So it is with travel in strange, new lands. Sometimes what you expect to see, such as kangaroos, seldom if ever, show up. But if you don't insist on wanting something to happen you can come upon some delightful "hidden" things.
My unwanting soul has floated me into some splendid encounters with Australian kindness...
Daniel, who cheerfully devotes his days off to take me to mountain tops and waterfalls and even loans me his computer to ward off my homesickness...and then we celebrate with a Brisbane pizza with lots of green peppers, called "capsicum." (Green and sweet red peppers tend to show up in most Aussie dishes, from rice to salads to raw oyster sauces. I fully expect to find a capsicum ice cream soon.)
Olympics
Not so surprising that most TV coverage was on events that Australians shine in... and Americans were mentioned only briefly. The Games had enthusiastically patriotic crowds, although few Australians seemed to know the words to their national anthem. They easily admit to this failure with typical Australian candor and self-deprecating humor.
TV emphasis on Olympic events strange to American sports fans - field hockey, archery, and the most bizarre ... complicated bike relay races which rely on a point system understood only by the officials. The only event that would be more confusing to foreign spectators would be "cricket" as a major event.
I'll admit that I have learned more about cricket than I thought I'd ever want to know, but I am prepared now. In case some batsman ever hands me his bat, I will say, "It's got a nice pickup" (balance), just to blow his mind about Americans.
Unfortunately, the rugby season is over, with the opportunity lost to admire the men's thighs in short shorts as they crunch and pummel each other - with no protective gear or yardage breaks!
Trash and Treasure Markets
Since I have lost my addiction to a computer here, I've transferred my passion to the Sunday "trash and treasure" markets which are set up in many small shopping center parking lots. Some of the special finds I've bought: a chipped cream pitcher from Italy, an orchid to brighten my kitchen table, and a straw hat to protect me from the fierce sun, some science fiction books by Aussie author, Terry Pratchett... and now I'll give them away when I leave.
Slang
Day by day I add to my store of Aussie slang - "Septic tanks (Yanks) like their nellie blys (meat pies) with dead horse (tomato sauce/catsup)." Americans have "na' worries" with Aussie foods or manners and can just say, "Ah, you're prawns" (strange) when appropriate.
I've learned to refer to asphalt roads as "bitumen" (bitcha mon), to say "spot on" and "bewdy" (agree strongly). And I try not to "whinge" (complain/whine) too much.
Humour
Aussie humor uses exaggeration freely. For a car that gets good mileage, "It runs on the smell of an oily rag."
TV ads and roadside signs proclaim a sexy humor.. my favorite, of course, is the one with three men doing a "Full Monty" dance sequence.
Sights like flaming roadside brush fires and "used house lots" (where you can pick up a bargain house and have it carted home with you) seem quite familiar now.
Dangers
Some travel writers stress the dangers here, but once I survived crossing streets where Aussie drivers hug the left (wrong) side of the road, I moved on to deal with the wildlife. If you can resist the delight of sleeping with scorpions in the "outback", you can certainly survive any attack by a crazed koala. (It may be true that koalas actually move, but I think all they do is turn their heads occasionally to gaze down from their perch forty feet up in a eucalyptus tree.)
Once I did see a vividly marked, four and a half foot snake at my Brisbane doorstep. It was being dragged along behind Edward, three years old, and was made of rubber.
Possibly the worst experience I've had happened at a high tea, elegant with wine and white table cloths and being served on the veranda. A HUGE pale, see-through green spider jumped down onto my plate. I screamed, elegantly I thought, considering the circumstances and also jumped... knocking over my chair, as the Aussie ladies tried to hide their smiles.
I haven't gotten to meet many Aboriginals here, but one woman did correct me to use her tribal designation - "aboriginals" being a white term. A Mr. Roth, Chief Protector of Aborigines, in his 1905 report, observed that the Moongalba tribe "do not consider themselves Aboriginals, did not want protection, they wished their European friends and others to visit them at holiday time, they objected to the land they were living on being a reserve, and they wished to remain unmolested as they were." Seems quite reasonable to me.
Australia is vast - the sky, the endless outback desert, the supply of succulent seafood... and the courtesy of its people. They welcome Americans - even when they think that we are "loud." I find so much in common with this land and its people that I shall be very sad to leave.
Questions?
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