It's Official. Australians are RUDE

[Bucky]

BEFORE Noriko Mochizuki travelled to Australia, she had heard about koalas, kangaroos, beaches, and strange men in cars who killed backpackers.


By the time she returns home to Tokyo, the 25-year-old will tell her friends that - the infamous Ivan Milat backpacker murders aside - Australians are relaxed, kind and sometimes very rude.
''Sometimes you go to buy something at a coffee shop and they don't want to understand or they just ignore you,'' she said during a surfing lesson with Surfs Up near Cronulla.


''The customer service is much, much better in Japan.''
Ms Mochizuki, from Tokyo, is one of a dwindling breed: the Japanese tourist Down Under.

". . .strange men in cars who killed backpackers." Hmmm, anyone here fit that description???

More here

[Christoff]

It was a prison colony for many years, think mad max. If you think about it, it is akin to arkansas on the ocean

[bolt_krank]

Cronulla's a pretty rough spot. They're not very friendly to people that don't deem "local". Our equivalent red-necks...

[Yokohammer]

"Monolingual mindset"?

That term came up twice in the article, and seems to be the basis of the "study's" conclusion.

WTF do they expect in an English-speaking country?

[Christoff]

"Monolingual mindset"?

That term came up twice in the article, and seems to be the basis of the "study's" conclusion.

WTF do they expect in an English-speaking country?

Shit, i speak mexican.

[SpikeX]

Blasphemy!
Never met an Aussie I didn't like.

[BO-SENSEI]

To each their own, while i never have been to Australia, there are plenty of Australians here I like, i would assume that it is similar to places in America, a laid-back attitude where people in the service industry will treat you more like a friend than act as your servant, which t a Japanese person would probably take for as being rude. But that kind of service is what I prefer, sometimes the formal attitude of the service in Japan can be too much and sometimes you wish they would be less formal and more friendly.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I make no bones about being an insensitive Aussie (one of most of 21 million), but it's hard to disagree with a lot of the points made in that article.
Service in Australia borders on the atrocious. I noticed around the time of the Sydney Olympics that people were making an effort (clerks would say "yeah, wadda ya want, sir?" instead of just "yeah, wadda want?"), but many had even stopped doing that when I went back a couple of years ago.
Heavy-handed guarding against shoplifting (all bags checked when leaving stores) makes shopping a nightmare, dress codes are a pain in the arse for eating out and prices at tourist areas are extortionately high.
Oz is not a very tourist-friendly country, especially if you don't talk Strine (or at least English).

[Mock Cockpit]

The main reason J tourism is dieing is because Australia has become a ludicrously expensive place. Much better value for money elsewhere.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

The main reason J tourism is dieing is because Australia has become a ludicrously expensive place. Much better value for money elsewhere.

Couldn't agree more. It's pricey everywhere and worse wherever tourists go.

[6810]

"Monolingual mindset"?

That term came up twice in the article, and seems to be the basis of the "study's" conclusion.

WTF do they expect in an English-speaking country?

Indeed because Japan is simply multi-lingual paradise, right?

[6810]

The main reason J tourism is dieing is because Australia has become a ludicrously expensive place. Much better value for money elsewhere.

Got that right. I am still trembling from the shock of a $4 bottle of coke. Are you shitting me Aussies? (BTW, Australian here, last year first trip home in four years)...

[Ketou]

Got that right. I am still trembling from the shock of a $4 bottle of coke. Are you shitting me Aussies? (BTW, Australian here, last year first trip home in four years)...

I had exactly the same experience....coke 3 times the price....4 ice creams was 12 bucks, just unbelievable prices.
We just keep letting the RBA pump out new bills so we can all pay more...

Oh, and on an edit side note....yes Australians are fucking rude and customer service is non-existent.

[Ketou]

To each their own, while i never have been to Australia, there are plenty of Australians here I like, i would assume that it is similar to places in America, a laid-back attitude where people in the service industry will treat you more like a friend than act as your servant, which t a Japanese person would probably take for as being rude. But that kind of service is what I prefer, sometimes the formal attitude of the service in Japan can be too much and sometimes you wish they would be less formal and more friendly.

This is very true. When catching a cab on ones own most guys will jump in the front seat rather than the back. Sort of an unconscious way of showing the driver he is not in servitude to you. (at least that is how I always interpreted it)

[Yokohammer]

No shit.

Last time I was back in Melbourne (2007) bananas were 14 dollars a bunch (about 5 bananas)!! They were blaming it on the drought, but at the time the A$ was about 99 yen, so it was the equivalent of about 1,400 JPY for a freakin' bunch of bananas!

And if you're planning to buy even a basic home in the suburbs, say a 30-minute train ride from the city center, be prepared to pay Japan-bubble prices. $700,000 will get you an average place, and million-dollar homes are common, despite the recession. Of course they go much higher than that.

Back in the 80's you could get a decent place for $250,000 ~ $300,000.

Any plans I once had to retire in luxury in my country of origin are defintely on hold.

On the other hand, I kinda like the devil-may-care service. It's part of the country's cultural fabric and should be a tourism highlight!

Hmm .. that gives me an idea for a new Aussie tourism slogan: "Coming to Australia? What the fuck for?"

[Yokohammer]

This is very true. When catching a cab on ones own most guys will jump in the front seat rather than the back. Sort of an unconscious way of showing the driver he is not in servitude to you. (at least that is how I always interpreted it)

Scares the shit out of the driver though!

[6810]

No shit.

Last time I was back in Melbourne (2007) bananas were 14 dollars a bunch (about 5 bananas)!! They were blaming it on the drought, but at the time the A$ was about 99 yen, so it was the equivalent of about 1,400 JPY for a freakin' bunch of bananas!

And if you're planning to buy even a basic home in the suburbs, say a 30-minute train ride from the city center, be prepared to pay Japan-bubble prices. $700,000 will get you an average place, and million-dollar homes are common, despite the recession. Of course they go much higher than that.

Back in the 80's you could get a decent place for $250,000 ~ $300,000.

Any plans I once had to retire in luxury in my country of origin are defintely on hold.

On the other hand, I kinda like the devil-may-care service. It's part of the country's cultural fabric and should be a tourism highlight!

Yeah man. When it comes to buying property in Australia, if you didn't buy back in the 90s, you're basically fucked if you want to get affordable housing in any major urban area.

I remember when Byron Bay was just hippies and Ballina was just an ugly little fishing town. Well, nothing has changed except the white flight from the cities pushing up prices from 5x-20x (I shit you not!). Gotta have that ocean view.

That said, once you get out of those urban centers and consider changing up how you live, rural regional Australia is dirt cheap.

City prices are out of control. This is the so-called benefit of a strong economy? Yeah right. Total inflation Armageddon. No Aussie has a right to even suggest that Japan is expensive. Shit I bought an apartment here in Japan in a downtown district for roughly $AUD260,000. No way you could do the same in Australia.

[james]

on the subject of australia and money, is there a bank that the resident aussies would recommend over others? banks one should avoid?

i'm considering (perhaps daftly) parking some money there short term - maybe 2 years - to take advantage of the relatively attractive term deposit rates compared to canada. i realize i'd be exposing myself to potential currency fluctuations between the canuckbuck and aussie dollar.

edit: potentially dumb question - can non-citizens / residents even do this?

[Yokohammer]

on the subject of australia and money, is there a bank that the resident aussies would recommend over others? banks one should avoid?

i'm considering (perhaps daftly) parking some money there short term - maybe 2 years - to take advantage of the relatively attractive term deposit rates compared to canada. i realize i'd be exposing myself to potential currency fluctuations between the canuckbuck and aussie dollar.

Personally I use ANZ, because they've been really good service-wise.

I avoid Westpac because they seem to be a bit unreliable, and I had a bad experience at a Commonwealth Bank once so I stay away from them too.

But that's just my personal experience, for your reference.

[james]

Personally I use ANZ, because they've been really good service-wise.

I avoid Westpac because they seem to be a bit unreliable, and I had a bad experience at a Commonwealth Bank once so I stay away from them too.

But that's just my personal experience, for your reference.

thank you, sir. i'll check things out with your advice and others' in mind if they chime in.

[Taka-Okami]

on the subject of australia and money, is there a bank that the resident aussies would recommend over others? banks one should avoid?

i'm considering (perhaps daftly) parking some money there short term - maybe 2 years - to take advantage of the relatively attractive term deposit rates compared to canada. i realize i'd be exposing myself to potential currency fluctuations between the canuckbuck and aussie dollar.

edit: potentially dumb question - can non-citizens / residents even do this?

Since the RE bubble is about to pop here, I would put any cash into a bank that is least exposed to RE debt. The most exposed is the Commonwealth bank, with 60% of its assets in RE debt. The NAB has the least at 45%. Remember that when it pops, everyone will be dumping Aussie $, so you would be running a massive risk.

In terms of cost of living, I'll let you know my costs.

I recently sold up my house 40km from Melbourne, 3 bed, 2 bath, 550m2 block for equivalent to 25million yen. To rent it out, I could have got 100,000 y/month. Now, I think a 16 year old house that far from a city, and similar spec, would roughly be the same as cities in Japan (except Tokyo). I spend about 50,000 yen a month on food (for 2 small kids, and 2 adults), 100,000 on rent. In total I spend 240,000 yen a month (or $800/week) just to survive (house, running 2 cars, food, gas, insurance, schools etc etc).

It's getting harder and harder to make ends meet. Prices a fucking going up all the time, 20% increase in price of water, road tolls going up etc etc. Stuff is going up in price much faster than salaries, forget being able to buy a house for $300 or $400 k on one salary at 8% interest! Average salary is about 280,000 yen take home.

Lucky country my ass!

[Mock Cockpit]

If you're not earning, at minimum, A$100,000 a year you're not even in the game nowadays. Joint is out of control.

[Taka-Okami]

If you're not earning, at minimum, A$100,000 a year you're not even in the game nowadays. Joint is out of control.

Yeah, thats why I'm thinking about leaving Oz in the next few years (I'm just staying to get more experience in my field). I'll have a better chance of living a decent life overseas. When you have people like police, nurses, teachers, unable to afford to buy a house, its pretty fucked up. What I see happening is if the bubble dont pop, is those who can, leaving the country for good, while cashed up immigrants come in to live together with those who bought berfore the bubble went mad, and a growing under class of working poor forced out of cities into slums with no hospitals, public transport, or hope.

[james]

Remember that when it pops, everyone will be dumping Aussie $, so you would be running a massive risk.

good to know, clueless as i am, i had no idea australia was in a real-estate / inflationary bubble of those proportions. thanks for the insight.

from what you've described, i can't imagine getting by there on what i make.

[Taka-Okami]

good to know, clueless as i am, i had no idea australia was in a real-estate bubble of those proportions. thanks for the insight.

from what you've described, i can't imagine getting by there on what i make.

Australia has the highest houshold debt to disposable income ratio in the world. What gets me is that every city has so much fucking land everywhere, but the greedy developers just sit on it and dribble it out to hold up prices. The greedy government doesnt want to see it pop either, that will affect their taxation. I know for a fact the QLD government is broke, there trying to off load public assets, trying to increase land tax, local councils stopping a lot of capital works until next financial year, the list goes on.

[Christoff]

Yeah, thats why I'm thinking about leaving Oz in the next few years (I'm just staying to get more experience in my field). I'll have a better chance of living a decent life overseas. When you have people like police, nurses, teachers, unable to afford to buy a house, its pretty fucked up.

Not much different in the states either

[Neo-Rio]

On a Japan related note, Aussies have done the same to Niseko in Hokkaido.
Building condiminiums all over the place.

Everywhere Aussies go, they just invest in real-estate until the house prices jack themselves up to ridiculous levels.

[Yokohammer]

Everywhere Aussies go, they just invest in real-estate until the house prices jack themselves up to ridiculous levels.

Of course the Japanese have never, ever done anything like this in Australia. During the bubble, for example, making it impossible for Australians to buy property on the Gold Coast and in other resort areas.

[Bucky]

[Yokohammer]

Sounds like there is some good J-bird hunting down under!

Not if that photo is any indication!