I know ... I thought that was funny, and a little bit surprising. I thought it was common knowledge that Aussies use "mate" instead of "buddy" or whatever.

What I find a bit funny here is when men call me "mate". I'm used to a man calling another man "mate", but it sounds a little bit odd to me when one calls me "mate" because I think of that term as a male term. But I'm getting used to it.