Posted: 02/28/07

Bill in the land down under
Identity crisis

Bill O'Connor | contributing columnist
woconnor@smcvt.edu

Allow me one distraction.

Friday morning my five roommates at orientation and I woke up to find three kangaroos sitting on the patio of our apartment.

They were no more than three feet away and when we opened the screen door that led to the courtyard and patio on which they were standing we had to slam it shut to prevent the larger male from charging right into our kitchen.

(For clarification this was in Noosa, not Gold Coast. I haven’t seen any kangaroos in Gold Coast and wouldn’t want to give my mother the satisfaction of being right).

Also, the other day we drove on the beach, which also happens to be a highway with a 50 mph speed limit.

Australia is different.

But now, back on to topic.

At St. Michael’s I was one of those kids — 20 minutes outside of Boston, Red Sox cap and Patriots jersey — you know the type.

I had an identity that came with certain expectations such as a Boston accent and a skewed vocabulary that included the words ‘wicked,’ ‘packie,’ and a hearty usage of the F-word as a modifier.

That identity, however, is no longer. I am now a ‘yank,’ and throughout my five-day orientation program the few Aussies present continually chuckled as the hundred-and-some-odd American students preparing for a semester-abroad vindicated certain ‘yank’ stereotypes.

Americans are loud. This is something I’ve never really noticed. Jason, my Australian contact at Griffith, taught me this. He first stated it during a seminar about stereotypes and assimilating into Aussie culture.

It wasn’t so much Jason’s statement that conveyed this information, though it did tune my ear into the differences in some classmates' speaking voices. Rather, what confirmed the stereotype was the fact that I always had trouble hearing any of our Australian orientation leaders speaking, whether in a large group context or one on one.

Jason says this is because of our culture. Growing up Americans are taught to be aggressive; to have our voices heard and be the best above all others. We are constantly told that we are each special and unique in a way no one else can be.

Aussies are much more humble. They are laid back and they realize that everyone is equal and should be treated as such. Hence their voices are lower; not loud and trying to be heard above all the rest.

Our auditory volume, so I’m told, won’t go unnoticed by locals. Though they at first may find it humorous, eventually it may become annoying and a source of conflict, and understandably so.

If I came across a group of loud Brits at a bar back in the States I’d get pretty peeved. As I write this now, on a bus full of American students heading towards Brisbane with my headphones on, I can barely hear myself think over the voices around me.

Stereotypes — 1, Bill — 0.

Now, evidently the only thing exceeding the level of American voices is our level of ignorance about world cultures.

No Australians I’ve met have expected Americans to know anything about Australian culture, sports, politics or life in general. Actually, they haven’t expected Americans to know much about any culture, save American.

In a few incidents Jason would explain some well-known fact about Aussie, Kiwi or British culture to me as if I were a four-year old more interested in eating mud than listening to him.

I will admit that there is plenty I don’t know about Aussie culture, but I do know some basics. I know the capital city is Canberra, and it is such because it is located midway between Sydney and Melbourne, which feuded over who should host the capital.

I know the rules of rugby and cricket, and can name the capital city of each of Oz’s six states. I know that they call college ‘uni’ and it generally only lasts three years.

I’ll grant that these are pretty basic pieces of knowledge; but it never ceased to amaze any Aussies when one of my American peers or I rattled off one of these facts. Our Aussie orientation leaders would have to pause for a second and re-group if they were explaining some aspect of Aussie culture and one of us joined in on the explanation.

With that said, Aussies know much more about our culture than we do of theirs. Whether or not this is because the United States is such a world presence or whether its causes are other reasons I can’t say, but the fact is indisputable.

So, this one is still up in the air. Americans do know less about other cultures than the citizens of many other countries, though we are thought to be much more ignorant than we really are.

Stereotypes — 1, Bill — well, I’ll give myself half a point for this one.

Finally, back home I’m regarded as a pretty nice guy (depending on which one of my friends you ask). I’m likable and I’m pretty sure my girlfriend thinks I’m a stand up guy — I should hope so at least.

Apparently the same isn’t true here. The general consensus is that American men are, and pardon my French, scumbags.

I’ve had a few Aussie guys tell me this fact and warn me that the women here aren’t going to be too friendly to me. An American student I met who has been here a few months confirmed the fact, saying that he’s had quite a few nasty remarks tossed his way by Aussie women.

The origins of this one I can’t quite nail down. It could be the typical ‘American frat boy’ stereotype that gets played out in so many of our movies and television shows. Then again it could go back to the fact that Aussies are less aggressive, and maybe that means less aggressive in trying to meet women as well.

Either way, I’m now a dirtball, and so are the rest of my American buddies. My friend Tyler got a firsthand look at his new identity one night at a bar. His sister, also abroad, was standing at a table while everyone else was sitting. Being a nice guy, Tyler walked over to a nearby table with an empty chair and politely asked one of the Aussie women sitting at the table if he could borrow the chair.

The woman promptly stood up, threw a glass of wine in his face, called him some derogatory phrase and walked away.

So, I’m not sure how true this stereotype is; I’ll leave it up to the American women to determine. I do know one thing though; it’s definitely going to impact the daily lives of American guys living here.

And who knows how many other yet-to-be-discovered stereotypes will.