quicko: the gift of who?

So I have actually mentioned this before, but it's come up again (in the third edition of New Headway Elementary this time ...) that Australians don't know the story of "The Gift of the Magi."  Now I recognize that many Americans also don't know of it (though a fair few who don't know the title I suspect would recognize the story), but the thing is it's the literary Australians (such as other ESL teachers) who I would have expected to have been versed in such classics who aren't familiar with it.  Go figure!

quicko: you get what you ask for

Sometimes I have trouble coming up with things to blog about (you've noticed, huh?) and sometimes I'm genuinely interested in what other people notice as cultural differences.  A couple weeks ago though I took notes while an Australian rattled off everything he didn't like about Americans.  They've been sitting in my notebook waiting to get written about (defended?  ranted against?  ignored?) and it's time for me to get a new notebook and close this one up and they're still annoying me so here.  Hot potato.  You take his criticisms and run with them, I don't want them any more.

--Things seen as "too American" such as employees clapping joyously at the opening of a new store.
--Americans talk too highly of themselves in public.
--Americans are too patriotic.
--Americans think too highly of their armed forces.
--Americans have bad coffee.

See why I was so thrilled?

quicko: how many nifty united states?

Australians have virtually as much trouble remembering how many American states there are as they do remembering when Halloween is.  Both times they guess perilously close (October 30?  No, wait, November 1 ... er, maybe the 29th?  Okay, okay, I give up!), but with no cigars.

Obviously, then, the prime guesses for American states are somewhere in the high 40s or low 50s ... ranging generally from about 47 to 52, encompassing any number but 50.

How do they think the song goes?  Fifty-one nifty United States?  It really doesn't have the same ring.