Australia’s all alone out there, thousands of miles from everything (except Papa New Guinea, Indonesia, and New Zealand), and most people don’t know too much about it. It seems that, even within the continent, Google’s Australian branch is also one big question mark. So the Australian Googlers have filled the public in on some of their accomplishments and quirks.
Kate Conroy, Account Associate, gathered and relayed the information. “Although the majority of us were born in Oz, more than 40% hail from other parts of the globe and about half are happy striking up a conversation in another language – 18 languages all together,” she writes on the Official Google Australia Blog.
“Our average age indicates fond childhood memories of watching Inspector Gadget and probably some embarrassing baby photos featuring 70’s infant’s wear.” That’s pretty straightforward stuff, but remember that I promised you “quirks”: for some reason, almost a third of Google’s Australian employees own more than one iPod.
Moreover, “We’ve also got someone who beat out Pat Rafter for High School Sportsperson of the Year, former contestants on Sale of the Century and Family Feud, descendants of Little Jack Horner and Jane Austen, an ex-Canterbury Bulldogs cheerleader, someone who’s been lost on horseback in the Egyptian desert at night and someone else who’s collected dinosaur bones in the Gobi desert,” Conroy continued.
Google seems to be working hard to bring its Australian operation into the mainstream – just ten days ago, a post about “Bloggin’ down under” appeared on the Official Google Blog. At this rate, it won’t be long before we’re on a first-name basis with most of the gang.
