The Lion & The Unicorn Vs The Boxing Kangaroo

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Having been back in the Land of Oz for 2 weeks... and having left the country of Mother England the same amount of time minus 2 days ago, I feel compelled to write a blog about the differences I'm seeing in these 2 countries that I equally refer to as home.


WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE UK, (particularly LONDON)
- The London Underground.
- TNT Magazine - the free weekly rag specially designed for Antipodeans like me.
- The cultural diversity.
- The accents. As broad and as miscomprehendable as they are, I still love em.
- Ease of travel. Not just to other countries but around the UK.
- My friends that I've left there.
- So many festivals, not just in London, not just in the UK but also close by in Europe.
- The weather in summer is magnificent.
- Beer served in pint glasses.
- Eating mayonnaise with my chips and not being looked at like I'm a freak.
- Castles
- Edinburgh
- No jay walking law
- NHS Health system - free doctors & heavily subsidised medication
- Intense national pride.
- Hardly hear anything about the US and the British have their own breed of tv shows
- European movie premiers in Leicester Square.
- The Generator Hostel where I used to live. Central London location, big enough with a constant stream of people coming through and other long-termer friends all living together.


WHAT I LOATHE ABOUT THE UK, (particularly LONDON)
- The London Underground. Accurate & Very Coarse Language Ahead .. (Nana don't click here)
- It's so bloody expensive.
- British food is sickly sweet, sopping in fat, too gross to even contemplate eating (eg black pudding, haggis) or any combination of all three.
- Not that it's physically possible but the weather in winter both sucks and blows.
- Winter lasts for 5 months. Minimum.
- A standard nip of spirits is 25ml (Aus is 30ml)
- Warm beer. And Fosters. And the misconception that Australians would ever drink it.
- Tomato sauce is awful here. That's where the mayonnaise comes in…
- Football... Err I mean soccer. It’s the diving which puts me off. FIFA, the world governing body of football... err soccer, revealed that 58% of players treated at this years World Cup finals in Germany were not actually injured.
- Fanatical football fans.
- David & Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, fashion of the WAGs (Wives & Girlfriends of England Football players) Big Brother and the squillions of magazines, newspapers, news and talk shows who publish photos and talk about them incessantly when all they did was pop down the shop for a pint of milk that morning or squabble over the cleanliness of a piece of fruit.
- Saying goodbye to my travelling friends that I constantly made and constantly had to leave.
- The pollution index.


WHAT I LOVE ABOUT AUSTRALIA
- I love being 'Australian'. Every Australian needs to experience the tribute service at Gallipoli on Anzac Day. Something I will never forget.
- My family is here. And my new niece and nephew that I've only just met but whose smiles light up my day.
- My friends here. We've grown up together and they're still the most honest and trustworthy people I know.
- So much cheaper than London.
- So much cleaner than London.
- A standard nip of spirits is 30ml (UK is 25ml)
- The weather. Hey it's called 'The Sunshine State' for a reason!
- Winter last for 2 weeks. Maximum.
- Fresh fruit, fresh seafood, meat pies.
- Cold beer.
- My Dad’s pub.
- We're just so darn good at sport.


WHAT I LOATHE ABOUT AUSTRALIA
- It's so freakin far away from everywhere (even from other places inside Australia) that my wanderlust has to be placated with short trips to the beach and large posters of foreign places on my walls whilst I save up enough money to go somewhere for a long enough time to be worthwhile.
- That I'm, according to my grandparents’ naturalisation, considered solely Australian and can't get any ancestry visas to the UK or elsewhere.
- The small town I live in where people I haven’t even met yet already know me.
- As lovely and beautiful as it is, it has always felt rather stagnate to me.



SOMETHING ELSE TO PONDER OVER...
- The Great Fire of London, which gutted the medieval City of London consuming 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St. Paul's Cathedral, and nearly all the buildings of the City authorities, (after which London was reconstructed on essentially the same medieval street plan which still exists today), began September 2nd, 1666. 340 years ago. Far older than even the written history of Australia.
- The similarity between yoghurt and Australia. If you leave them alone long enough they develop their own cultures. (My old boss' favourite Aussie joke. I don't get it..)
- It could be worse. I could be in New Zealand.

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