The ideas some people have

A box-out in the Kohver ('Suitcase') insert of this week's edition of Eesti Ekspress sees Sirle Seemen - who is or was at some point the chairwoman of the Estonian Society in Brisbane - relating the shocking events of a shooting that took place in Melbourne recently from the point of view of someone living at the other end of the country. In the article she paints a rather rosy picture of life in sunny Queensland. I quote verbatim (and shall provide a translation thereunder):

"Austraalia turvalisuse tase on väga kõrge, ütleksin, et üks kõrgeimad nende riikide seast, kus kunagi viibinud olen. Siin ei lukustata uksi, garaažid on ööpäev läbi avatud ja samuti autode uksed tänavatel. Röövimised on ennekuulmatud – kui mõni siiski juhtub, on see nädal aega tabloidide esikaanel! Ja öösel mööda pimedaid tänavaid jalutades ei teki kordagi ohutunnet, sest inimesed, kes sulle vastu tulevad, tervitavad ja naeratavad – võõraga pimedal tänaval silmside loomine julgustab.

Just selle kõige tõttu on Queenslandi osariigi inimestel raske mõista, mis toimub Victorias. Melbourne’i peetakse ju üldiselt üheks rahulikumaks ja romantilisemaks linnaks, kuhu noored nädalavahetust veetma sõidavad."

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"Australia is a very safe country – one of the safest of any I've been to. People here don't lock their front doors. Petrol stations are open 24 hours. They even leave their cars unlocked out on the streets. Robberies are unheard of – and if one does occur, it's headline news in the tabloids for a week! Walking the streets after dark never feels unsafe, because everyone you walk past smiles and says hi – and making eye contact with strangers on dark streets gives you confidence.

It's because of all this that the people of Queensland are having trouble comprehending what's been going on in Victoria. People think of Melbourne as being one of the most peaceful and romantic cities in the country – somewhere young people go to spend a fun weekend."

What, from Brisbane? Bit of a hike. And I know I haven't been to Brisbane in a long time, and have never lived there, but is it really such an idyll that even in 2007 no one locks anything? If Ms Seemen was based in Toowoomba or somewhere it might sound more plausible, but even then I doubt it. Does that make me a cynic?

http://www.ekspress.ee/viewdoc/4268981B7302AA2BC22573020040A4C8

One thing living away from Australia has shown me is that in many ways it is the Lucky Country, but there aren't half some daft things presented about the place as fact in the Estonian media, usually by people purporting to live there or to have travelled there extensively. The following is a good example. It's from an article entitled Even bananas raise eyebrows with Australian Customs that appeared in Estonia's leading business daily Äripäev. Edited highlights this time + translation:

"Lisaks keeletestile meeldib austraallastel proovida ränduri teadmisi maateaduses. Loodan geograafiaõpetajale mitte häbi teha, määrates lõunasuunda päikese järgi. Aga lõunapoolkeral tõuseb ju päike läänest ning lõunatunnil sirab põhjas. Loomulikult keerleb ka vesi teisipidi, autod sõidavad paremal teepoolel. Lapsepõlve veendumusele, et tegu on pea peal kõndijatega, ma siiski kinnitust ei leia."

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"It's not only your language skills Australians love to test: they'll also test your geography. I hope not to bring shame on my old geography teacher by using the sun to establish which way's south, but of course in the southern hemisphere the sun rises in the west and blazes at midday to the north. The water goes down the drain the other way too, and the cars drive on the right. But I find no evidence to confirm my childhood belief that people here walk on their heads."

Spot the mistakes? Answers on the back of a postcard to the usual address. The thing is, the rest of the article suggests that the author, Ave Adoberg, must have been on the package tour that is always advertised in the travel section of the Estonian papers, involving a lot of bus travel up and down the country. Can she really have failed to notice they were driving on the left the whole time? Maybe the bus did a lot of overtaking. Or maybe she was too busy trying to figure out which way was south, and confusing east with west.

http://www.aripaev.ee/3470/rpp_turism_347001.html