Time Travel

**This is a post a actually wrote a year ago.  I just never posted it.  So travel back in time to July-September 2014...

Thursday, September 4, 2014

My first trip back to the U.S.:

 

I was near giddy when I got to go to Walmart.  Everthing I need in one stop. There is nothing like that here! Allison shared the excitement.

I enjoyed hanging out with my bestie Laura...

...and my other bestie Keely. We laughed (and snorted) a lot! 

4th of July in Winter 

This year we celebrated U.S. Independence Day in the winter!  We got all bundled up and went to the U.S. Embassy for the 4th of July celebration.  It was incredible. They had an area of fun stuff for the kids including face painting, a football throw (an aussie football), a baseball batting cage, etc.  They also had an Navy Band playing recent hits, fireworks, and food. It was nice being around so much American pride after being removed from it so much.  We saw lots of American flags and even got to sing the national anthem.  One benefit of celebrating the 4th of July in the winter is that it is dark by 6:30.  We didn't have to wait until 9:30 for the fireworks.  The fireworks started at 6:30 and the kids were back home in bed at their regular bed time, getting rested for school the next morning.  

The U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Band out of Honolulu played cover songs and the national anthem. My kids kept watching them. One of the guys from the band noticed and came over to talk to them. He gave Charlie his guitar pick and sailor hat. He gave Chaney the insignia pin from his uniform. What a great guy. It really meant a lot.

The U.S. Ambassador to Australia, John Berry.

All decked out in our red, white and blue!

Patriotic kitty.  Meow.

I'm not even sure if an Aussie football is a rugby ball or a Australian Rules Football ball.

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• In Australia, it's not a closet.  It's a wardrobe.
• In Australia, you aren't going on vacation.  You are going on holiday.
• The word "ripper" (pronounced "rippa") means something that is particularly good or excellent.  My husband is a "rippa" mate. Ripper.  (you just pronounced the R sound, didn't you?)
• In Australia, it's not a diaper.  It's a nappie.
• The word "glacier" is pronounced glass-ier.
• Down here, the little cocktail franks are called "little boys."  I'm totally serious. Little. Boys.   Erich said they don't call them that at work for PC reasons. (No kidding.)  But its definitely still used outside of work places!  I nearly spit out my drink when I first heard someone call them little boys. 
• The other day I heard someone talking about a "stubby holder."  I couldn't stop laughing.  I had no idea what it was but it sounded really funny to me. Once I found out what a stubby holder is, my aussie friends asked what we called it in the U.S, I said, "We call it a koozie." I then realized that that sounds just as funny.  (A stubby is another Aussie word for a bottle of beer.)

Oh My Goodness! It's a New Post!

Oh my goodness.  My family has begged and begged for more blog posts.  I recently had a friend message me, "has it been over a year since you posted in your blog?!"  It has been over a year.  I've been so busy with life, that I haven't made time for a blog post.  I am constantly adding things to the "Blog" list on my phone but I just haven't taken the extra time to write it down for the blog.  The other day, when one of us said something "Aussie,"  I wondered how long we would use the Aussie slang once we moved back to the states and didn't hear it all the time.  That made me a little sad that we would probably forget some of the little differences we have learned so much about.  That spurred me to take the time to write another blog post.  It's my way of documenting our time here for our kids.

Same but Different

We have noticed some products that are the exactly the same as what we buy in the U.S.  The company that produces it is the same and the packaging looks the same.  Except for the name.  In a previous blog post I gave an example of this with the Aussie Maclean and the U.S. Aquafresh toothpaste. Sometimes we will see TV advertisements that were also used in the U.S.  For example Aveeno Lotion runs an ad in the U.S. with Jennifer Aniston.  They run the exact same ad here.  Sometimes the ad will be exactly the same but the narrator has an Aussie accent.  It isn't often we see an exact same ad but totally redone with Aussie actors.   You know the Progressive Insurance commercials with Flo?  Flo has a whole series of commercials since around 2008.  Progressive must have been successful with this campaign in the U.S., because they used the exact same ads here, but have redone it with Aussie actors/actresses.  And it isn't Flo.  Here in Australia, they have Kitty.  They look similar, down to the apron, buttons and blue headband, and both have the same sassy attitude.

Flo, the American Progressive gal.

Kitty, the Australian Pregressive gal.  

Spelling

I've been here two years now.  Sometimes I'm still surprised to see the spelling of some words. 

Program = Programme  

Pediatrician = Paediatrician

Aging = Ageing

Customize = customise

Install = Instal

Enroll = enrol

Enrollment = enrolment

Analyze= Analyse

Civilize = civilise

Usable = useable

Defense = defence

Neighbor = neighbour

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• Some Aussies call an umbrella a "brelly."
• The other day in an email to me, an Australian used the phrase "chased it up." It means the same thing as "track it down." .
• If you are having a "chook" for dinner, you are having chicken.  
• Speaking of chooks, they like their meat flavored potato chips here.  Here are a couple of pics of some tasty treats you can get in the chip aisle. (I just have one thing to say.  Yuck.)

  

  Mmmm... Burger flavored rice cakes anyone?

  
  

  

  Big Burger Taste Burger Rings.  Yum.

  
  

  

  How about a chicken flavored wholegrain brown rice cake? (I know your mouth is watering.)
  
  (I just have one thing to say.  Yuck.)

• If you are having "tea," you could be having a cup of tea, or having a snack, or having a full meal at dinnertime. 
• My kids now pronounce "library" the Aussie way (Lie-bree)
• In Australia, you have not been "spoiled."  You have been "spoilt."  It's not something you "learned."  It's something you "learnt."  Poor Charlie...The other day he wrote "learnted." We are totally confusing them!

  

  From a bulletin board at the kids' school.

• Here it's not a Bachelorette Party.  Its called a "Hens Party." A bachelor party is called a "Bucks Night."  Hmmmm.... A hen and a buck...
• In Australia, "dacks" are pants. If you are wearing "tracky dacks" you are wearing tracksuit pants.   If you "dack" someone, you are pulling down their pants. 
• When answering the phone, the receptionist wouldn't say, "Dr. Smith's Office."  Instead she would say, "Dr. Smith's Rooms."
• Most restaurants or Cafes you order and pay at the counter and then they bring you your food.  Kind of like McDonalds.  Only nicer.  If a restaurant is open for dinner, (a lot of lunch time restaurants aren't) they usually have table service and a server would come to your table to take your order.  When you are finished, you pay at the counter and not at the table.  
• They do celebrate Mardi Gras here.  But it's not like it is in the U.S.  It's considered a gay and lesbian holiday.
• You aren't getting a drink at the water fountain.  You are getting it from the "bubbler."  If you forget that Aussie's use a different word, and you ask where a water fountain is, you will get an odd look and then told the location of the nearest fountain (like the kind in front of someone's house.)
• They use the word timber a lot when describing something made from wood.  It would be a timber shelf or a timber deck.
• They don't say they are going to the bar for a drink.  They would be going to the pub.
• A tattle tale would be a dob.  So the act of tattling would be dobbing.  
• On the playground, they aren't playing the game of tag.  They are playing "tips."
• They don't tip at restaurants, hair dressers, or taxis.  They don't tip at all. It's really quite wonderful.  No more guessing about how much to leave.  In the U.S., I don't mind tipping restaurant servers since they make below minimum wage.  But I don't think tips should be given to people doing their jobs.  Since when is tipping expected rather then being for an extra great job, above and beyond what they are already getting paid for.  I'll get off my soap box now.  
• Here they use milliliters instead of  ounces.  So when cooking, there are times when I need to convert the ounces to millimeters or vice versa.  This is easy because both of those measurements measure volume.  However, butter is a different story.  In the U.S., recipes us butter measured in volume.  You might need a quarter cup of butter, etc.  The wrapping that butter comes in in the U.S. is marked in tablespoons.  Here, they measure butter for recipes by weight.  Their recipes call for grams of butter.  You can't convert grams to tablespoons with my phone app.  I have located a butter converter chart and I keep it inside my kitchen cupboard, right beside the conversion of oven temps from F to C.  
• Crayons are not on school supply lists.  They don't use crayons at school!!  What?!!  But they do use textas. (Textas are fine point markers.)
• Crayola markers can be bought in the U.S. at Walmart for about a dollar.  Sticker shock!!
  
• I hope to post another blog soon!  I've already started a new one!