Im travelling overseas soon to a variety of countries, and I would like people to post here knowledge of their own country which a foreigner could use to spark some interesting conversation.

I am from Australia btw, and here is a few conversation tips you can use with any Aussie you meet anywhere:

-Ask them “whats the deal with the Platypus (everone knows this animal in Australia), it’s a blind, venous, half fish half duck creature…you have some crazy animals in Oz” (Australia).

-“Large male kangaroos can jump up to 30 feet in a single bound”. I personally have heard this before but don’t believe it, so for arguments sake use 20 feet because it is more believable.

-If an Aussie girl gives you some attitude, tell her “I thought Aussies are so supposed to be friendly and laid back” which is a big well known generalization that exists here.

-The beach is part of Australian culture, so if you have some beach stories (eg taken surfing lessons or tried kite surfing) this should strike a cord with them.

-Ask them “what is a bogan? Iv heard aussies using this word before”. It is a Australian term every1 knows what this is in Oz. HB: gives response. Then ask “so was Crocodile Dun-Di a bogan?”

-A boomerang is a native arched wooden object which when thrown correctly does a 360 degree return circle to you. It is the most identifiable symbol of Australian heritage. Tell the girl “an Aussie friend of yours bought you a boomerang and you have learnt how to use it, and that its quite easy”. Then ask “if they are able to use it?” HB: 99.9% of the time wont know how its done. Continue by teasing them “what kind of Aussie are you?”. HB: will laugh and say no1 knows or does that in Australia. Continue teasing or use whatever else comes to mind.


Tip: What ever you do, don’t ask if we ride kangaroos to school/wherever. For some reason Aussies get asked this a lot by foreigners who either believe it or try to be funny (maybe because of shows like the Simpsons etc) and it will definitely result in DLV with girls. But you can make fun of others who thought this was true.

It would be greatly appreciated if this post is continued, with a variety of interesting facts or conversation starters which are applicable to different countries worldwide.

Cheers, and hope this helps some people!