Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Becoming Aussies

A few things happened today that made me realize I was really starting to get the hang of this Australian thing. First off when I left my office building in Sydney to visit a client (oblivious as ever), someone said hi to me! I knew someone and they knew me. I had a quick chat on the street! Yes! This is the first time that has happened. I walked off (very happily) to my meeting (which I didn't have to look up on a map beforehand). Double yes! Here comes a big one. At the end of the meeting when the gentleman said thank you for coming, I said no worries. Like a good Australian, "you're welcome" may have disappeared from my vocabulary. Later on today there was a passing storm. The man I was with at the time said, "I hope you brought your brelly". Hee hee. It was a good thing I had had a good brekky this morning or my brain my not have been able to figure that one out. For those of you still trying to figure it out:

Brelly=umbrella
Brekky=breakfast

And for those of you who think you've got it, the priest said at the end of mass on Sunday, don't forget to pick up your bully - I think I laughed out loud. I really laughed when we were leaving and he said to Sean, "good on you mate".

The final thing of the day that spurred me to post this is I got a coffee at the airport on my way back to Melbourne. (Yes, I've been drinking coffee - it's delicious here) When the man at the counter said $4, without even thinking about it I reached into my wallet and grabbed two of the smallest coins. This is an amazing feat. I paid only with credit card for the first couple of months because it took me so long to figure out the money. The smallest bill is a 5 and they have 1 and 2 dollar coins. The $2 coin is a thicker version of the dime.(If anyone's jaw is still on the ground about the $4 coffee, see the posting about the day we bought the books).

For those following the Aussie dollar, it's now at 95 cents to the Greenback! When we got here it was 81! I hope we elect a good president and turn the US economy back around. More updates to come on our past few weekends of fun.

2 comments:

Annie said...

This reminds me of Clark W. Griswold in European Vacation typing stuff into the electronic translator in Jolly Ol' England !

Anonymous said...

Nice to hear that you are really becoming Aussies, that didn't take long. Are you going to have an accent? :) I do love hearing about the local culture.
Your blog has been great, it is always a nice little break from work for me. You two look like you are having a wonderful time and really making the most of it. Enjoy the weekend! -Megan