Gwendolyn opened this issue on Jan 12, 2005 ยท 35 posts
XENOPHONZ posted Thu, 13 January 2005 at 3:09 PM
I had several good Aussie friends back in my college days.
For some reason, my friend from Sydney had difficulties in acclimating himself to the culture of South Carolina. He told me that his father back in Sydney referred to a certain southern gentleman with a heavy southern drawl as "The Colonel".
My friend's favorite phrase was "cold as brass monkeys".
He considered iced tea, the national drink of the American South -- to be an abomination.
He married an American girl from Ohio. He took his wife back to Australia -- much to the chagrin of her parents. Especially her mother, who feared that she would never get to see her daughter again.
My Aussie buddy freaked out when he discovered that his wife's "old family recipe" for baked beans included molasses as an ingredient. He was horrified at the thought.
My other set of Aussie friends hailed from Perth.
The father of the family from Perth told me that many people from W.A. wouldn't care if all of Eastern Australia were to fall off into the ocean.
Likewise, my other friend from Sydney was in the habit of referring to persons from Queensland as "banana benders".
Apparently, we Americans aren't the only people to hold to the concept of regional distinctives.........
Such is my great knowledge and experience of that mystical land known as Australia.
If I recall correctly -- the name "Australia" derives from a Latin root (australis) meaning "the south land".
With a name like that, it's got to be a wonderful place.
Y'all.
I hope that you enjoy your new home, Gwendolyn. I'd like to visit there someday.