Neil_Oz

An American visitor once wrote that Australia was "familiar enough to be easily navigable, different enough to be interesting", which about sums up my limited experience of the US. The familiarity factor varies with region, the West Coast being most familiar in feel to an Australia.

I've known quite a few Australians who've lived and worked in the US and their experiences were uniformly positive, largely thanks to Americans' open, friendly and helpful attitude, traits those in a position to know have contrasted with Europeans' generally more reserved approach. I think most American visitors to Australia find this friendliness reciprocated.

Americans can strike Australians as conservative, and religious belief is much more marked in the US. Australians tend to be more irreverent and sceptical; but these are broad generalisations that pay no attention to individual differences in each country. And, in the US, those very marked regional differences. You certainly couldn't label San Franciscans as conservative, for instance, and I know plenty of credulous Australians.

stormbird

Australia - Australia - Australia - every time!
I am a very proud Australian who has lived for a year and a half in Saudi Arabia and two years in Papua New Guinea and am reasonably well travelled.

I love to travel and visit other countries and cultures but from where I sit here in Brisbane, between the Sunshine and Gold Coasts and northern New South Wales just a bit further down the track - my view is pretty awesome!

I love my State - I love what we have and I love who we are!

I'm old enough to remember having to sing God Save The Queen as our anthem and I am now so very happy to be singing Advance Australia Fair instead - loudly and proudly whenever the opportunity arises.

I've said it before the Big Cheese Upstairs was smiling on us when he created Australia!

benderbabe

I grew up in San Francisco, married an Aussie, and have been living in Sydney for the past 15 years. I can honestly say that there is nothing that could ever convince me to move back to the US again.

My husband and I travel a lot, and as far as other places I would happily consider living, the list would go in this order: Thailand, Japan, France.

The original poster seems to have assumed that everyone else in the world is just dying to get into the US, but I'm here to tell you that these days the US looks very unappealing when you look at it from the outside (and I've had 15 years of doing just that, so I l know what I'm talking about).

I'd personally like to see more Americans try living elsewhere so they could understand this.

But no, my first two choices besides Australia would involve neither America nor Europe, but Asia.