Everyone Counts

Australians only seem to take a few things seriously:

1. Sport: Aussie Rules Football and Rugby

2. Chucking Sickies: Using sick days to chill on the beach

3. Food: Beetroot on burgers, throwing a shrimp on the barbie (they actually do that, but Foster's is not Australian for Beer), and meat pies

4. Utes: The front is like a car, the back is like a truck, the front is where you drive, the back is where you...

5. The Idea of Surfing: They love to talk about it, drink in the parking lot and watch it, but not many seem to actually know how to surf

And one that I was not expecting: The Census

You need to scream, shout and beg to get any waiter service at a restaurant but if the thought of the census even creeps into your head then the "Census Guy" just magically appears at your door. He has visited the apartment at least 10 times over the last 3 weeks dropping off forms, reminding us to fill them out, attempting to collect the forms (multiple times) and warning us of the hefty fine if we failed to hand it in ($110/day fine starting Sept 1 if you fail to submit it). With the threat of the fine, Kelly and I officially became Australian "statistics" as we submitted our form yesterday and hopefully never have to hear from the Census Guy again.

So unlike New York City, which claimed to have missed at least 50,000 people in the 2010 census costing them desperately needed federal funds (suckers) everyone counts Down Under.