I consider myself to be one very lucky chickadee to be born here in the Land of Oz. (Wait. What? Did I just call myself a chickadee? Get a grip, Ness). Not the same Oz that Dorothy visited. There are no wizards hereabouts. (Um. Did I just say hereabouts? Oh dear).
I mean the Land down under. Australia. Although maybe we are just a bunch of wizards and witches over here. A figment of your imagination. Australia doesn't exist, according to some conspiracy theorists. Could explain why my life feels surreal at times. Hmmmm. Interesting.
Alternatively, Australia DOES exist, but isn't actually a country. This nugget of wisdom came from a former Southern New Hampshire University Professor. I could be tempted to scoff and howl with derisive laughter at such a notion. But considering my own woeful ignorance of geography perhaps I shouldn't. I'm sure there's entire countries I'm unaware of. Oops.
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| I would defnitely forget the VB (beer). |
According to this comprehensive Buzzfeed listicle, there are some definitive ways to know you're a quintessential Aussie. We call McDonald's Maccas. And apparently it's Straya, not Australia. However, I have to admit that I wonder if I'm somewhat UnAustralian. Which is not really a word, but neither is 'Maccas' so I'm going with it.
Here's why I feel UnAustralian:
- I don't like sport. Participating in it, or watching it. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's all bats, balls, BORING to me!
- I'm not really interested in the outback. I live in suburban Sydney and I have no interest in climbing Ayers Rock. Much to Mickey Blue Eye's disgust. He'd love to get one of those camper vans and trek around Oz. Not me. Sure, I'd love to travel more. But with decent accommodation that includes a private bathroom. None of this communal stuff for me.
- To be perfectly honest I can take or leave the beach. GASP! I know! Shocking, really. But THE SAND! And I don't like going in the surf because I'm scared of the waves. Plus, I'm very fair skinned, so it only takes ten minutes for me to end up red raw. No thanks.
- Also; I can't swim. I have a phobia of putting my head under water so I never learnt. And I don't really care anymore. My almost 80 year old father has never learnt either and he's OK.
- I'm ambivalent about meat pies. I like them if they're made with actual meat. But the sloppy grisly goop in most of them...Yuck!
- I don't really get into some of the classic Aussie rock such as ACDC (or Acca Dacca as they're known). Sure, I don't mind hearing the odd Midnight Oil song because it reminds me of my brother (he listened to them all the time when we growing up), but I'm not a hardcore fan.
- I've never thrown any shrimp on the barbie. First of all, we don't say shrimp, we say prawns. Second of all, I've never known this to be a thing anyway. We have steaks and sausages on the barbie.
- Australia has a beer drinking culture. I hate the taste of beer.
- I DO like vegemite, but only a very small scratching of it on buttered toast.
- I don't say things like "G'day mate" or "Bloody oath". Or call Australia "Straya". OK maybe I do use the odd mate here and there with my boys. But only because I get their names mixed up. Tell me I'm not the only one who gets their own children's names mixed up. Please?
I'm sure there's many other things that make me "UnAustralian", but that's a brief summary. In spite of all this, I'm staying in my home country.
After all, we have Tim Tams (chocolate biscuits), Lamingtons (cakie things) and Caramello Koalas (koala shaped chocolates with caramel inside them) here. That's good enough for me!
Straya.
Love it.
What about you?
Do you feel like you gel with your home country?
How do you know you're Australian (or not)?
I'll trade you my Oz (Kansas) for your Oz. I have quite the love affair with your home country. Though I don't care for sport either...
ReplyDeleteHmmm I agree with you on some points Ness, so maybe I'm a little unAustralian as well. Although you had me at Tim Tams and the Woolies Mud Cake and who can resist a Caramello Bear as they used to be called back in the day :)
ReplyDeleteWoolies mud cake and Shapes... bliss!! I'm not much into slang and our shortening of so many words, but I have to admit I do love my sport.... with the exception of soccer, probably. I'll even watch lawn bowls, great game!
ReplyDeleteI hate gum trees and the bush. I think the bush is just ugly! I don’t like much about Australia except the Red Centre and Aboriginal culture. I always tell others they should see NT to see the extra special thing Australia does have.
ReplyDeleteHaving just got back from a holiday in London, I do have to say I felt much more at home in England. Fascinating history and beautiful countryside.
Great post, Ness! I'm a migrant Aussie and reckon I'm about 50/50 on embracing the iconic aspects of our culture.
ReplyDeleteSSG xxx
Haha. I loved this! Your list of things that make you feel un-Australian was so great.
ReplyDeleteI'm not into sport at all. I love living by the beach but couldn't tell you the last time I went in the water.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting read Ness and shows me that we cannot categorise what it is to be Australian as there are so many variations. I really like a little bit of Vegemite on buttered toast and ONE day I shall eat that again!! My mum never learned to swim but Dad could and because we lived near the beach as kids we had lessons. I hated the lessons but I can swim.
ReplyDeleteThank you for linking up for #lifethisweek. Next week's optional prompt is What Is Courage? 29/52 Denyse
Great post! I hate beer, too. So gross. And, my Vegemite must be waved over my bread, no more, no less.
ReplyDeleteI think we are all more than the stereotypes. I hate footy and meat pies too!! But I do LOVE a good timtam. I din't get time to write this week. All the sads. But my new blogging mojo tells me it okay - you just do what you do. Great read Ness.
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