Another Reason I Love Australia

One of the great things I love about living in Australia is everyone here is generally a little bit more down to earth than the people I’ve lived with back in America. Now I don’t want to completely label the country because that is simply over generalizing the situation. However, generally speaking, the people that I’ve come across are very egalitarian and and treat each other with respect.

One of the best concepts I love about Australia is that of “puppy dog theory.” This means that if one person tries to get ahead of anyone else, it’s is looked at at more of a bad thing. Now this doesn’t mean that being ambitious and having goals and dreams and working towards those are looked at as a bad thing. On the contrary. I’ve met a lot of ambitious and action oriented people while I’m out here and it’s really great to connect with those type of people. However, that theory means that if someone thinks that they’re better than other people because he or she has X Y or Z, then the group typically will ridicule that person.

That’s how the culture is here which is great. No one wants to feel like they’re better than anyone else because it’s stigmatized when you do this. Now compare this with people back home where it’s the opposite. The culture is to think you’re better than other people because you have a nice job, a nice car, know al these type of people, and have all these things. Everyone tries to get further than everyone and it’s just a "keep up with the Jones's" kind of culture that runs throughout America.

This is why I love this country. All the people I met have been really down to earth and treat me as an individual not because I’m American and or because I’m this or that, simply because I’m me. It’s weird because I’ve never grown up around anything like this and everyone I’ve met and talked to has had this their whole life and it’s just second nature. For them they don’t even know how good they have it, and for me, I’m just in complete appreciation for being in this type of environment.

I definitely want to take what I’ve learned out here and apply it if I ever decide to go back to America. I know it will be hard since I’ll be going up against the grain a lot of times but I can do my part to help change the culture for the better.