US expat makes a brutal observation of Aussies during flu season... but all is not as it seems

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

A US expat has taken aim at how Australians cope during flu season - but his experience of life Down Under isn't quite as it seems.
Jack Sheader, 24, has caused a stir with his observations about daily life in Australia from his home in Sydney 's Northern Beaches from America.
Mr Sheader, who works in marketing, made a TikTok video about the very common phrase used by Australians during the cooler months.
'So a fun little fact about Australia is that in the months of winter if you have flu-like symptoms in front of someone else there is a 100 per cent chance that person will turn to you and say "Yeah, there's something going around, isn't there?"' he said.
'All of my Australian friends have said those words to me.'
'Even complete strangers that I do not know will say those exact words to me "There's something going around".
'Is this a common turn of phrase in Australia that I don't know of?'
He signed off by asking Aussies if they had noticed this popular phrase Down Under.
But, in a major twist, Mr Sheader revealed to this publication he is in fact Australian.
'I am actually just an Australian doing an American accent. It's reassuring to know that my accent was convincing enough to fool the masses,' he said.
The 24-year-old has shared dozens of videos documenting his time as an 'American' in Australia including trying Vegemite for the first time.
In one video, he enraged viewers when he peeled back the plastic on a 'squeeze-on' sauce sachet - a notoriously Australian invention.
'A lesson in "How to trigger the Aussie population in less than 30 secs". Well played sir!!' one person commented.
'Aussies are all screaming at the screen!' another wrote.
Explaining why he adopted the American persona, Mr Sheader said he was finding it impossible to escape the US in any Australian media outlet.
'I struggle to come to terms with the fact that despite facing global crises, my social media was constantly inundated by the circus in the States,' he explained.
'The content started as satire, as a way to poke fun at those in the US who forget they are but one part of a much larger system.
'What I did not expect to see however, was the Australia band together and share a laugh at the absurdity.
'In fact it was quite beautiful seeing how proud we are as a nation and of our education system, cultural norms and other standards we take for granted!'