Adventures in slang

My first impressions were that Australia is very similar in many ways to the U.S., although I can definitely tell I’m in a foreign country. After over a month here I can understand almost everyone almost all of the time, but I still get caught up on a word here and there. I do run across the occasional person who sounds to me like Woodstock. And that’s not to mention all the different expressions and slang, and Australians love to abbreviate. Much of the language is more similar to british English than American English, colour, mum, stuff like that.

Some of my favorite phrases so far: “How you going,” “That’s okay” (the Australian version of saying “no problem” instead of “you’re welcome, update: "no worries" is a more common phrase), “Happy as Larry” (like “happy as a clam,” and makes just as much sense), “Rug up” (put a jacket or a jumper (sweatshirt) on). Also, goon=boxed wine, Bogans=rednecks, sunnies = sunglasses, brekkie = breakfast, mecca's = McDonalds…you get the idea. The other day I was talking to someone and they said “oh, and bring a doona”

“a what?” I said

“a doona”

“A dooner?”

“Ya”

“Dooner”

“Doona”

“What word are you saying??”

I finally figured out that she was talking about a blanket
(update: according to some real live Australians, a doona means a duvet, or comforter, whereas a regular blanket would be called a blanket). 

Only once have I heard someone say "G'day mate!"

  

After a day or two, I became less alarmed by cars driving on the left side of the road, although I am still extra careful when I cross the street. The thing that does still sometimes catch me off guard is the driver sitting on the right side of the car. I still get a little shocked when I look over at a moving car and see NO ONE sitting in the driver seat – it’s a ghost! Oh, wait, no – the driver is just in the other seat. On the topic of traffic – roundabouts are wonderful, beautiful things and we really should get more of them in the U.S.

What a wonderfully simple sign, no confusion possible

As it is election season, both here and in the U.S., politics have come up quite a bit. I’ve learned a lot about the Australian political and election systems, which is in many ways very different from our own. There are still two major parties, but the prime minister is chosen by whichever party wins the majority of seats in the senate. If the party deems that the prime minister is doing a terrible job of things, they can displace him or her and put in a new candidate from their party. If the entire government is deemed to be doing a terrible job of things, or just not getting anything done, they can dissolve parliament and call for a new election. Also, voting is compulsory! An election was held last Saturday, but it is such a close race that they may be counting and recounting votes for the next few weeks. All the hype is getting me warmed up for November. Speaking of November, heaps of people have commented to me about the sad state of affairs of American politics these days, but almost everyone is sympathetic to our plight. They have several pretty horrible politicians here as well, so I think they understand on some level what we are going through.

Somehow I can't imagine anyone in the U.S.A. buying this brand

A red Capsicum

The food here is also a bit different. Cadbury is the major everyday chocolate instead of Hershey’s, and I daresay it is superior. Lollies are a big thing here, lollies being pretty much any non-chocolate candy. I am convinced that Australians, or at least Tasmanians, are obsessed with marshmallows. Not that I think this a bad thing, mind you. 

Lollies

Another delicious, sweet tradition here is the Tim Tam slam. My friend Emma tipped me off to this when she visited Australia a few years back, and now I’ve experienced it myself. Tim Tams are a chocolate biscuit (cookie), and to perform a Tim Tam slam you bite off each end of the cookie, and use it as a straw for your hot chocolate or tea. This makes the biscuit all melty and gooey, yum!

A Tim Tam Tutorial

I’ve had the chance to eat Wallaby, although not yet Kangaroo. It tastes like…meat. Pretty delicious, and it’s local and native, more feed and water efficient than cattle, and lean meat. They are pretty cute, though. Tasmanian pepperberry is another interesting local food – it’s a native bush whose leaves have a very distinctive spicy peppery flavor.

There is no tipping culture here, which is quite nice, and Aussies are damn proud of it. The other day we ordered pizza and I did not tip the delivery man! It felt so wrong, but it felt so right.

I guess the true test of the cultural differences and my assimilation to them will be when I get back to the US, hopefully I won’t be too obnoxious if I accidentally drop some Australian slang or pronounce a word funny here and there. Then again, this is why we travel, isn’t it? To see a different way of doing things, learn new perspectives, see our home country from afar, and get out of our comfort zones a little bit.