Sunday, March 7, 2010

Why I Love this Country

“What’s more, and here we come to the real crux of things, I liked it, straight off, without quibble or doubt, in a way I had never expected to. Something about it just agreed with me. I suppose it helped that I had spent half my life in America and half in Britain, because Australia was such a beguiling fusion of the two. It had a casualness and vivacity-a lack of reserve, a comfortableness with strangers-that felt distinctly American, but hung on a British framework. In their optimism and informality, Australians could pass at a glance for Americans, but they drove on the left, drank tea, played cricket, adorned their public places with statues of Queen Victoria, dressed their children in the sort of school uniforms that only a Brittanic people could wear without conspicuous regret. I felt extremely comfortable with this…”
another perfect quote fromBill Bryson - from In A Sunburned Country

Thank you, good folks of Melbourne, for your wonderful hospitality, exquisitely tasty coffee, fine steaks, cold beers, memorable weather, and good company. Every time I visit Australia I feel terribly sad that I have to leave...such is the deep abiding affinity I have for the civilization you've created Down Under. The world would be a better place if we were all more like you lot...

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