American Pols: Some Admired and Some Not

A couple of posts ago, I wrote about the reaction to some U.S. politicians I received from non-Americans on my recent train travels across Australia. Many were Australian, of course, but there were also Brits, Canadians, New Zealanders, a couple from Scotland, another from Norway, a Pakistani living in Singapore, and a woman from Estonia ... and a few more I've forgotten.

First of all, I was quite surprised to discover that most of these people were not only interested in American politics and government, but they were also quite well informed … at least as much, I would say, and many Americans.

Generally, President Barack Obama was considered very favorably, and people gave U.S. voters high marks for electing an African-American. I was quite surprised, by the way, to discover that several of my fellow passengers had read Obama’s first book, Dreams From My Father, and gave it very high marks.

Former President Bush, on the other hand, was not thought of very favorably, with the most common criticism being his apparent lack of both awareness of and interest in other countries and their cultures.

But the clear ‘winner’ in the Least-Admired-American Sweepstakes was Sarah Palin, with reactions ranging from hilarity to outrage … which was, I hastened to point out, pretty much the way 70 percent of Americans react to her.

One man, an attorney from the UK, said, “I thought it quite amazing that one of your entertainers used the silly woman’s very own words in a parody of her. I would imagine,” he added, “that you have seen the last of dear Mrs. Palin.”

With more than a little embarrassment, I informed him that Palin has formed an exploratory committee with an eye to 2012.

“Good God,” he said. “We shall have to share in some mutual commiseration over two stiff whiskeys.”

And we did.

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The Best Ideas Are Always the Obvious Ones

We've all experienced the annoying problem of people hacking and coughing during plays and concerts. Usually it's contagious. Someone coughs, then others start to feel the tickle, and before long ...

On my last night in Australia, I went to see The Magic Flute at the fabulous Opera House in Sydney. While waiting to go in for the performance, I notice large wooden bowls placed on more than a dozen tables throughout the entire lobby area. In the bowls, there for the taking by anyone, were cough drops!

Smart, those Aussies, eh?

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Aussie Justice Is Rolling and It's In High Gear.

I’m sure you have read about the terrible brush fires here. They have occurred in southeastern Australia, obliterating entire communities and killing a couple of hundred people.

After spending the better part of six days and five nights on the train crossing this vast continent, it’s easy to see why fires in the outback are a huge potential hazard. This place is hundreds of thousands of square miles of hot, very dry country, much of which is covered with brush and scraggly trees.

This story has dominated the media for days, as would certainly be expected, and the tales of death and destruction are heartbreaking when reduced to the family level.There are more than 150 cops on this and there has already been one arrest.

News reports today say that authorities have charged a 39-year-old man with starting one of the fires. For good measure, they also got him for possession of child pornography.

This low-life’s name has not been released, and a good thing, too. The prevailing attitude here is, Give the bloke a fair trial ... then hang ‘im!

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Quick Snapshot Impressions of Oz and the Aussies

Australia is an interesting place. Very much worth a visit. I've been particularly struck by how open and friendly people are. And how casual. I have one last night in Sydney before I head back to Hawaii and bought a ticket to the opera. I asked a friend here if the dress code would permit an open-collared shirt and sportcoat. He scoffed. "You'll be fine in jeans if ya like. It's very, very casual."

It's casual, all right. And -- to my eye, anyway -- a bit off kilter. I've often seen women wearing what I can only describe as adult-sized versions of cutsie little dresses suited to 3- or 4-year-old girls. And guys -- big, rugged-looking guys -- walk around in pants that are peddle-pusher length, halfway down the calf. That's odd-looking, but the look is really completed with dark-colored dress socks and street shoes ... sometimes work boots.

There's no contest for favorite expression here: "No worries!" But it often seems to be used out of context, at least out of my context. For instance, over dinner here in Darwin last night ...

Very cheerful waitress: "And would you care for some cracked pepper?
Me: "No, thank you."
Waitress: "No worries!"

(I was so relieved!)

Dinner was quite good, by the way. It was a difficult decision, but I finally opted for the linguini with mushrooms and chicken instead of the smoked crocodile.

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