Same Old, Same Old...
OK folks, so I've been doing this "work" thing for the past week, and it's not too bad. Basically, I work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night doing the activities stuff for the hostel, and I tend bar and wait tables most of the other days. I haven't really had a day off in the past week and a half, but it's OK. It's keeping me out of trouble somewhat. But that's really about it. I've been very busy and I'm tired most of the time now. Not very exciting, but I gotta do something.
I was going to write a long entry about things I've noticed about living in Sydney, as opposed to living in, say, Winnipeg or Calgary, but as I was typing it, I realized it's somewhat boring, and I'm not interested in losing any more of my readers. So here's just a handful of things I've found:
- Contrary to popular belief, most Aussies don't say "G'Day Mate". In fact, I've only met one who does. Almost everyone simply says "How ya goin?" which isn't exactly like "How ya doin?" in the sense that if you answer "Good, and you?" they're somewhat bewildered. It's very fun!
- Almost everyone says "Cheers", which seems to be similar to the Hawaiian "aloha" in that it seems to mean a whole bunch of things, such as "Hello", "Enjoy your drink", and "Who are you and why are you hiding in my closet?".
- The English are referred to as "Poms" or "Pommes" (like Commies with a P). Nobody seems to know what this means, or if this should be an insult, but it's all over the place. It's in ads for Tooheys Cold (a beer) as "A Pom's Worst Nightmare". Imagine any other ethnic name in an ad in Canada: "To get rid of pesky Newfies, try our improved 'Newfie-Away'!"
- Cricket is surprisingly easy to understand. A Kiwi explained it to me in 10 minutes, and now I really enjoy it. It's the Ashes tournament right now, which means Australia and England are currently playing their tournaments over the next month or so. They're playing in Sydney from Jan 2-6 so I may see if I can get tickets somehow. Wish me luck!
- Australians have an unnatural love of Nickelback. I don't know why, and I seriously wish I could turn on the radio without hearing some crappy Nickelback song every 15 minutes. Damned Nickelback.
- Apparently the Canadian accent is very similar to the Irish accent, as I've been asked if I were Irish countless times. I have no idea why. Maybe I should stop saying 'Top o' the mornin'" and
"Where's my Lucky Charms?" as often as I do.
Anyhow, I just got back from working, and I'm exhausted. So I'll try and post something in the next couple days. I am still alive! Mostly...
posted by K-Dawg @ 11:49 PM
3 Comments:
Glad to see that you are "mostly" alive. The temp. here this morning (Monday) is -33 degrees with the wind chill. Be happy you are where you are even if they don't speak "English" as we know it. Hope you are able to sleep well and regain some of the energy you need for the hectic bar hopping. Keep the posts up as we enjoy reading about your adventures.
Love Mom & Dad
Hey mate, glad i wasn't the only irish canadian in the land of oz!!! funny coming from a canadian with a ukrainian heritage and really what i thought no accent at all!! you may even get scottish once in a while, better than the typical people who just assume you are american. no offense to the americans (well maybe a little) many people laughed at me when i told them this and also when i said if you answer an aussies "how ya goin'" that they really are stunned! anyhow - love that you are picking up on some of the same nuances I did. at one point they are annoying and funny but eventually feel so normal.
keep at er - easter is getting closer!
Shawna no longah in the land down undah but wishing she could hear the aussie thundah!
p.s. i hope you get my whacky sense of humour thru writing as your readers think you probably have a physco stalker back home.
I had the wonderful pleasure of working on a tomato farm in Bundaburg (think RUM)with a Pomme and it stands for Prisoner of Mother England. Even the English call themselves pommes so unless they are insulting themselves they don't seem to be offended by it. At least the woman I worked with appeared to be quite proud of it - almost as proud of her perfect tan from picking tomatoes topless! Don't even try for a visual, it wasn't pretty.
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