One Wanka, two rubbers, and a trip to the toilet....

In coming to the land down under, Alex and I both had exciting (at times unrealistic and silly!) terms/lingo/phrases that we thought the Aussie's would say. We did not, however, estimate the AMOUNT of different sayings/cultural norms etc. We thought, we're going to a commonwealth country...how different can they be from us? They, as do we, have aboriginal issues pertaining to assimilation in their history, a national sport, schools....grocery stores...and the list goes on! I mean come on, these people are practically us!!!!
Not so much.
Our first encounter with some Australian linguistic screw ups (aka awkward sayings that Alex and Amy have no idea what they're saying) was on the way home from the airport. Our "mom" and "dad" for the trip told us that they were just going to stop off for some morning tea. Cool! I mean, Alex and I like tea...we don't drink it a lot, but sure, you go right ahead! We stopped off at this bakery and they asked us if we wanted anything. Croissants, muffins and danishes later we left with the food to indulge on their deck at their house. We noticed Heather and Ralph had not picked up any tea...we thought maybe they didn't have what they wanted or something, and brushed it off because they made some when we got back to their place. So we enjoyed the little snack, and a chat! Next day at school...my co op teacher Tim told me we have "morning tea" at 11...hmm....everyone has morning tea??? I didn't ask questions cause I didn't want them to think I was ignorant...haha, which I was! I realized quickly that morning tea was just "recess" because the kids had a snack and then a playtime....us foolish Canadians...
This brings me to my next point...not asking questions like, "what does that mean?" "oh, you say what when you need to go to the bathroom!!!!????"
For a few days, I was hesitant to ask questions...and then Alex and I would talk about things they said in the day that we didn't understand..."can I please go to the toilet" "That should go in the rubbish" "I reckon we could fit that in there!" and the list goes on. Not asking questions can get us into trouble sometimes though children, it really can!!! I don't know if anyone else does this, but I do....I sometimes pretend I heard what someone said, but didn't..and just sort of smile and nod, or laugh. Well...this doesn't work so well when someone asks you a question, and your response is a chuckle and nod....note: happened about three times with Tim and I. I quickly realized that anything that was said, and I didn't hear it or needed clarification...I would ask.
This can work the opposite way as well. Sometimes they don't understand Alex and I. Another note: do not give a spelling test if you are a Canadian to an Australian class of year 7's...unless you are prepared to repeat the word in a sentence several (10?) times.
In our particular class, I had them spell the word "worry." Seems simple enough doesn't it? "oh, Ms. MacPherson...is it warry??"
"yup, worry"
"ok, is it warry? or warried?" (this is what worry sounds like in their accent)
now...when they said that, I didn't hear the -ed on the end...so I thought they were asking if it was worry, or worry....I was like...um....YES it's worry!!!!
"so it's warried????" they asked...
"worry, yes" I replied...feeling badly and still thinking they said worry, not worried "I did worry a bit when I came here...worry"
"ohhhhh ok, so it's warry!!!!" a few of them said...."not warried!!"
"well..what's the difference...it's the same word!!!" I said...
"no no no" a girl said trying to be really helpful "warry with an -ed on the end, or just warry"
hahaha ok, I know what you're all thinking...geeeeeeezzzz! how long did this take! um...yea..quite a bit
we all chuckled...got it all down pat..and moved on...but I felt rather silly after that...friggin Aussie kids...get it together! Kidding, they're seriously the best ever!
Some other fun things that have happened are hearing stories about differences in the weather! It only goes down to like 15 degrees here in the winter...so they don't have any cold really...well..they think 23 is cold, telling Alex and I to turn off the AC when the temp outside is less than 23-24...ahem, excuse me!!?? Do you know where we're from??? we will saturate our clothes in sweat if we turn these off! Kids these days...
My co op teacher enlightened me with a story the other day about his adventure to England for a few months. He was staying at a friends house who he was also house sitting, so he had access to his friends car. It had frozen over the night..and my teacher didn't know what the hell to do with a car where the windshield was frozen! He tried putting the wipers on really hard, didn't work...so he stuck his head out the window the whole way and back. The next time, he tried pouring warm water over the windshield..only to have it freeze on...haha, so he drove to the store with his head out the window and back. The next time he tried he found some anti freeze in the garage...poured it over...it did better!! But it still clouded the shield and didn't know how to get that stuff off....so put his head out the window there and back. hahaha, by now, you're probably saying...seriously? and yes...seriously. He finally bought a scraper! YEAHHHH!!! He asked me what we do...."oh, well we just usually heat the car up for ten minutes or something on a really cold morning...everything just melts off really"
"ohhhh" he said.."Never thought of that."
haha, just to put it all in perspective a bit..these types of stories happen all the time! It's just so different that there is no need for them to know anything about winter really...funny eh?
I really enjoy the fun stories though, and figuring out what their customs are and stuff...it really is wayyy different than I thought it would be...very heavily influenced by the Brit's.

Some lingo things:

They spell tires-tyres...weird!
reckon=think
rubbish=garbage
wanker (wanka)=an idiot
biscuits=cookies
markers=pylons
sunny's=sun glasses
the boot=trunk (apparently we say this home too...but I have never heard it)
rubber=eraser (this one catches me off guard!!! "um, can I borrow you rubber" sick...)
hockey here=field hockey
ice hockey=hockey to us
can I go to the toilet=bathroom...this one's weird still
Have a go!=give it a try
Heaps=lots (they say this heaps)

A few facts:

The peanut butter IS different...but it IS Kraft...and tastes pretty good!!
Reese's is basically non existent..only in a few shops (cadbury rules the roost down here!)
Only about three of my students have ever HEARD of Sidney Crosby (no one knew what he did when I asked)
None knew who Wayne Gretsky was
Cricket is their national sport....it's really boring!!!!
Rugby here is the equivalent to hockey in North America, Soccer in Europe
have AC in houses/schools...no heaters!
Light switches...you flick up for off, and down for on
Drive on the left side of road+pedestrians have no right of way...ever really...=Alex and Amy scared for life!!

Still...such a good time here...we're having a blast..enjoying it all, and will have tons more stories soon as well!
Keep on reading!
peace and love

Cassette VS Alex and Amy....

The arrival at Ashgrove State School was nothing less than expected! The people there are just absolutely amazing, and the students are a dream! Every child in our classes are incredibly talented in a multitude of things, whether it's sports, music, drama, they've done it all! There are virtually zero behavior issues with our grade levels, and from what I can tell, within the school as a whole. The children are so polite and willing to help, that it makes me feel just so great to be a part of their day. Not only are the students polite and helpful, but they actually WANT to be at school. The teachers here are respected a great deal; think England! Our school reminds Alex and I of the movie Matilda actually. There is just so much we can do with our students it's amazing!

More than all of this, the students are willing to learn and want to hear about your lessons. They are engaged most of the day, and this is due to the amount of time they get outside of the class I think. The school day starts at 9, they have recess/snack (they call it "morning tea" hehe) for half an hour at 11, classes start again at 11:30. Lunch is at 1 until 1:45, and then they only have another hour and fifteen minutes til school is done! They are ALWAYS outside because, well, it's Brisbane and the weather allows for that. So really, these students are just happier in general! Kids need activity and stimulation outdoors for them to succeed indoors..I believe..and here they get it every day! Think about all of the time that our students are cooped up indoors..the entire day 6-7 months of the year. You can see a marked difference in the kids here and the kids back home. Not that we can help the weather, I'm just saying it's interesting that the differences are that severe!

On top of all of this, our students are doing a unit on the outback (huh????) and Alex and I know nothing of this! Tonight, our assignment was to study two dances, Strip the Willow (quite scottish actually..Laura, we did this one the night the old man put me on the floor...long story folks), and the Little Brown Jug. These dances are part of the curriculum here..I believe...and they're called Bush Dance styles. Mostly they have a lot of English/Scottish influence. Now, I know what most of you are thinking. "sawweeeettt! Amy and Alex would be amazing at this!" and yes, we thought so too....of course, Alex packed his leg warmers, and I, my leotard. However, we didn't anticipate the music being on cassettes! Tammy...we need your help on this one!

So we get home here, and we're like....k, this is no problem at all! um....yea it is! First, luckily, our family we're staying with HAS a cassette player (Tim and I spent a few minutes this afternoon thinking this would be a huge obstacle...but luckily, not so much!). So we get to the basement here, pop the tape in, no sound. No big deal, just rewind. So we do. Still no sound. After about ten minutes of this, we finally found the song ("Tell my ma, when I go home, the boys won't leave the girls alone..."). We played it a bit, then rewound the entire side...or so we thought. Alex and I then spent the next half hour...mostly spent with Alex on the floor frustrated to the max, as to why we couldn't get the song back. People...cassettes are harder than they look to operate these days!!!! In a day of technological advancements wayyyy farrrrr beyond that of a cassette..we have lost how to truly work the machines that were, and still are, the nuts and bolts to our technological age now. Either that, or this machine is just messed! I choose the latter.

As we fiddled with the player for another few minutes, we played the tape, and constantly the tone would go so low and slow, that it sounded like, "An old 30's VHS tape!!!" (Alex, in one of his frustrated states). It sounded like an old cow mooing, it was going so slow!!!! Alex thought perhaps the tape/woman on the tape had undergone a sex change over the past few minutes.

Soooo low and behold, Alex and I jumped on our laptops, said screw the god damned cassettes, and pulled up, within seconds I might add, songs for these dances on youtube.

Lesson complete.

Amy and Alex-1

Cassette-0

Benefibre and Peanut Butter

Alex and I got through our crazy plane 14 hr plane ride from LA to Brisbane perfectly fine! Well...not completely....we hadn't slept in almost 24 hours and we boarded the plane, only to find a crying baby parked right next to us..great! Alex popped a few gravol, I popped a few benadryl, and we snoozed for a few hours to la la land. In total I had about 6 hrs or 7, and Alex probably the same. We woke up quite early in the morning, about 4am and felt absolutely disgusting...traveling those amounts of hours makes you feel like the biggest piece of mud pie!

Nevertheless, we arrived in Brisbane at 7:45am. Who knew that peanut butter would be one of the highlights of trek to the world down under! In the PEI airport, the security had to ask me what the thing was in my bag that looked like a jar. "Benefibre?" I replied. "um...no...it's not that" um...hmmm " OH! Peanut butter!" "oh yea, that's probably it" I told them there were a few...she assured me that was it...but as PEI airport would do, they didn't bother to check the bag, just allowed it all to go right on through!

Cut to Brisbane...where they had to go through everything. "Alright mate, I need you to open up your bags!" cut to..my mom two days before putting those plastic tag things that pull and tighten to lock up my zippers..."um...you wouldn't happen to have scissors to cut all of these off?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't find all of the tissues I had used on the flight (I had a bad cold). So he cut off all the tags, we talked about why I was there...Alex watched patiently..as he has done for the last four days! And I hauled out my three containers of PB, some other fibre bars and snacks...the benefibre..haha, he told me..and then read from my benefibre bottle, "to keep you regular." I chuckled..."yea," I said.."it's a powder thing you take with water." " Oh, well I don't really need that do I," he told me..."We have metamucil down here!" I laughed...thinking of all the things in my life, that benefibre and peanut butter would be the biggest thing I would have to get through on this trek down here. Fortunately...they don't ban peanut butter OR benefibre from entering their borders..so we were good to go! Poor Alex!

More later on the family we're with and the school, when I've had a bit of a rest.

peace and love everybody!

The Infamous Trip From C-dot to B-dot

Holla peeps! Sooo it's been a fun-filled day...well...at times fun filled. Alex and I took off early this morning..6am to be exact, on a little plane which took us to Montreal. Alex sat beside a prominent business owner in C-Town, and I sat with...well...a lady of MANY words and opinions...gotta love small planes for that! There was no escape...I looked one way, and there was the aisle, and the other, well...was the lady! So I put up with it, the good citizen that I am...and thanked god when we landed 20 min. earlier than planned!

Montreal!!! Gotta love US customs...line ups weren't too bad, but bad enough. We basically just got to our gate in time to pee (for me) and get a bite to eat (for Alex) when we were asked board. I was waiting for Alex to get back to our seat when, say WHAT!!??? Jake Gyllenhal?? Alex comes up to me and says, "geez, sorry, this guy was walking really slow." I was like...um...that's Jake! (yes, we're on a first name bases). And so...Jake boards our plane! And not only did he board the plane, but we sat two rows away from him! Ohhh ladies, let me tell you...he's smaller than I thought he would be (not really small or anything, just smaller than I thought) but man, is he ever SMOKIN! Ladiesss...let me tell you!!! And Air Canada...props to you for making our meeting occur..

Moving on! Flight from Montreal to L.A. was a mix between the bathroom (it's a 6 hour flight), some mildly amusing comedy, a movie or two, and, well, endless stares at Jake....*sigh...I even caught Alex looking once or twice...he's THAT enticing!

Once Landed in L.A. we went to gather our checked bags to take them to Air Qantas. But first, what's a trip to L.A. without seeing a huge pair of "paid for" breasts! And I mean....huge. The perfect thing to get rid of all of my stereotypes about L.A.!! Oh...wait....nope, no, it did the opposite.

Alex and I then did the roundabout to try and find our terminal for Brisbane, only to find that we couldn't check in until 2:30pm (it was 11:30 when we landed) sooo we had some time to kill! Landing at Micky D's, Alex opted for the ol' McNugget meal, I opted for a southwest salad..not too shabby for Ol' Micster McD'! As we sat and chilled in the second terminal...discussing various topics, just hoping for our time to pass...we finally realized it was 2:07pm, time to check in!!

We arrived at the Air Qantas counter..where we waited for about 20 minutes for three people to go ahead of us...and when I got there...I knew why we waited so long. This lady must have had a bad piece of sausage that morning, cause she left me with a bad taste in MY mouth! She tells me, not nicely, that "the person who set your visa up did it completely wrong!!!! And now, I have to call Australia!!! You should be very very appreciative right now!!"

ahem..

Excuse meeee lady mcgee!!! That's right, I called you LADY MCGEE!!! Who are you, and why do you think you have the RIGHT to tell ME to be appreciative of YOU! Maybe...just MAYBE some people are appreciative right off the bat, and you don't have to tell them to be...but you wouldn't know that, because YOU DON'T KNOW ME! So, I made a mistake...I'm sure it happens a lot...and no matter how many times it happens or does not happen, please don't tell me ever to be gracious...because..ya see...when you tell me to be gracious, I just don't wanna be!! See how that works people?? And lady, by the way...I'm from this little place called PEI, and no one, I know this for a fact, would EVER speak to me the way you just did...and no, you aren't better than me....so wipe the disgusted look off your face right now cause God forbid you had to pick up the phone and call someone! Sorry that I made you do your job for once.

Phew...I needed that! Sorry folks, but I do NOT take well to that kind of belittling behavior. Of course, you all know me, I said nothing of what I was thinking!! I smiled politely, as a true Canadian does, and said, "I'm really sorry! Thank you so much for that" Pffft.

Sooo now we await the last part of our journey...we've been waiting for five hours, and have seven left here at LAX. So what's in store for us next? Who knows!!! The first leg of our journey has been so eventful!

Stay tuned for more from Alex and Amy!

peace and love everyone!