Friday, June 29, 2012

More Observations on Australia

A few more weeks in Australia has led to more observations of a whole new host of differences from home.  Let’s start with fast food restaurants.  McDonalds is called Maccas here (weird).  They still have the same McDonalds signage and logo on everything but in ads and when talking about the chain, they say Maccas.  In an unexpected twist that left me quite disappointed, Australian Pizza Hut is gross (and apparently I’m not the only one who has noticed b/c I learned last night that they are in bankruptcy), but Dominos Pizza, which I never ate at home (and is, ironically, I believe going through bankruptcy back in the US), is everywhere and has delicious pizzas.  KFC was definitely the worst though.  They don’t serve those delicious buttery biscuits you get back home (fair disclosure: those biscuits were the only thing I ever ate at KFC and they worked magic on a hangover).  Here, in lieu of a biscuit, they serve a plain dinner roll.  Oh the let down the day we went there for lunch L 

Any word can be shortened by cutting it off and adding a Y-sound.  For example, breakfast is brekkie, hosts are hosties, coolers are eskys, etc.  Peppers are called capsicum (imagine my confusion at the grocery store self-checkout line the first time) and no one knows what ketchup is, here it’s tomato sauce.  Beets are wildly popular and put on everything from salads to burgers (even Maccas burgers have beets on them).  Entrees on a menu are actually the appetizers and what we call entrees at home are called ‘mains’ here.  We have yet to get a bottle of wine with a cork in it – it’s all screw tops, which is hilarious since Alex toted a wine opener halfway around the world only for it to be rendered useless. 
I found out why we’ve seen so many pregnant ladies, Australia gives new mothers a $7,000 government subsidy that is fondly referred to as a ‘baby bonus’.  Sadly, we were told it is fueling irresponsibly pregnancies in the lower income socioeconomic class amongst women who fail to realize that, in addition to a small check, you also get a CHILD to take care of for the next 18 years.  Something else I could see contributing to irresponsible behavior over here is the abundance of drive-thru liquor stores.  Why would anyone ever be in such a rush for alcohol that they couldn’t get out of their car?  It’s odd, especially given Australia’s strict alcohol policies. 
I know about these alcohol policies all too well because, in order to get a job at the bar, I had to pass a Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) course.  It was super informative and I was surprised to learn that I personally can be fined $8k for serving a minor or drunk person, my manager gets fined $10-25k and the bar faces a $50k fine.  As such, it’s quite strict in the bars and people get cut off frequently (which is weird to see at 6pm on a weeknight) for behavior that would be considered common at home.  It’s the general consensus that it’s better to cut off a potentially drunk customer and deal with their wrath than risk a huge fine.  Bars here aren’t allowed to have drink specials or advertise happy hours either because it encourages excessive drinking and of course, shot girls are not allowed.  The aboriginals (who are much more prevalent up here than they were down south in Sydney) apparently have drinking issues as a people so in some areas up here alcohol is completely banned.  You can even get in trouble for driving through one of these areas with sealed alcohol in your car.  No joke.
For those who are able to drink in their area, there are a number of sizes you can select from when order beer; a pint, a schooner, a pot, a middie, a jug, a super jug, I would continue as there are more but I can’t remember them all.  Now, as if that weren’t confusing enough, different states refer to different volumes by different names.  A pot in Victoria is a schooner up here in Queensland, for example, and out-of-towners get upset when served the wrong size (even though they are the ones who ordered wrong).  As a bartender, it’s impossible sometimes!
Something you’d never see back home that has me baffled is a rugby series called the State of Origin.  It’s an annual three game grudge match between the states of New South Wales and Queensland in which each state picks the best players from their respective states (regardless of where they play) to compete as an All-Star squad against the rival state.  Nothing unusual about that except that the games are played during the regular season causing players to miss games with their actual teams and, because it’s super competitive and taken very seriously, players are regularly getting hurt, putting them out for the rest of their professional season with their club team.  Can you imagine any pro football player actually playing hard in the Pro Bowl or how pissed NFL coaches would be if they had to send their best players off three times mid-season causing them to miss games and frequently getting them back injured?!  Yeah, it wouldn’t happen.  But NSW and Queensland have quite the rivalry going on and this game determines bragging rights for the whole year so both states get really into it and, from our limited experience, it is the best rugby of the season.
One thing I like about Aus is that taxes are included in pricing.  So if you go into a store and buy something that is $18, when you get to the register, you pay $18.  That being said, I still can’t get used to the dollar coins!  Another thing that’s been an adjustment is being the minority – I hardly ever meet anyone else traveling here from the US and everyone assumes I’m from Canada when they hear my ‘accent’ because they don’t get many US travelers.  And speaking of minorities, Africans Australians (?? – is that the PC term?) don’t exist.  As a result, because there is no minority to take slight, some unintentionally offensive comments that would cause outrage back home are said without consequence here… like when the national TV announcer on their version of the Today show said he “thought it was easier to look good in clothes when you’re black” then called Kanye West ‘a douchebag’.  No one even batted an eye, nor were there calls for his job or a forced apology.  Perhaps it’s because Kanye isn’t very popular with the Australian people – whenever his name comes up, in conversation or on TV, disparaging words quickly follow.  Hey, this one the Australian people and I can agree on!  What we don’t agree on however is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Aussies think the combination or PB&J is weird and gross.  Yet these same people find nothing amiss about Vegemite… really?!
One thing the ladies at home will appreciate – and I never get tired of – is that men are sexualized to the same degree as women on TV here.  On the Aussie version of Price is Right, there are beautiful male models without their shirts on alongside their female counterparts in skimpy dresses.  But, by far my favorite, are the guys on the ‘Mornings’ show.  Everyday there is some kind of pub quiz on the show and these handsome gentlemen are on-hand to award the winner with a meat tray (haha, literally a big plate with raw steaks on it – reminds me of meat raffles in Wisconsin).  They are all tan, buff dudes dressed in Chippendales attire and serve no purpose except eye-candy.  It’s perfect for the 9am stay-at-home Mom audience and never ceases to crack me up – I love it.  Well done Australia!
Final random factoid: black swans are only found in southern hemisphere. We saw a flock at a park in Sydney and I was mesmerized and thought they were so beautiful and unique as I’d never seen one before. I took photos and treated it like seeing a unicorn (though looking back I should have realized I was the only one quite so excited). Imagine my disappointment when, while rifling through kids books for my nephew at a local bookstore, I saw that they are common but only to the southern hemisphere. For those of you not planning on visiting the southern hemisphere anytime soon, here’s a pic – yep, same as a regular swan just black but very cool (in my opinion).

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.