And how fitting that I shall begin it with my birthday, the thirtieth no less. Yes, today I completed three decades of life and will begin my fourth. How do I feel? Very, very grateful. I could have only made it to 25 or 7. I welcome my 30th and will welcome every birthday after that. I am just a bit sad however to be so far from home. My main chica, T-ta (as Elias calls you now) and I were supposed to be in the big NYC thriftin' it up. Oh, I long to go back to the Salvo Boutique just off Broadway! 2010 will be our year Chica de Tug!!!!
Enough about my bday, what about Australia you ask? There is so much to tell and I am already forgetting things because I went without internet for so long, but I will try to compile a list here of the things that I have learned thus far:
1. I have an internet addiction. But I guess that doesn't really have anything to do with Australia, I just happened to discover it here. So we won't count it...
New 1. That when one drives on the other side of the road they also walk down the sidewalk on the other side and they push the shopping cart down the other side. You might be saying "Well, Duh!" to yourself right now, but I ask you, really!?!? would you have really thought of that?!?!? I only caught on after twenty minutes of Australian shoppers trying to avoid playing a game of chicken with me.
2. Cantelopes are rock melons
3. Bell peppers are capsicums
4. Mackers is McDonalds
5. Many many australians can name all fifty states of the U.S. Quick...name the seven australian states! Got you, there are only six! Any dill knows that!
6. a dill is an idiot.
7. Aussie is not pronounced "OSSIE", it is "OZZIE"
8. Cookies are biscuits
9. Esteban was inducted at work his first week (had his orientation)
10. You greet someone by saying "how are you going?", not "how are you doing?", and this even applies in the past tense ("so how did you go?")
11. If something is suspicious or suspect, it's "a bit dodgy"
12. Being "switched on" applies to smart people who catch on quickly, not necessarily electrical appliances or light switches...
13. Evidently every Melbournian has a personal stylist,or at least they all look that way.
I think that's all I've got for now. In general, we are very happy with where we live. It is very close to a park. Everything is very expensive here though and that might be a slight set back. I went to buy some toys for the boys the other day and I almost cried in the store. I mean it, I was really fighting back the tears because the prices were so high that I was thinking "I am such a bad mom, bringing my children to this land where I can't even buy them a toy! Shame on me." But I did end up buying them a little people set that costs about three times what it would in the states. I am not exaggerating. Aren't they all made in China anyway and aren't we closer to China now?? I think that's all for today.
3 comments:
Hey,
That was a very funny post for an Aussie to read. It reminds me of my friend from Memphis who I lived with in Japan being so confused when I started talking about getting a trolley at the supermarket (apparently in the USA you say buggy) or my husband wearing white runners when coming to meet her for the 1st time at the train station to show her the way to my new house. She thought I meant a white running outfit when I actually meant sneakers, joggers or whatever you call them in your part of the world.
Things can be cheaper and more expensive here depending on where you shop. Maybe Kmart or BigW will have cheaper toys than a specialised toy store. (They are similar to Walmart)
I'm glad you like Melbourne and think its very fashionable. Melbournian's like to think that we are the chicest city in Australia.
You made me laugh out loud at how funny us Aussies must seem to you Americans! I don't know why toys are more expensive here, it's quite true that we're actually closer to Asia but it does also depend on what suburb of Melbourne that you live. As you are living in Moonee Ponds, you will probably find that things will be a little more expensive than in the outer suburbs as shops tend to set pricing based on the affluence of the suburb.
Always try Kmart, Target or Big W for toys if you need something cheap. You're pretty close to Highpoint shopping centre and they have Target and Big W.
Had to come and visit your blog after reading your jumper/sweater comment on s'n'b, and guessing you weren't from these parts! Sounds like you're catching on to all the lingo (language). I'm sure there are plenty more new words and things to discover (like the boot of the car, instead of trunk, and corriander instead of cilantro)...
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