Comparing tans

Nice to have been able to experience one more hot Australia Day at a crowded Victoria Park Pool last Wednesday before leaving for the States. I did 24 laps this time just in case I cop a lap-swimming drought when we arrive in San Francisco in mid-winter. I saw a couple of friends meet at the entrance. As they walked over to the lawn they both looked backwards and down at their forearms, and I knew exactly what they would have said: "You're browner than I am," or "You haven't seen much sun this summer." In how many countries would this gesture have been so easily translatable?