Mrs Nicole Coulter? and Australia through US eyes

[draco382 <draco382@yahoo.com>]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tabouli" <tabouli at u...> 
wrote:

> So, while I'm taking one of my favorite hobby horses (Anglophone 
Contrasts, out of Curiosity by Midnight Message) out for a canter, 
what image *do* people in the USA have of Australia, if any?  Would 
you recognise an Australian accent?
> 

I had the great fortune of visiting Australia two summers ago and was 
amazed at how much variety there was in the landscape...every place 
we visited was gorgeous.  I would have to agree with the comments 
made by my fellow Americans so far...we don't really know that much 
about Australia outside of the generalization (Crocadile Dundee, 
Steve Erwin, kangaroos, Outback Steakhouse)  The impression, i 
believe, is that Australia is this very rural and rugged place.  Why 
would we think this?  Well, among other media-related impressions, I 
remember a commercial airing a few months back for Yahoo!Shopping 
which featured a man living out in a trailer in the middle of 
the "Australian Outback" with his dog all by himself.  Plus for some 
reason, when i think "Australia", I think "Khaki clothes" -- maybe 
that's something to do with Crocodile Hunter.    

I have a question...is the American accent harder or easier to 
impersonate than a British accent or Australian accent?  I've always 
been amazed at how easily Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman switch between 
the two.  

~draco382