Yesterday I booked two dives at the Great Barrier Reef for next week when I go to Cairns. Although the Reef is home to 1/3 of the world's shark species, I am very excited. Everyone tells me that it is a must do when you come to Australia. The reef is the world's largest living thing and the only living thing visible from space.
I was talking to one Aussie and he was making fun of an American who came to Sydney for the 2000 Summer Olympics and asked where in Sydney he could go to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef. To be honest, before I booked my trip and did a little research I would have thought that you could snorkel the Great Barrier Reef from Sydney. However, the Great Barrier Reef begins about 800 miles up the coast, and the real hub city for the Reef, Cairns, is about 1100 miles from Sydney. So, roughly the same distance between Miami and NYC.
My roommates the past few nights have been 4 people from France and one guy from London. I have gotten to know one of the guys from France pretty well and last night we went out and got a few drinks and it was interesting to hear his take on things. Earlier on in the week he heard me tell someone I was from "Oklahoma, which is near Texas." He told me that when I mention Texas it automatically makes foreigners (especially French people) think less of me because "everyone hates Texas and George Bush." I forgot how much the French disliked W.
I told him about the French stereotype we have in America (arrogant, stuck up) and asked him why a lot of French people are rude to Americans when they visit France and can't speak English. He said it is because the French people are so bad at English that they get frustrated because of the communication barrier. He said that only being able to speak French is a huge problem in France right now and the government now requires kids to start taking English from the age of 6. In fact, this guy is in Australia right now to learn better English. He speaks very poor English and while we were having our drinks we constantly had to translate through the mini French-English dictionary he brought with him. He was a very nice guy and everyone from France that I have met thus far have all been very kind. I have a new view of them after being over here.
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