Interesting Facts/Observations

I try to make a note of interesting facts and observations that I stumble upon while reading or going on tours, etc. Here are a few:
- Aussies are huge gamblers, many would say they have a gambling problem. Australia has less than 1% of the world's population, but over 20% of the world's slot machines. Seemingly every pub you walk into over here has at least one slot machine with some poor bloke wasting away his hard earned dollars trying to double up on his money.
- Yes, Aussies really do use the word "mate," and they use it a lot. The word is so ubiquitous here I almost can't even describe it. They use it more than we use "man," "bro," and "dude" combined. Any time you walk into a bar, hotel, cafe, museum, etc. "What can I get ya, mate?" "How's it going, mate?" "Hey mate!" It's been a week here and I've already caught myself saying it a few times without even thinking about it. You really can't be here and not say it.
- You can hunt kangaroos here, they are a regulated hunting game just like deer are in the US. To put into perspective the size of the kangaroo population here, for every 1 person in Australia there are at least 2 kangaroos. If that were true of deer in the USA, there would be over 600 million deer. There are an estimated about 20 million deer in the US today.
- I travel backwards in time on my flight home to the US. My flight leaves Sydney at 11 a.m. and I land in Los Angeles at 6 a.m. that same day.
- This is a quote from a book that I thought put Australia, and especially its founding, into good perspective: "When the Europeans first arrived to this strange island they were baffled, everything seemed to be the opposite of reality. The seasons were backwards, swans were black (a feat considered scientifically impossible in Europe), large animals hopped instead of ran, and trees shed their bark instead of their leaves."
- I think I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but there is a species of jellyfish over here called the Box Jellyfish that is so poisonous that if you get stung by one and do not receive immediate medical attention you will go into cardiac arrest and die within 5 minutes. They have some sort of anti-venom and defibrillators at almost every beach where box jellyfish have been seen. If you see a sign like this you are never supposed to get even within a few feet of the water:

- Probably the biggest national news story going on over here right is a 14 year old Aussie boy was caught buying a small amount of weed in Bali, Indonesia and they are considering sentencing him to 12 years in prison. The boy's mother, father and lawyer are over there pleading with the Indonesian government to let him go back to Australia but no one knows what will happen. The sad thing is the Indonesian who sold it to him isn't even in trouble.
- It's the Wallabees (Australia) vs. All Blacks (New Zealand) in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals this Sunday. It is a huge game and everyone over here is talking about it. Australia and New Zealand have a huge rivalry in rugby and the rugby world cup is a huge deal down here, it reminds me of when the soccer world cup was going on while I was in Europe last summer.