A surfing blue koala is Australia's newest mascot
Australians hate being stereotyped as much as the next country, but there is something about a surfing koala that just can't be disliked.
On Monday, the 2018 Commonwealth Games mascot, Borobi the Koala, was dropped onto a Gold Coast beach in Australia by helicopter. The blue surfer dude is what all the world would expect of an Australian mascot -- and for once, locals are not ashamed.
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Strangely, this is the first time a koala has been chosen as the mascot of an Australian multisport event. Borobi -- the Indigenous Yugambeh language word for koala -- was inspired by a drawing by Australian school teacher Merrilyn Krohn, who won a mascot design competition.
According to legend, when Borobi was a child all he wanted to do was learn to surf. His coat turned blue due to hours spent in the water learning his craft. "Like a seagull after a hot chip, he was unstoppable," a video introducing the little beauty declared.
Even the notoriously angry Twitter crowd couldn't contain its glee.
Locals were mostly proud that the mascot wasn't a drunk teenager, a symbol of the end-of-school "Schoolies" that descend on the region each year.
Though, some people couldn't help but bring the party region's sometimes-questionable reputation into the discussion.
The Commonwealth Games will be held on the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia in 2018. It is an international sporting event for the Commonwealth nations or territories.
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