The Commonwealth of Australia Holidays -vs- The United States of America Holidays

With Memorial Day Weekend only days away I am extremely proud of my American heritage but saddened that I will not be able to celebrate with friends, family, and countrymen.  Typically people think of Memorial Day Weekend as the unofficial kick-off to the summer while in actuality it is a day to honor the nation’s fallen countrymen from the civil war onwards.  Since this blog is not about history lessons, I will get right into the topic.  Here is a quick glimpse at some of the key differences between US and Aussie holidays.    

Australia Day -vs- Independence Day

Australia Day – January 26^th

Australia day is the official national day of Australia and commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788 which was the start of British sovereignty over the East coast of Australia.  Currently Australia Day is a day for BBQ’s, drinking, fireworks, and national pride.  Typically the Aussie flag is spotted anywhere and everywhere and you can hear drunken Australian’s screaming Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi all day long.  Aussie’s decided to take their national pride to a new level in the beach community of Cronulla in 2005 by rioting!  The Australian Indigenous people have a totally different view of Australia Day, they kindly refer to it as “Invasion Day” to mark the day that their culture was decimated by the occupying Brits.  The reality of the day is that it is a big piss up where Australians get feisty about “protecting” the Aussie culture by having punch ups with anyone that doesn’t look like an Aussie. 

Independence Day – July 4^th

In the United States of America, Independence Day is commonly known as the 4^th of July and is dedicated to celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence from British rule in 1776.  This is a day of national pride as well but is not marred with riotous behaviour like our Aussie brethren.  If you look at the dates a little closer it shows the Brit Army getting stomped out in America in 1776 sending them back across the Pond with their tails between their legs, at that time King George the III had to go searching for a new county to call its bitch, which ultimately led to the arrival of the Brits First Fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788. 

President’s Day -vs- Queen’s Birthday

 

President’s Day – 3^rd Monday in February

Presidents Day originally started off as Washington’s Birthday to commemorate the Birthday of the 1^st president of the Unites States; George Washington.  After many years it was changed to President’s Day and it is currently recognized as a day to honor all American Presidents. 

Queen’s Birthday -2^nd Monday in June

You have to love a country that doesn’t bother honoring the Prime Ministers that lead their great nation in any way, shape, or form.  Opting instead to have a national holiday to celebrate the birth of the Queen of England.  In Australia the second Monday in June is a day they pay homage to the Queen that they bow down to and kiss the ring of.  In typical Australian fashion they have the dates completely wrong, the current Queen of England which is Queen Elizabeth the II was actually born on April 21^st 1926.  I know close only counts in Horseshoes and Handgranades but give me a break they weren’t even in the same ball park….

Martin Luther King Jr. Day -vs- ???

Martin Luther King Jr. Day – 3^rd Monday in January

This is a day to honor the birth of one of the most famous Civil Rights activist in American history.  Martin Luther King Jr. gave hope to those who were not treated as equals; he brought the issue of inequality to forefront to make sure that people were treated equal regardless of color, race, creed, and gender.

Australia does not have a day that recognizes the importance of Civil Rights; actually the Australian government restricts the rights of Indigenous people to this day.  One specific example would be the current restriction of alcohol sales to Indigenous people in some Australian states.  It is actually a crime for an indigenous person who is of age to possess or consume alcohol; furthermore it is also a crime for a non-Indigenous person to supply alcohol to an Indigenous person.  I am surprised that Aussie women aren’t locked up in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant with this mentality. 

Halloween

 

Americans are known worldwide to go over and above in the celebration of Halloween.  Halloween is not just for kids to dress up, walk in their grade school parade and then hit the neighbourhood for some much anticipated trick-or-treating.  College students and adults of all ages have gotten into the Halloween spirit and go out to house parties, bars, pubs, and clubs in outrageous costumes.  If you were to poll a cross section of the US population between the ages of 18-35 you would find an overwhelming amount feel that Halloween is one of, if not their favorite holiday of the year!

I have to say that Aussies have caught on a little to the Halloween rage but haven’t taken it as far as the US population just yet.  I personally feel that they will catch up sooner than later as I have seen better showings year in and year out since arriving in Sydney! 

 

At the end of the day all we really care about are more public holidays being recognized by employers to add to all of our work/life balance FOR ALL AUSTRALIANS & AMERICANS!!!

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Sydney, a global city, host of the 2000 Olympics and an absolutely stunning place.

With a fast paced central business district (by Australian standards), sprawling suburbs, and beautiful beaches, Sydney has something for everyone.  Unfortunately for “Everyone” getting around Sydney is the biggest pain in the ass I have ever seen.

Sydney Australia is home to the worst transportation system in the world.  People can get around quicker and easier on rickshaws in Vietnam compared to the robust transportation “Infrastructure” Sydney claims to have. 

I decided to break the laundry lists of issues down by the mode of transportation to make this a manageable task for me. 

Automobiles

Buses – My morning commute consists of catching a bus, it is a 5-7 minute ride but the waiting for the bus to come can last anywhere from 2-20 minutes even though I get to the bus stop at the same exact time every day.  What I find completely laughable is that I can wait for 15 minutes and then 3 busses driving the same route will come down the street one behind the other.  The Aussie’s responsible for transportation haven’t figured out that if you stagger the busses at 5 minute intervals the level of service will increase and the passenger experience will be much better.

Cars – Driving a car in Sydney is laughable, traffic jams here there and everywhere crush any hopes of getting anywhere fast.  The roads are narrow, parking is basically non-existent and costs a fortune, and the amount of roundabouts you encounter is ridiculous.  Don’t get me wrong, roundabouts had their time and place when Henry Ford invented the model T.

Trains

Australia is known as The Sun Burnt Country, temperatures can easily reach 35-40 degrees Celsius (95-100+ Fahrenheit) during the summer months and the geniuses behind Sydney’s transportation didn’t bother to include air conditioning on trains.  Australians think air conditioning is opening the windows on the train and letting hot air swirl around the jam packed passengers.  Now Aussie’s will chime and say that the new trains have AC but I would liken the AC on the “New” trains to a dog panting on you.  A battery operated fan would be an improvement from the air conditioning the trains have.  Air conditioning isn’t the only issue, overcrowding on trains is the worst I have ever seen.  The Aussie government released a report stating that Sydney’s commuter trains were at 125% of capacity and they plan on adding more trains by 2016…  Wow, that’s the response from the government!

Anne Frank would rather ride the trains in Germany in the 1940’s than step foot on a Sydney commuter train. 

Airports

London

Fancy a spot of tea and making ridiculous faces at the guards in front of the Buckingham Palace, and having the potential to riot with some the finest of England’s youth then London is your spot.   

If you are flying in or out of London you will have five airports to choose from including London Heathrow, London Stansted, London Gatwick, London Luton and London City.  Seems like London has a lot of options for travellers to choose from!

New York City 

If you want to catch a Yankees game, a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park, have hot dog from a street vendor, and get mugged then NYC is your place! 

When flying to and from New York City you have some options when it comes to airports, the three major airports are John F. Kennedy (JFK), Newark, and LaGuardia.  There are also three regional airports to choose from as well including Teterboro which sits about 10 miles west of Manhattan, Macarthur which is on Long Island, and Westchester County Airport which is just north of New York City. 

Los Angeles

Does rubbing elbows with the rich and famous excite you, can you see yourself on Hollywood boulevard, do you want to try and OD yourself at the Viper Room, then a trip to LA is in the cards. 

When people think about LA they think about the vaunted LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) which is one of two international airports that service Los Angeles the other option for international travellers is LA/Ontario International Airport which has absolutely nothing to do with Canada, the airport grounds sit on Ontario California city property.  Domestic travellers traipsing in, out, and through LA have 5 options including Bob Hope Airport (formerly Burbank), John Wayne Airport, Long Beach Airport, LA/Palmdale Regional Airport, and Palm Springs Airport

Moscow

If a shot of vodka, a picture in front of the Kremlin and some good Ol fashioned communism is your game then you have the luxury of choice when it comes to flying in and out of Moscow. 

Three major airports service Moscow and travellers can choose between Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo.

Sydney

If you ever had the desire to box a Kangaroo, eat and drink at the world’s most overpriced restaurants and bars, and whinge about the quality of the coffee not being up to your standards than book your flights to Sydney today! 

Close to half of all flights that take off or land in Australia have Sydney as an origination point or destination point, 35 ½ million people flew in or out of Sydney last year alone.  Whether you are an international traveller and the idea of a trip down under gets you up in the morning or you are a businessman from Melbourne that needs to pop into Sydney for a power lunch you will have absolutely zero options!

Sydney only has one airport…  And no, I don’t count Bankstown Airport as a real option for Sydney as every Aussie I spoke to either has never been there or said “It’s not a real airport”.

 I bet the Wright brothers are fucking rolling over in their graves right now knowing that their inventions and pioneering ways have been used to torture 35 ½ million domestic and international travellers annually in Australia’s most well-known city.  I have heard talks about a second airport being built in Sydney’s western suburbs to alleviate the massive congestion but there is a ton of opposition from Sydneysider which is puzzling to me.   What kills me about this is after I did a little digging I found out that government officials have been talking about the NEED for a second airport in Sydney since the 1940’s!