'Strayans
I had never met many Australians, only a couple I think, before heading off travelling. Then, I realised, that Greece is the Oz of Europe- at least when I was there. I studied them well in many locations and learned loads of interesting things about their culture and habits.
Lets get this out of the way first then: Australians can drink extremely competently and some seemed to want to display this skill every night. I met 53 Strayans (as some call themselves) in 39 days and as I recall they were all big drinkers.
I was inspired my first night in Santorini where there was no kitchen and no chilled solution for the beverages. What to do?
Lets get this out of the way first then: Australians can drink extremely competently and some seemed to want to display this skill every night. I met 53 Strayans (as some call themselves) in 39 days and as I recall they were all big drinkers.
I was inspired my first night in Santorini where there was no kitchen and no chilled solution for the beverages. What to do?
 |
No fridge? No problem- Eskie to the reskie |
Aussie ingenuity from Ryan was on it way- he and Christian grabbed a large box from the supermarket, as well as a sheet of plastic and a ton of ice to make a portable freezer or 'eskie'. When I asked if it was named so because Eskimos also made them, they were unable to give a definite answer. I was impressed by the eskie either way.
I will also say this: that the vast majority of Aussies I met were excellent people, and I hope this post does not seem offensive in any way. The same can be said, to their credit, about the Dutch, whom everyone I met was great.
I met a Canberran lad called Alex when I was in Florence, and he was a stand up guy. He was very eager to meet Catherine when I told him all about her. For those none the wiser, Catherine is a friend who's been travelling with me; she's very generous with shots, and gets the party going. I announced that she was coming along... but then Alex wandered off, leaving him the sole member of his group to miss out on meeting Catherine when she came to hang out briefly.
You can imagine his disappointment on return, especially when his mates told stories of her beauty, good humor and mysterious persona. He eventually did meet her and was very pleased. If you yourself have not met this wonderful lady, I sincerely hope you get the chance to party with her as she is one character you will not forget.
You can imagine his disappointment on return, especially when his mates told stories of her beauty, good humor and mysterious persona. He eventually did meet her and was very pleased. If you yourself have not met this wonderful lady, I sincerely hope you get the chance to party with her as she is one character you will not forget.
 |
A calm picture? Yes.
|
The C word. Touchy ground, but some Strayans use it so much that is basically loses meaning. (Noted that some do not use it as liberally or, at all).
I never knew the word had such popularity. I'd say its more common knowledge that to Americans the C word is frowned upon much more than in the UK, but I had not heard the opposite as regarding some Aussies. The way it is used is almost affectionately, being chucked on the end of sentences, "Wan another beer cun'?"
Their dialectorial abbreviation of the C bomb does soften its blow, but surely a line must be drawn? One lass said that her own Mother frequently hung up the phone by saying "Catcha cun'!", which almost sounds sweet if you heard it uttered by a charming Australian accent. Essentially though, she is saying to her daughter, "See you later, you cunt."
Though this must be common in some UK households, I have doubts that it would be deemed an affectionate dismissal.
Even so, its easy not to be offended when hearing it in the every day Aussie rhythm that some use, just as one might feel less shocked at hearing the N word after a bout of (the excellent) Django Unchained.
"She turned around and gave me a look I can
only describe as 'Kangaroo Daggers' "
Other facts: They have waterproof money which is a source of national pride. The phrase "Its the best money in the world, eh?" was heard many times.
 |
Its simple Geography, don't hate it. |
Another interesting style is the use of opposites to covey a certain feeling. "I had the worst night out" is actually explaining a that the evening was a laugh. Very strange.
My friend Ryan was pretty bad at geography, though since Oz is so far away from anywhere I find this something to accept.
"Denmark... is that near Daneland?" he said and never lived down.
"Denmark... is that near Daneland?" he said and never lived down.
With my good Aussie friend Loz (the volcano hater that you can see above) I had heaps of good times with in Ischia. Whlst she was born in Melbourne, her parents are from Yorkshire, UK. Whilst she sounded like a true Koala cuddler when she spoke to me, when she was with them she adopted an authentic Yorkshire accent. This was always funny as she did it without really meaning to.
Many times I've heard a normal sentence such as "But I have nothing to drink", rearranged as "I've got nothing to drink, but". This was very confusing at first but then I got used to it, and even picked it up.
[A year later I met a girl who said she used 'but' as a spoken full stop. Which was odd, but kind of made sense].
[A year later I met a girl who said she used 'but' as a spoken full stop. Which was odd, but kind of made sense].
And I did pick the accent up. There was a stint of travelling when I was with Eva and Eva, who were Danish but had American accents, and the rest of the people I met for five days were from Oz. There was no British to dilute the accents for me and, especially after a few cans of piss (or booze as we would say in England) my accent began to slip.
At one point I committed to the accent and told a really nice Dutch girl that I was in fact from Straya and chatted to her the whole night adopting some sort of odd character. I was never going to see her again surely so no harm could be done. I also impressed her with a very convincing British accent, to which she said many Australians had no ear for.
Ultimately, the next morning, I was surprised to awake to find her in the same hostel as me. I did admit my foolish error to her, explaining, "I was pretty drunk". She accepted this and we ended up friends.
At one point I committed to the accent and told a really nice Dutch girl that I was in fact from Straya and chatted to her the whole night adopting some sort of odd character. I was never going to see her again surely so no harm could be done. I also impressed her with a very convincing British accent, to which she said many Australians had no ear for.
Ultimately, the next morning, I was surprised to awake to find her in the same hostel as me. I did admit my foolish error to her, explaining, "I was pretty drunk". She accepted this and we ended up friends.
Finally, if you know there are loads of Strayans are about, be polite about them. When the Evas and I went into Fira, there was a welcome break from the Aussie twang in my ears. Not that I dislike their accent, but my brain now felt able to permit me to use my own again.
To Eva, I said, "No bloody Australians here- my accent is returning, thank goodness!" And the girls in front of me turned around and gave me a look I can only describe as Kangaroo Daggers.
To Eva, I said, "No bloody Australians here- my accent is returning, thank goodness!" And the girls in front of me turned around and gave me a look I can only describe as Kangaroo Daggers.
If you want to be e-mailed new blogs, send dionsingh89@gmail.com a few words, such as: "E-mail me or I'll set the dingoes on you" or something.
Comments
Post a Comment