Learning the Lingo

Learning the Lingo

When one moves to a foreign country the first thing you consider is the language that is spoken.  We were thrilled to know that English is the chosen language for the Aussies.  However, we were not prepared for the vast difference in lingo.  According to my Americans’ Survival Guide to Australia, “Just because Americans and Australians use a language based on English doesn’t mean they speak the same language.”  We have found ourselves asking people to repeat themselves in effort to translate what they are saying.  I believe it is the accent and the terminology that give us trouble.  I am told that it will get easier with time.  Below is a list of terms and phrases we have encountered during our first couple of months in the Land Down Under . . .

A few spelling differences:  tire is spelled tyre, organize is organise and the same with realize.  The letter “z” is pronounced “zed” so they normally don’t use it when spelling words.  Super can be spelled “super”, but we have found it spelled “supa” because that is how it is pronounced over here. Schedule has the same meaning, but is pronounced “shedule”.

Terminology:

Pardon – excuse me (we use this a lot because we can’t understand people)

Bathers – swimming suits

Mobile (pronounced moe-byle) – cell phone

SMSing – texting

Brekky/Brekkie – breakfast

Macca’s (pronounced “mackers”) – McDonald’s

Biscuit – cookie

Lollies – candy

“Knock it on is head” – not going to accept it, you’ll reject the idea

Ball Huggers – speedos

Barbie – BBQ

Barrister – lawyer

Soliciter – lower level lawyer

Bin – trash can

Booking – reservation

Boot – trunk of the car

Canteen – school cafeteria

Capsicum – bell pepper (any color)

Car Park – parking lot

CDB (Central Business District) – downtown

Chemist – pharmacist/pharmacy

Chips – french fries

College – high school

Uni – University

Cordial – KoolAid

Cos – romaine lettuce

Creche (pronounced “kresh”) – daycare facility

Cubby – kid’s treehouse or playhouse

Dodgy – not good/suspicious

Doona – comforter or quilt

EFTPOS (pronounced “ehft pohs”) – debit card

Entrée – appetizer not your main meal.  The main meal is called “Main”

Excursion – a school field trip

Flannal – wash cloth or hand towel

Fringe – bangs (hair)

Glandular Fever – Mononucleosis

Globe – light bulb

Heaps – many, a lot

Holiday – vacation

“Howya going?” –  “How ya doing?”

Ice Cream Spider or Spider – our version of a float (Root Beer Float) although they use various flavors of soda.

Jam – jelly

Jelly – JellO

Jumper – sweater or sweatshir

Knickers – girls’ underware

Jocks – boys’ underware

Lemonade – Sprite or 7-UP

Lift – elevator

Milk Bar – convenience store

Milk Shake – flavored milk (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, etc.) no ice cream

Mince – ground meat/hamburger, etc.

Mo – moustache

Mozzies – mosquitos, which by the way, are huge and abundant

Nappies – diapers

Petrol – gas

Pokies – slot machines

Post – mail

Postie – mailman, which delivers mail on a motorcycle with saddle bags for the mail

Pram – stroller

Preggers – pregnant

Prezzy – presents

Rellies – relatives

Reception – registration desk

Rock Melon – cantelope (Gary encountered this at work.  He used cantelope and confused his guys.  They had to google it to find out what he meant.)

Rice Bubbles – Rice Krispies

Sanger – sandwich

Chicken Schnitzel – breaded, fried chicken

Serviette – napkin

“She’ll Be Right” –  “It’ll be ok”

Smash – car accident

Smash Repairs – auto body shop

Sultanas – rainsins (Sultana Bran is Raisin Bran)

Take Away – take out food

Tea – evening meal/dinner

Toilet – bathroom/restroom

Tomato Sauce – ketchup

Torch – flashlight

Yank – any American

Gum Boots – rain boots

Tiggy – the game tag

Rubbish – gargage

“Once a Fort Night” – every two weeks

Give Way – yield

Trolley – shopping cart

“Good Onya” – “Good Job” or “Well Done”

“Fair Dinkum” – the truth – genuine

These are just a few of the differences that we have experienced in the few months we have lived in this beautiful country.  I’m sure we "Yanks" will encounter many, many more and will be saying “Pardon” when we don’t understand the lingo. 

Artwork Along the Eastlink

Artwork Along the Eastlink

To better understand this post I will have to go into a bit of history on the Eastlink.  The Eastlink is a tollway that connects the Northeast Suburbs of Melbourne to the Southeast Suburbs of Melbourne.  It also connects three smaller freeways, the Monash, Eastern and Frankston Freeways, which allows motorist to save time.  It provides a new, quicker way to travel around Melbourne.  Having used this tollway many times, I can assure you it is worth the toll charges because navigating through the suburbs of Melbourne is quite painful due to the train and trams that run right down the middle of the roads. 

The Eastlink was included in the Melbourne Transportation Plan back in 1969, but it took 39 years and $2.5 billion to make this convience a reality.  Below is a map of the Eastlink.  Now to the artwork . . .

When traveling along the Eastlink you will find a $5.5 million collection of artwork.  According to research on the internet it was a, “gift to the people of Victoria and represents the largest and most ambitious commitment to public art on a major roadway.”  It was also referred to as, “a multi-million dollar collection of public artworks as an integral element of the motorways distinctive urban design.”  There are four pieces of artwork that comprise this $5.5 million collection. 

The first is “Ellipsoidal Freeway Sculpture” by James Angus, the sculpture comprises 24 green, blue and white coloured modular ellipsoids varying from 1-3 metres in diameter and up to 5 metres in height, covering a distance of 36 metres.

The second is “Public Art Strategy” by Emily Floyd, the 13 metre high, 19 metre long painted steel sculpture depicts a giant blackbird with a wing span of 7.5 metres, overlooking a yellow worm.

The third is “Hotel” by Callum Morton, Hotel is a large scale model of a high rise hotel comprising a steel structural frame with concrete and glass panels, standing 20 metres high, 12 metres long and 5 metres wide. Some of its windows will be lit at night with solar power.

The forth is “Desiring Machine” by Simeon Nelson, Desiring Machine, resembles a fallen tree or tower and is made from galvanised steel plate. It stretches its branches 36 metres along the side of the motorway.

This next two pictures are not a pieces of artwork, but are two unusal looking pedestrian walkways over the Eastlink.  I believe they show the “distinctive urban design” of the motorway.

For newcomers like us, it definitely makes driving on the Eastlink interesting.  I believe they should have scrapped the $5.5 million attempt to enhance the “distinctive urban design” and gave a toll free motorway as a “gift to the people of Victoria”.

The Tesselaar Tulip Festival

What does one do while living in Melbourne, Australia on a beautiful, warm “Spring” day in “October”?  Yes I said Spring and October in the same sentence!  You take a drive through the Dandenong Ranges to the Tesselaar Tulip Festival.  For us Americans driving to see the tulips in October seems a bit odd because we are normally planting our bulbs instead of appreciating their beauty, but Down Under it is a yearly tradition to drive up through the Dandenong Ranges to the Tulip Festival.  So on 10/10/10 with the address programmed into our handy, dandy, life-saving GPS; The Thomas Family took off to the Tulip Festival.

The drive up was gorgeous.  We were winding our way through the Dandenongs feeling as if we were in a forest/rainforest setting.  We saw huge trees, evergreens and palm trees all in the same setting.  These pictures were taken through the windsheild so there is a bit of a glare, but you can still see the beauty.   

   

The Tulip Festival runs mid September to mid October every year.  There are more than a million spring flowering bulbs including over half a million tulips on show throughout the festival. There is live entertainment on stage every day. You can indulge in traditional Dutch foods and other treats, find treasures in the souvenir stall, see beautiful garden displays and pick a bunch of Tulips. 

The weekend we visited was Irish Weekend.  There were Irish Pipers walking the grounds, Irish Dancers dancing on stage and of course a Guiness and Kilkenny Bar.  We dined on hot dogs (more like our kielbasa) and beer (soda for the kids of course) for lunch and enjoyed a plate of Dutch Poffertje (pronounced “Pof-fur-ches”) for dessert.  A walk around the grounds and the fields snapping many pictures along the way ended our beautiful “Spring” day in “October”.   

MY FAVORITE TULIP

A TULIP FOR OUR "TULIP"

IRISH DANCING

DUTCH POFFERTJES (TEENY, TINY PANCAKES)

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

After long, long summer vacation Jake and Gab have returned to school.  They are going to St. Leonard’s College – Cornish Campus.  It is a private, non-denominational school located about 20 miles from Melbourne.  It is a relatively small school with only a total of 350 kids for years K through 12.  Jake has a total of 40 kids in his grade.  His grade is divided up into two classes of 20.  Gab has a total of 18 kids in her grade and there is only one class for her grade.  In addition to Math, English and Science they will be learning Japanese, Home Economics, Religious Education, Art, Music, PE, French and Environmental Studies. 

Jake has started taking private guitar lessons through the school. He is also required to play an instrument in the band.  He was going to play the trombone, but has switched to the trumpet due to the large number of trombone players the band already has.  Jake is also required to participate in Sport, and has chosen soccer.  They practice twice a week and play one game against other private school each week.

Gab has started taking private singing lessons through the school.  She is required to play the recorder and will be learning the violin next year.  She will be responsible for growing a garden from start to finish next year.  She will plant, grow, harvest and cook the food she grows.  Thank God for Mr. Jim showing her a thing or two on how to grow a garden!  She will definitely know how to take care of tomatoes.  J

They are required to wear uniforms to school every day.  The pictures below show them in their “summer” uniform.  These uniforms are not as formal as the “winter” uniforms.  They will have to wear a tie, collared shirt, sweater vest/sweater, dress pants for Jake, and plaid skirt for Gab for winter.  Gab has to pull her hair back every day and must wear hair ties and ribbons that are the school colors.  They have a separate PE uniforms that consists of a track suit, shorts and polo/rugby top.  Black lace up school shoes are required every day.  Sneakers are to be worn only for PE.

They have adjusted well to all these changes and are loving it and thriving at their new school.  Gary and I could not be more proud of them.     

A Visit to the Sunshine Coast

After our wonderful journey to the Australia Zoo, we headed north to Noosa Heads, Queensland.  Noosa Heads is located 160 kilometres north of Brisbane on the southeast coast of Queensland (aka:  the Sunshine Coast).  It forms the north-eastern tip of Noosa National Park.  It is known for its spectacular beaches.  As a beach loving family, I can tell you that this was one of the prettiest beaches we have witnessed.  It is a small, cozy town with specialty shops, boutiques and alfresco dining.  There were no chain restaurants and no fast food.  Everything is within walking distance.  We stayed at the Netanya Noosa Resort located on the popular Hastings Street. 

Day Two:  After enjoying breakfast, we set out on a walk along the boardwalk.  The boardwalk connects the Main Beach to Noosa National Park.  It is a walk along the coast line and it winds its way through Noosa National Park.  The setting is breathtaking.  We then headed back to the beach for a little swimming.  The weather was a bit cloudy with intermittent rain showers, but we didn’t care.  We had dinner at a nice steak house and then went back to the resort to enjoy some wine while listening to the ocean.  Jake and Gabby enjoyed some TimTams.

Day Three at Noosa was sunny and warm.  So after a quick breakfast buffet (we love our breakfast buffets), we headed to the beach and pool.  We rented a boogie board and caught a few waves.  We sat by the pool, chatted with some really nice Aussies and just soaked up the sun until there was no sun to be had.  We were exhausted so we relaxed with a Pizza and a movie in the room.

Day Four found us heading to back to Brisbane where Gary’s pineapple factory is located.  Since it was a Monday, he went into the factory for a few hours.  The kids and I explored downtown Brisbane and then headed to the hotel pool.  We spent the evening packing up for an early afternoon flight back to Melbourne.    

We will defintely head back to Queensland for a holiday!

Visiting the Australia Zoo Home of the Crocodile Hunter

At 3:30am on a Friday morning the Thomas Family headed to the airport to catch a 6:30am flight to Brisbane.  This is what happens when you live an hour or so away from the nearest airport.  Needless to say we only had a few hours of sleep because we were up until midnight packing (IMAGINE THAT!).  As we were waiting for our rental car, which took way too long because as Gary has found out just because you were a President Circle member of Hertz in the States does not mean you are one in Australia.  He was informed he is just a normal, average, everyday Joe Blow.  We did however find out that the Australia Zoo Home of the Crocodile Hunter the late Steve Irwin was on our way to Noosa Heads our destination for the weekend.  So after finding the address and plugging it in to our handy, dandy, lifesaving GPS we were on our way. 

Too say that this zoo is amazing does not do it justice.  This zoo was by far the most hands on, interactive experience with animals we have every seen.  We walked in to find a Blue Tongued Lizard being held by an employee and available for petting.  There were Alpacas on display for petting too.  We made our way over to the Koala Experience.  Here we were able to hold and "cuddle" a koala.  Only one person could hold the koala, but all of us could pet and cuddle it.  We chose Gab to hold the koala.  At first she was not too keen on the idea.  She was afraid that it would poo on her.  After much reassuring that this would not happen, she finally decided to hold the koala. As we were walking away from our koala experience, she noticed a brown stripe on her forearm.  Low and behold the koala had just pooed prior to Gab holding it and it left a nice little souvenir on her arm.  I got a big, "I TOLD YOU SO!" 

 

Next we were off to the Crocoseum to see Bindi, Sandy and Robert Irwin put on a show with reptiles, free flying birds and of course crocodiles.  All through out the show, reptiles were being walked through the aisles while beautiful parrots, lorikeets and cockatoos were flying about.  Some were landing literally right in front of us.  The show ended with the Irwin Family feeding the crocodiles. 

Next we ventured over to Roo Heaven.  This is an area where kangaroos, wallabies, lizards, birds, etc. are able to roam free.  You are allowed to pet, cuddle and feed the animals. 

What zoo would not be complete without the tigers and elephants, but we have never been to a zoo that had dingos, casowarries, and tasmanian devils (or as Jake would call them, "the things that spin" you know from the cartoons). 

We ended our day at the Animal Hospital that the late Steve Irwin built in honor of his mother.  This is were they take animals that have been injured or abandoned by their mothers and nurse them back to health so they can return to their regular environment.  We got to see several koalas being nursed back to health.  A lorikeet and duck were also brought in to receive treatment.  Unfortunately, this hospital was  still under construction when Steve Irwin met his demise so he was never able to see it fully constructed and operating.  It is a truly remarkable facility. 

I will end this post with a quote from Gab, "Today has been the best day of my life so far!"

And the Journey Begins . . .

September 14, 2010 we began our very long journey to Melbourne.  After a tearful goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, we boarded our flight to Los Angeles.

 We had an 8 hour layover in LA.  Thank God for Aunt Erica!  She picked us up and we went exploring around the outskirts of LAX.  We managed to find Manhattan Beach and of course a mall.  After a few hours with Aunt Erica, we said our goodbyes and headed to the airport to wait for our 11:20pm flight to Melbourne. 

We spent a few hours in the Qantas Club, which the kids loved because there was free food, free internet, cozy chairs and a shower. 

We boarded our flight to Melbourne and we were off!  The flight was long, but non-eventful.  The kids were amazing.  They fell asleep right away and managed to sleep for about 9 hours.  We sat in business class so each individual seat reclined to a bed.  After having sat in economy for my house hunting trip and now had the luxury of business class . . . Gary is in big trouble when we make the trip back to the States for a visit!  We were spoiled and we loved it!  We watched movies, read, played games, listened to music and ate.   

After 18 hours of flying time and a 21 hour day, we finally made it to Melbourne on Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 7:30am.  The kids informed me that we totally missed September 15th.  We completely lost a day of our lives.  I told them we would get it back when we make the trip back for a visit.  After clearing immigration and customs, we happily met Gary and started for home.  We arrived at 15 Waterview Close, Mt. Eliza, Victoria about an hour later.  We managed to stay up until 9:00pm thanks to a lot of Coke and Diet Coke and a day spent grocery shopping and getting things for the house.  Our first night in our new home, in a foreign country went very well.  We are happy to be a family again!  As they say in Australia . . . Cheers!