxing its rules.
> >
> >That's good to hear.
>
> Actually I wouldn't mind going just for the experience, not as part of
> a political statement.  I sort of like what I've seen of the
> Australian culture/independent mindset.  With so much family here,
> tho, it would be a tough thing to do.
>
> - Richard 

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