Other interesting and fun things about Oz!

·         TV shows start at weird times (e.g., 7:40pm) and almost always run late. We use something like Tevo (but not as good) and basically miss the end of every show we record, unless we set it record 15 min over.

·         Public toilettes: There have been several times when dining at a restaurant and you have to leave the restaurant to use the bathroom. In several situations the public restroom is in a neutral location shared by several establishments.

Interesting differences in food and names of food:

Ø Lollies – candy

Ø Biscuits – cookies

Ø Chips – French fries

Ø Lemonade – Sprite or 7-Up soda

Ø Fairy floss (cotton candy)

Ø Pouring to an etched line on wine glasses (alcohol is very regulated)

Ø Pineapple and beets are common on all types of sandwiches.

Ø Mackers (Mcdonalds); Hungry Jacks (Burger King)

Ø Dukha (Indiand nut blend. You dip bread in oil, then in the nut mixture)

Aussie Burger

Ø Burgers: beets are often found on burgers, often accompanying a fried egg.  Speaking of burgers, instead of an American style grilled burger, here they are often baked, which makes the consistency more like meatloaf. It’s cooked all the way through, which I appreciate, but those who like it rare or pink in the middle may be disappointed (Erin, B, Mom, Dad, ok let’s face it most people besides me who don’t like their beef well done).  You can also find Wagyu on most menus too. I’d never heard of it, but according to my Aussie sources its high quality beef from a very pampered cow that’s bred in Western Australia. It’s very marbled (fatty), so when it’s cooked it becomes really tender and tasty. It’s often served as a burger or sliders, as well as a full on steak (expensive when served that way).  I’ve only had it as a slider and it was good, but I want to try it as a steak one time…hopefully at a company dinner when it’s not on my dime.

Ø You don’t see turkey very often (and it’s about $15/lbs at the deli). What you do see is tuna, tons of ham, and chopped chicken.  When you do see turkey on a sandwich, it inevitably comes with cranberry chutney/sauce.

Ø Instead of Salsa, you usually find chili sauce (which is the consistency of a sweet and sour sauce with some mild chili flakes).

Ø Ketchup (tomato sauce here) doesn’t come automatically with fries or burgers, but most places will give it to you if you ask. It tastes different though. Perhaps there is less corn syrup in it?

Ø Mayo is everywhere. It’s the staple dipping sauce. Ranch dressing is hard to come by at a restaurant.

Ø Pies (veggie, beef, chicken) and sausage rolls are very common and found everywhere for breakfast, lunch, morning tea, afternoon tea, etc. Even Starbucks carries pies and sausage rolls. The Aussies enjoy morning and afternoon tea, which is fun to partake in. From the tea times I’ve participated in, there are options for tea and coffee, accompanies by scones, pies, and biscuits (remember, these are cookies). One time they had fruit instead of sugar options. I feel very refined having a recognized tea time =)

Ø The coffee is really good, but so strong! I can only handle a single shot, and I enjoy strong coffee. The names for coffee are slightly different too. For example, an Americano is called a Long Black; a Latte is a Latte, but they also have a Flat White, a short black. An Iced Coffee means that you will get a Latte with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it. That was a surprise the first time, but so yummy! They take their coffee seriously and make it with care. It can take several minutes and always has the wonderful crème that quality coffee should have. However, when you’re running short on time before work, it can feel like you are waiting an exorbitant amount of time. But hey, maybe I should manage my time better. =) The only time I have ever seem regular, drip coffee is at a catered work meeting. You can’t even find drip coffee machines in the department stores –just espresso machines. It’s really interesting. I like my Long Blacks, so I’m ok with it. Like most things in Australia, the sizes and portions are much more reasonable, compared to the super sized version of things in the States. I always order their small or regular, which is the size of a short back home. I don’t think you can even order a short coffee many places anymore in the States.

Ø Most places offer white sugar, brown sugar, and equal. Only a small handful of places have splenda as a sugar substitute option. Along with that, it’s harder to find low calorie, low sugar food and snack alternatives. We buy light sour cream and I’ve seen low fat ice cream at an ice cream shop once, but most things seem to be full on. Not the best for keeping your figure!

Awesome and scary animals:

Ø   Flying foxes (or flying puppies, as we like to call them) are these adorable, furry, fruit eating bats. They are huge – about a foot in length. They fly around at night. If they weren’t so adorable, I probably wouldn’t enjoy the fact that I see bats on a nightly basis, but I love it.

Ø  Ibis run around the city like pigeons, but they are huge!

Ø Magpies are another story. Luckily for me, I have only seem them and haven’t made it onto their sh@! List.  Magpies are very territorial during their mating season (Sept, I believe) and they remember people and hold grudges. It’s wild. They will just swoop down and clip you with their beak if you piss them off. To stave them off, bikers where these helmets with crazy spokes coming out of them (a medusa look with zip ties). I’m told they like (and by like, I mean strike at) bikers, children, and people who frequently pass into their territory. Fingers crossed, I can avoid this! 


Magpie after a biker



Magpie prevention helmet

Ø  Fairly penguins live on the beaches, such as in Melbourne.

Ø  Camels live in the outback, but apparently are over populated. I heard a story from an Aussie that was at the same time shocking and hilarious. I have not looked it up to confirm the details yet, but I still like it. Apparently, camels were brought over to Oz to help with something in the Outback. They then populated like mad and became a menace. I hear they spit right at you! I’m told that to control this, the Aussies decided it would be a good idea to arrange for armed planes/jets to fly above the outback and gun down the camels from the sky. Pow, pow, pow! This didn’t go over too well with the animal rights folks in the US and they were asked not to pursue this method of population control. Instead, they shipped them off in droves to their country of origin. There are still many camels roaming the outback though. I love that story. As I say though, I am not sure if it’s true.

Ø  Bunnies, kane toads, and possums are seen as the pests they wish they could exterminate. Kane toads are very poisonous and dogs and birds die after mistakenly eating one. Population control for these guys tends to be a slow “painless” death by freezer, acid, or, yes, a gold club.  Spiders here are scary and huge, but the little ones (red backs) are the ones that will kill you.

No 2 Rabbit Fense in Western Australia

Ø  As for the bunnies, a Rabbit Fence has been constructed in the outback to keep them away from the main areas. There are three fences in Western Australia: the original No. 1 Fence, which crosses the state from north to south, the No. 2 Fence which is smaller and further west, and the smaller east-west running No. 3 fence.

There is such a dislike for bunnies, that the Aussie’s have changed the US Easter Bunny to the Easter Bilby. 



Easter Bilby



Often heard Aussie words and sayings

Ø Too easy (often said instead of “you’re welcome” or whenever fitting)

Ø No worries  (often said instead of “you’re welcome” or whenever fitting)

Ø You right (Need anything?; OR you’re all right; don’t worry; no worries)

Ø Fortnight (2 weeks)

Ø Good on’ya (good for you; good job)

Ø Right o’ (yup; ok then)

Ø Reckon (think) – “do you reckon?” “I reckon”

Ø Tick (check, like checking off a list)

Ø Arvo (afternoon)

Ø Have a go/give it a go (give it a try)

Ø That’s right (heard a lot in meeting when confirming what people are saying; I’d imagine this would build people’s confidence a lot by always telling them they are right!)

Ø Do up…  (as in “do up your seatbelt” on a plane)

Ø Heaps or loads (tons – “there’s tons of information on the Internet”)

Ø Gangbusters (This one I find hilarious! You hear it used in formal work contexts, such as “We’re going gangbusters with our profits this year”…hilarious)

Ø Cuppa (cup of coffee or tea)

Ø Fair dinkum (that’s true; genuine)

Ø Footy (Australian Rules Football; also soccer, I think)

Ø Thongs (flip flops)

Ø Ta (thanks)

Ø Tea (dinner)

Ø Whinge (to wine or complain)

Ø Yobbo (redneck)

Ø Made redundant (laid off from work)

Ø Journo (journalist)

Ø Mum (mom)

Ø Bub/bubba (babe, baby)

Ø Togs (swimsuit)

Ø Massive (same meaning, but used way more often)

Ø Pokies (slot machines)

Halloween!

Just because adults don't dress up for Halloween in Brisbane, doesn't mean we can't!

A Saturday ride on the City Cat

Today was a fabulous day. Brooke and hopped on the City Cat this morning and headed over to this cute neighborhood, Bulimba, people had been telling us about. Not only is it fun to say, but it lived up to my expectations. Bulimba is a residential area, but there are lots of cafe's and some boutiques along the main road, Oxford. We went into the boutiques and bought a cure tank top (on sale!), sat at an outdoor restaurant and had lunch, then went into the shops along the road. I'd been searching for a place to get my hair done and we fortuitously stumbled upon a salon Brooke had heard of and the head stylist was able to squeeze me in on the spot. They were so nice and gave us lots of tips on where to go...and gave us champagne!

After hair, we sat at another outdoor cafe and had wine while we watched the sun start to descend over the water before hopping back on the water taxi to head back home. It's such a soothing feeling to ride along the water here. Ahhhh...

Still amazed by the price of food

When we do make it to the grocery store,
the next challenge is trying to use the kitchen
appliances. The microwave is even more complicated!

Brooke and I didn’t have a place to live for a couple of weeks and have also been working hard like good lil’ new hires, so we haven’t had that many opportunities to go grocery shopping. Thus, we have been going out to eat for a lot of our meals.  Oh, did I mention that most stores close around 5pm or so? If I only had a wifey at home to do my shopping I’d be all set  =)  

Going out would add up in most cities, but here it is absolutely ridiculous! The other night we went to the random little Japanese restaurant hidden on this side street next to our hotel and my dinner, which included an appetizer of three tiny skews of dark meat chicken and a cup of miso soup ($8, normally ~$2) cost $16.00. I chose that combination because the dinner options were all between $28-$45 for main dishes. While this was a cute restaurant, it was not a fancy schmancy place. This is pretty standard for most dinner places around Brisbane—I can’t imagine what the cost is in Syndey or Melbourne.  I am just flabbergasted at how people afford to eat out, but they do! And all kinds of people are out, not just well-off business people. It’s really astounding.  Luckily, the firm has covered a few work dinners…thank you uncle Deloitte!

Moving Day!

Our long-term hotel was $120/night and to avoid having to pay for an extra night to leave our stuff there all day while we were at work, we decided to move into our new apartment early in the morning before work. This sounded like a great plan when we contrived it. However, we didn’t really account for the time and physical energy we’d have to exert to accomplish this ostensibly simple task. The only long-term stay place in Brisbane that was near work and in our price range put us on the fifth floor of a walk up building. It took us about 45 min to haul our 70 pound suitcases up, one stair at a time. Then, a week and a half later at 6:00am on a Wednesday morning, we hauled them back down the flights of stairs. With gravity on our side, getting them down the stairs was substantially easier [picture the suitcases being laid down and slid down the stairs]. Oh, what a feat! But, we made it and our new apartment is wonderful.

This is the first night I’ve made it home to see the sunset from our balcony [deep, relaxing breath]. Enjoying a glass of Aussie wine on the balcony overlooking the river…ahh.

Interesting words and sayings:

• A common greeting here in Brisbane is “How you going?”  This is similar to the American “How you doing?” or  “How’s it going?”  They also say things like, “How you going with the house?” if someone is making renovations to their house. It’s interesting,
• Another thing Aussie’s say all of the time is “No worries.” In response to  “thank you” Aussies will often say “No worries” instead of something like your welcome. It’s quite nice.

     Other fun words and pronunciation things I hear a lot are:

• The word keen – I’m keen on learning more about X; I’m keen on meeting X. I really like the word keen and actually used it in a work email today to a client –woo!
•  The articulation of “H” pronounced  “heych” – for instance, the acronym “HR” pronounced “H-R” in the U.S. sounds like “Heych Ah” here.
• The letter “Z” – widely pronounced as “zed.” The Company ANZ is referred to as “A-N-Zed,” the saying xyz is pronounced “x-y-zed.” For the longest time I thought zed was part of the name until I realized that’s how they say the letter z here!

Let's not forget the huge birds that act like pigeons and crows. These huge birds lurk around tables with crumbs and garbage cans looking for food. It's hilarious!

All great stuff! I am liking it so far.  We haven’t had much time to go out and do things this week, but now that we are a little more settled I’m sure we’ll be seeing the sites! This weekend we may try renting some of the city bikes (much like the rental bikes located around DC) and seeing some more of the neighborhoods.

Rainy Saturday and Sunday

There has been a drought in Australia for the past several years, but recently it has been making up for it with all of the rain. The water reserves are 99% full and got that way in a matter of one week, I heard. Everyone keeps telling us it's not normally rainy and cool like this. Queensland (the state Brisbane city is in) is called the sunshine state and is known of it's subtropical climate and blue skies. It just reminds me of Seattle when it's like this, which is never a bad thing. I'm glad I bought a new fleece though!

Stores close early here, usually around 5 or 6pm. Late night shopping is available in different cities on different nights of the week. Brisbane's late night shopping day is Friday, so shops stay open until 9pm. This has made it a little hard to get some things accomplished during the day and I guess will just require us to do a more planning!

Gluten free food items are everywhere! We are not sure what the rationale for this is. Are people just health conscious? Do many Aussie’s have gluten allergies? We are not sure yet, but will keep you posted. They also have very tiny peanut butter jars! So cute, but Brooke says they are very yummy!

Another interesting cultural nuance is that once you are beyond teenage years, people no longer refer to significant others as boy/girlfriends, instead calling them "partners." People can either have a partner or a husband/wife and mixed gender and same-gender are both accepted. I have been told by one person that many people in Oz opt not to get married and instead just remain life-long partners (have kids, buy property, etc). Apparently, there is no tax incentive to get married and besides, if you are living together with a partner for more than two years you are considered "de facto" married and have to follow the similar rules if you split up and redistribute property. I’m curious to learn more about this and see what most people do.

I am not sure why, but we have seem three men and one woman walking around the city barefoot and often when it is cold and rainy out. They are walking around like normal, fully dressed (not in swimsuits or something where you might imagine someone wanting to be barefoot). Not sure what's going on, but it's interesting to observe! 

I am still working out how to watch the American college football games. Some bars will play the games, but they are only listed in the TV guide as "American College Football," so I don't know who is playing on what station. There are some Husky games coming up that I really want to watch! 

That's all for now! Miss you all! 

Things I wonder about...

I love how almost every restaurant in Brisbane gives you bottles of water (old wine bottles, converted to water bottles) when you sit down. It's fantastic! The wine here is also very tasty, but like with most things here it's expensive. You can get glasses of wine starting at $7/8, but bottles tend to start around $65 and quickly head into the $100+ and people don't seem to bat an eye at that.  I guess with all of the wineries, people only want quality wine? What I don't get is how people afford to eat and drink here. Minimum wage is about $15/hour here, but I still don't see how they can afford it paying $25 per meal and $18 per drink if you get a cocktail. If anyone knows, please help me understand. =)