Conference taveng::bagels

    Hi, Michael!
    
    So, you are one of those guys in the other side of the planet? My
    name is Rub�n, working for DEC Spain (you sleep when I work, you
    work when I sleep...). Yes, I have a question for you: how big is
    the Jewish community there in Australia? Do they have newspapers
    in Hebrew? I have heard there you have newspapers in Greek and Czech,
    is that true? Any in Hebrew?

    Do you REALLY drink sheep beer?

    Re .0
    
    How's the weather down there? We just had a 12 inches of snow last
    night. There's something I always wanted to ask an Australian. How
    do you keep from falling off the bottom of the earth?  8-)
    
    			Fred
    

    Well now this notesfile is really getting around!  We now have 
    Kibbutz Hagluoat, on the net that is.
    
    Australians are some of the best people I've met in my life.  Let's
    see, the last Australian Jew I met was the guy I met while we were
    stranded in Beograd (Yugoslavia) overnight due to Yugoslavian Airlines
    great "efficiency".  It turned we both had the same wacky interests.
    
    Now Mike, let us know the keel design of Kookaburra III.  My next
    "Swannie" is to you.
    
    David

    Hi, Michail!
    
    Fancy to meet a former countryman -- of all the places -- in Australia!
    Is it as fun for a Russian Jew to live there as it is here in the
    USA?  How did you find yourself there?  Why did you choose to go
    to this land down under?  When did it happen?  At the time when
    I was leaving Moscow, all "regular" emigrants wanted to go to Israel,
    the USA or Canada.
    
    Are there other Russian Jews around?  What do they do there?  I
    have a lot more questions, but for later, after I hear from you.

    Unfortunately, I am leaving the company in two weeks and I do not
    know whether my new work has an access to usenet or some other network.
    But at least we have these two weeks.
    
    Best Regards and welcome aboard,
    
    Leo Simon (aka Lev Simon)

    
    A very warm (18 'C!!) Shalom from the 'holy' DEC VLSI Design Center
    of Jerusalem. 
    
    /Philippe 

    Hello all again,
    
    	Thanks for your marvelous response !!!
    I will try to answer some of your questions.
    
re .1
        Australia has a Jewish community od approximately 50,000 people
    with the major numbers being in Sydney and Melbourne.  Sydney has
    approximately 12-15 synagogues ranging from reformist to Hasisdic.

       	As far as I know there is no Hebrew language newspaper published
    in Australia, however there is a Jewish newspaper published in English,
    i.e. The Australian Jewish Times (a weekly).
    
    	I believe the reason for this is that the majority of the Jews
    are either German or East European and as such do not have a common
    language appart from English (spoken with a variety of accents)
    and in some cases Yiddish.  As I understand the majority of the
    Jewish immigration to Australia occured between 1930 and 1960 with
    by far the greatest number coming after WWII.
    
    re 2.
    	Michael, actually the majority of the beer consumed in this
    country is made out of kangaroos and not sheep. (:-)
    
    Seriously though Australia has by far the best beer in the world
    (:-)
    
    re 3. 
    	We are in the midst of summer here and the average temperature
    during the day is 27-29C and at night it gets down to 18C.  You
    will have to do the conversions to F yourselves.  On Monday was
    a public holiday i.e. Australia day, the aniversary of the first
    white settlers (convicts) in this country and we are now 199 years
    old.  The day was marked by blue cloudless skies a hot unrelenting
    sun beaming and burning the green foilage all around us and yet
    smiling gently on Sydney harbour, by far the most beautiful harbour
    in the world, with the temrature of 28C. (sorry I got carried away)
    
    re 5.
    	Leo, we left the Soviet Union in 1975 and at that time we had
    the choice of going to Israel, USA, Canada, New Zealand or Australia.
    We chose Australia for a number of reasons which looking back now
    seem very naive and simplistic.  Although having visited the USA
    we have absolutely no regrets and in fact prefer the lifestyle in
    Australia to the lifestyles of our friends both on the East and
    West coasts.
    
    	The Russian Jewish community in Sydney is not large, probably
    about 1000 people, most are very happy as Australia is truly the
    land of opportunity and a lot of people have set themselves up in
    some type of bussiness.
    
    Anyway I have run out of time I have to go out to see a customer.
    
    
    		Looking forward to comminicating a lot more
    				Michael.
    
    				SHALOM
    
    

    	Its funny that I came across your note today because we just
    whipped your asses taking four out of four for the Americas Cup.
    Repeat Americas Cup.
    
    	One of my coworkers just came back from a month in the South
    Pacific and Australia. Give her a DECMAIL at SWATT::MAGENHEIM. Her
    first name is Anita. She is probably reading this note right now.
    
  

    
    
    G'day mate!
    
    From an (ex)Aussie now working in TAVland.
    
    Keep off the crook Sydney grog and convert to Fosters - that's a
    real beer!
    
    Seriously, not being back to the 'old' country for 5 years I've
    lost touch - what's happening on the Jewish scene these days?
    
    Mike
    
    
    

    G'day !!!
    
    I am not greately conected with the Jewish scene, however from what
    I undestand the majority of the Jewish population's attitude to
    life rarely changes.  As for my friends , the boy JAP still courts
    girl JAP (A = Australian) with the ultimately goal of causing their
    parents a lot of happiness and expense and from then on sharing
    a home in Woolahra or Paddington (read trendy suburbs) and competing
    with their friends re: brands and types of cars and home appliances
    they have the pleasure to own.
    
    I am not a cinic !!! (:-)
    I just have a practical view of life.
    
>>        Keep off the crook Sydney grog and convert to Fosters - that's a
>>    real beer!

    Fosters is known the world over as Kangaroo piss, now for a real
    beer try COOPER'S Cloudy Ale (South Australian, see I am not biased(:-)).

     re .10:
     
     I'll second the suggestion about the Coop's -- very drinkable, once
     you get used to seeing little bits mucking around on the bottom.
     For septics in the Boston area, you can find the stuff at
     Martignetti's in Brighton.
     
     re Minow's screed about Pabst in another note:
     
     What total garbage; you haven't a clue what you're talking about, and
     you probably haven't had a Pabst in 10 years.  Pabst is not a cheap
     beer by any means (did you ignorantly confuse it with Old Milwaukee,
     which is a cheap beer and uses the same label colors as Pabst?). 
     
     Cheers and up yours, mates,
     
     --Mr Topaz

    G'day ocker,
    
    Well, just as I thought, nothin' changed. Come to think of it, what
    you described as that 'state of the Jewish nation' down-under is
    really very similar to the local Isreali scene. This must be one
    of the universal Jewish truths.
    
    Just cannot believe that you actually drink that Fitzroy cocktail.
    (read Coopers Cloudy Ale). 
    
    Mike
    

Re: .-1    

>>        Just cannot believe that you actually drink that Fitzroy cocktail.
>>    (read Coopers Cloudy Ale). 

	We down under are made of really stern stuff !!!
    
    In fact we now have designer brewries in Sydney (usually located
    in old pubs) which sell by far the best beer I have ever tasted,
    some of which is up to 9.5% alcohol.