Here are some of the good people of Adelaide whom we will miss. Most of them we met through church, others through schools. Of all the things we'll miss about Australia, I think these new friends rank right on top. To generalize, we found Australians easy going, friendly, down-to-earth, nonpretentious, and possessing great senses of humor. Their ability to laugh at themselves and their relative (to some bits of Ann Arbor culture, that is) noncompetitive natures were truly refreshing traits!
We hosted a BBQ Sunday, May 4 to say good bye to our new Aussie friends. Yes, this get-together was just 48 hours before the shipping co. showed up on our doorstep ready to pick up our boxed belongings, but what can we say other than we're going native. No worries, mate. We did get everything done, though it was a very busy few days.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Logistics
Though I still have much on Australia to put down here, we actually left Australia 2 days ago and are currently in Singapore. As we travel, blogs will be spotty as internet will be spotty, and I'm afraid I may intersperse Australian entries with other topics.
Singapore is. . . tropical! Green, hot, and humid! We went to a very interesting Asian Civilisations Museum yesterday. There are so many different people groups around here that I couldn't keep track. Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and India all seem to have a presence in the cultural melee. Not to mention the past British influence. While David gave a talk at the National University of Singapore yesterday afternoon, the kids and I hung out in the hotel room, braved the bustling streets here to forage for food, and played in the swimming pool. David returned from the University with a friend we knew from church in Ann Arbor. She was a grad student back then and is now a professor at NUS. Irene drove us around Singapore and took us out for real Singaporean food for dinner. It was quite good! Then, we all went on the night safari. Today, we're meeting her again and going back to the zoo in the daylight. We might also stop by Chinatown.
Singapore is. . . tropical! Green, hot, and humid! We went to a very interesting Asian Civilisations Museum yesterday. There are so many different people groups around here that I couldn't keep track. Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and India all seem to have a presence in the cultural melee. Not to mention the past British influence. While David gave a talk at the National University of Singapore yesterday afternoon, the kids and I hung out in the hotel room, braved the bustling streets here to forage for food, and played in the swimming pool. David returned from the University with a friend we knew from church in Ann Arbor. She was a grad student back then and is now a professor at NUS. Irene drove us around Singapore and took us out for real Singaporean food for dinner. It was quite good! Then, we all went on the night safari. Today, we're meeting her again and going back to the zoo in the daylight. We might also stop by Chinatown.
"Strine" Vocabulary Quiz Answers
1. arvo - afternoon
2. busking - street performing
3. fringe - bangs (in hairstyle)
4. lift - elevator
5. texta - felt marker
6. trolley - cart of any sort, including shopping cart
7. recess - snack; I got a note for a field trip Elise was going on saying she needed to bring a water bottle, a hat, and a recess. Fortunately, I knew what a recess was at that point.
8.tick - check mark
9. shout - pay for someone else when eating, having coffee, etc. with a friend; typicallly expressed as, "I'll shout for ya," or "It's my shout."
10. Salvos - The Salvation Army (Australians laughingly acknowledge that "The Salvation Army" is just too long to say.)
11. pacer - mechanical pencil
12. flat white - we think it is an espresso with milk, not much different from a latte.
13. long black - watered down espresso
14. bathers - swimsuits
15. thongs - flipflops footwear. Actually, I used the word thongs as a child but it is new to my kids.
16. mate - friend, buddy.
17. togs - another word for swimwear
18. concession - when paying an entrance fee, this is a non-full price adult, typically a senior or a student.
19. gap - insurance co-payment
20. docket - receipt
21. fairy floss - cotton candy
22. jumper - pullover sweater
23. chook - chicken. Not sure if this applies to a chicken in the grocery store to be eaten, but it is at least a live chicken running around one's backyard, which is not an unheard of thing here.
24. minis - toddlers and preschoolers. (This is a personal favorite.)
25. barbie - the barbecue on which meat is barbecued
2. busking - street performing
3. fringe - bangs (in hairstyle)
4. lift - elevator
5. texta - felt marker
6. trolley - cart of any sort, including shopping cart
7. recess - snack; I got a note for a field trip Elise was going on saying she needed to bring a water bottle, a hat, and a recess. Fortunately, I knew what a recess was at that point.
8.tick - check mark
9. shout - pay for someone else when eating, having coffee, etc. with a friend; typicallly expressed as, "I'll shout for ya," or "It's my shout."
10. Salvos - The Salvation Army (Australians laughingly acknowledge that "The Salvation Army" is just too long to say.)
11. pacer - mechanical pencil
12. flat white - we think it is an espresso with milk, not much different from a latte.
13. long black - watered down espresso
14. bathers - swimsuits
15. thongs - flipflops footwear. Actually, I used the word thongs as a child but it is new to my kids.
16. mate - friend, buddy.
17. togs - another word for swimwear
18. concession - when paying an entrance fee, this is a non-full price adult, typically a senior or a student.
19. gap - insurance co-payment
20. docket - receipt
21. fairy floss - cotton candy
22. jumper - pullover sweater
23. chook - chicken. Not sure if this applies to a chicken in the grocery store to be eaten, but it is at least a live chicken running around one's backyard, which is not an unheard of thing here.
24. minis - toddlers and preschoolers. (This is a personal favorite.)
25. barbie - the barbecue on which meat is barbecued
Thursday, May 1, 2008
So, you think you speak English. . .
Well, you need to specify which English it is that you speak. Just because we all speak English doesn't mean that we all speak the same language!! It was somewhat disconcerting upon arrival in this English speaking country to realize that we couldn't always understand what people were saying to us. Language has been one of our most pervasive cross-cultural experiences here.
Let's start with the letter "r." At first notice, Australians seem to be almost disdainful of this letter as they cast off its pronunciation with shocking abandon. Melbourne is pronounced "Melbun" and Cairns "Cans." In English class, Ian was taught this list of words as a list of homophones, pronounced identically but spelled differently: poor, pour, pore, paw. They are all pronounced without a final "r." However, after further consideration, I have concluded that Australians must not have anything too great against poor "r" because there are other instances where they actually add it to their pronunciation. My informal observation is that this occurs at the end of a word when the last syllable is unstressed and ends in a schwa-ish vowel. Thus, Hannah is often "Hanner," to her great distress, and idea is "ideer."
Besides being a little unclear on what to do with the letter "r," Australians are also not sure what to do with some of their longer words. They have a habit of shortening words and sticking an -o on the end. Thus garbage is "garbo." A musician is a "muso." You take a pesky skin rash to the "dermo." Etcetero, etcetero. The goal cannot be verbal efficiency. Anyone who takes the time to pronounce "al-u-min-i-um" instead of aluminum or "show-en" for shown is not seriously looking for time saving measures.
"Tea" deserves a paragraph of its own. True to its British traditions - and I must add that Adelaide prides itself on being the most British of the Australian cities, being founded by British freemen rather than criminals - "tea" is a serious matter here. First, there is tea, the hot drink, prevalent in most homes here. Then, there is tea, the event, where tea the hot drink is drunk accompanied by nice biscuits, sometimes by scones and clotted cream. Yum! This tea is often social in nature and usually falls into 2 categories: morning tea or afternoon tea. Then, there is tea, the evening meal, synonymous for supper or dinner in American English. We were taught early on that an invitation to tea was an invitation to supper (in American) while an invitation to supper was an invitation to evening tea and biscuits. I never before knew a small 3 letter word could be so complex!
Then, there are those words that are just plain different from our American vocabulary. Here's a short list for you to figure out for fun. Yes, they are all G rated. We'll post the definitions in a week, I hope. .
1. arvo
2. busking
3. fringe
4. lift
5. texta
6. trolley
7. recess
8.tick
9. shout
10. Salvos
11. pacer
12. flat white
13. long black
14. bathers
15. thongs
16. mate
17. togs
18. concession
19. gap
20. docket
21. fairy floss
22. jumper
23. chook
24. minis
25. barbie
Let's start with the letter "r." At first notice, Australians seem to be almost disdainful of this letter as they cast off its pronunciation with shocking abandon. Melbourne is pronounced "Melbun" and Cairns "Cans." In English class, Ian was taught this list of words as a list of homophones, pronounced identically but spelled differently: poor, pour, pore, paw. They are all pronounced without a final "r." However, after further consideration, I have concluded that Australians must not have anything too great against poor "r" because there are other instances where they actually add it to their pronunciation. My informal observation is that this occurs at the end of a word when the last syllable is unstressed and ends in a schwa-ish vowel. Thus, Hannah is often "Hanner," to her great distress, and idea is "ideer."
Besides being a little unclear on what to do with the letter "r," Australians are also not sure what to do with some of their longer words. They have a habit of shortening words and sticking an -o on the end. Thus garbage is "garbo." A musician is a "muso." You take a pesky skin rash to the "dermo." Etcetero, etcetero. The goal cannot be verbal efficiency. Anyone who takes the time to pronounce "al-u-min-i-um" instead of aluminum or "show-en" for shown is not seriously looking for time saving measures.
"Tea" deserves a paragraph of its own. True to its British traditions - and I must add that Adelaide prides itself on being the most British of the Australian cities, being founded by British freemen rather than criminals - "tea" is a serious matter here. First, there is tea, the hot drink, prevalent in most homes here. Then, there is tea, the event, where tea the hot drink is drunk accompanied by nice biscuits, sometimes by scones and clotted cream. Yum! This tea is often social in nature and usually falls into 2 categories: morning tea or afternoon tea. Then, there is tea, the evening meal, synonymous for supper or dinner in American English. We were taught early on that an invitation to tea was an invitation to supper (in American) while an invitation to supper was an invitation to evening tea and biscuits. I never before knew a small 3 letter word could be so complex!
Then, there are those words that are just plain different from our American vocabulary. Here's a short list for you to figure out for fun. Yes, they are all G rated. We'll post the definitions in a week, I hope. .
1. arvo
2. busking
3. fringe
4. lift
5. texta
6. trolley
7. recess
8.tick
9. shout
10. Salvos
11. pacer
12. flat white
13. long black
14. bathers
15. thongs
16. mate
17. togs
18. concession
19. gap
20. docket
21. fairy floss
22. jumper
23. chook
24. minis
25. barbie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)