- Appetizers are
entrees. Entrees are mains.
- Prezzies are
presents, but prezzos are dog & ponies.
- The
kind of mangos we get in the US are called "cooking mangos".
- The Australian
national religion aspires to turn signal heaven through the religious use
of signals. This is especially useful in a town where 10% of the intersections
are roundabouts. Every American should be sent here for driver's ed.
- The leisure
ethic has everyone so laid back that they stop if you're a meter from the
kerb, but heading that way. (Don't try this in Sydney though.)
- Peter and I
were talking down the street when a drunk called Peter a fucking American.
He's Irish.
- Will try to
record the Puking Crows of Death. If I were a sound mixer, I'd find lots of
uses for them.
- The front page
had a article about Arab gangs attacking locals at a Sydney beach every weekend.
The locals sent SMS messages and fought back last weekend. There'll be a massive
police presence this weekend because SOMEBODY'S FACE GOT BLOODIED.
- Last night someone
said "I've got a friend in New Jersey. Is that a city or a state?"
- Also been told
"Since you're in the DC meditation group, you must go to Encinitas for
retreats all the time". (Yeah, like you go to Perth, lady.)
- At parties,
men collect in one corner and women in another. On the way home, my buddy
calls me mate, pats me on the shoulder and tells me "silly woman"
stories about his wife. Slang for wife (based on Cockney rhyming slang) is
"trouble and strife".
- Whether I'm
in Canberra or DC, it'll be 32 degees at Christmas.
This is the end
of my 10-week tryout. I want more Australia, and the Australian government wants
more me. The paperwork isn't through, but the plan is that I'll return in Jan
through June (and probably the rest of the year in the end).
I was in a comfortable
rut at home, and I'm like a kid with a new box of toys here. It does SO much
for quality of life when everything from friends to kickboxing to any kind of
restaraunt to swimming lessons is within a 20 minute drive from home or work
at any time of day. The brilliant blue weather and gums remind me of what LA
was like when I was tiny.
When I get back,
I'll be posting when I take a trip. On the docket:
- New Zealand for
3 weeks (LOTR site tour, seen a kickass Maori tattoo I want)
- Coast road from
Melbourne to Adelaid
- Kakadu national
park (far north, now going under water with monsoons)
- Alice Springs/Uluru
(Ayres Rock)
- The Indian Ocean
coast north of Perth has amazing rock formations