McDowell's
I know it's been a while since I've done a post but sorry to say I don't have anything terribly new and exciting to report. I've spent the last three weeks working for a marketing company doing data base entry for 8 hours a day. Exciting stuff, lemme tell ya. The people are fantastic though and I will have to make a point of video taping one of the Irish girls in my office speaking Gaelic some time this week-absolutely beautiful language.
While I have nothing fun to report, I would like to take this opportunity to make a few more random observations I've made while living down here. Apologies if any of these repeat from a previous entry:
-Australians do in fact say "no worries" quite often. It's no different then how we say "no problem".
-They have Burger King down here but it's called Hungry Jacks. But I recently just learned that they're two totally different restaurants. The Hungry Jack's logo is exactly the same as King's, they both have the whopper, and the restaurants feature the exact same decor. Thing is they used to have BOTH restaurants down here until BK pulled out and only Hungry was left.
-Veggimite. Yes, it's a real food and yes it's quite popular. I haven't a clue as to what to compare it to back home but it's basically a very bitter spread Ozzies put on bread or crackers. What can I say, it's an acquired taste.
-Starbucks, Gloria Jeans, McDonald's, and 7/11's abound everywhere.
-The standard of living down here in insane-but when you're minimum wage here is roughly $16.00 an hour, I guess that goes without saying.
-People take their vacationing quite seriously down here-four weeks off a year is standard and, I've heard, required by law.
-For some inexplicable reason, the suicide rate is high.
-School is insanely cheap and sometimes free. Jesus.
-American's are occasionally, and unfortunately, referred to as "sepos". As in sepic tanks. Yep.
-The wildlife down here is fantastic. Save for the cockroaches I have no objections to the beautiful variety of cockatoos, green parrots, bilbys, owls, and possums (quite different from ours) I see in my neighborhood on a regular basis.
-This conversation has happened on more than one occasion:
Random Ozzie: "Nice to meet you. What part of Canada are you from?"
Me: "I'm from Chicago-what made you think I'm from Canada?"
Random Ozzie: "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't sure. If you'd been Canadian and I asked you what part of America you were from you'd get offended. American's don't get offended if we mistake them for Canadians."
Me: "Fair enough."
-Getting into a cab, I strike up a bit of conversation with the driver.
"Where you from, mate?"
"Chicago."
"Oh, America! Quite the thing you guys did for us back in the day-I love Patton, favorite movie of mine. Yeah, what could I say? Thanks for winning the war for us, mate! HAHA!"
"..Um..you're welcome!"
-Trying to get myself organized one night in the hostel I accidentally drop my towel.
Me: "Shit."
Danny from England and Gary from Scotland: "HAHAHAH!"
Me: "It's funny that I dropped my towel....?"
Gary: "No, we just love it when American's swear!"
Me: "Seriously..? Why?"
Gary: "It just sounds so potent!"
Flatmate Danny: "Hey, have you heard of this Dave Matthews?"
Me: "It rings a bell."
Danny: "Oh mate, he's quite good, I've really been getting into his stuff. He's just started to get really popular down here."
Me: ".....just....?"
Oh, actually I do have a bit of news to report. My roommates have decided to pack it up and move out of Manly. Which in turn means I'm moving, yet again. However I will not be going with them, not for long anyway. I'll have about a month or so of lounging around their new place in Dee Why and then it's off to Mosman to live with my good friend and fellow toy designer Andrew. The beach won't exactly be down the block anymore but considering my living expenses are being cut in half, I'm not complaining.
While I have nothing fun to report, I would like to take this opportunity to make a few more random observations I've made while living down here. Apologies if any of these repeat from a previous entry:
-Australians do in fact say "no worries" quite often. It's no different then how we say "no problem".
-They have Burger King down here but it's called Hungry Jacks. But I recently just learned that they're two totally different restaurants. The Hungry Jack's logo is exactly the same as King's, they both have the whopper, and the restaurants feature the exact same decor. Thing is they used to have BOTH restaurants down here until BK pulled out and only Hungry was left.
-Veggimite. Yes, it's a real food and yes it's quite popular. I haven't a clue as to what to compare it to back home but it's basically a very bitter spread Ozzies put on bread or crackers. What can I say, it's an acquired taste.
-Starbucks, Gloria Jeans, McDonald's, and 7/11's abound everywhere.
-The standard of living down here in insane-but when you're minimum wage here is roughly $16.00 an hour, I guess that goes without saying.
-People take their vacationing quite seriously down here-four weeks off a year is standard and, I've heard, required by law.
-For some inexplicable reason, the suicide rate is high.
-School is insanely cheap and sometimes free. Jesus.
-American's are occasionally, and unfortunately, referred to as "sepos". As in sepic tanks. Yep.
-The wildlife down here is fantastic. Save for the cockroaches I have no objections to the beautiful variety of cockatoos, green parrots, bilbys, owls, and possums (quite different from ours) I see in my neighborhood on a regular basis.
-This conversation has happened on more than one occasion:
Random Ozzie: "Nice to meet you. What part of Canada are you from?"
Me: "I'm from Chicago-what made you think I'm from Canada?"
Random Ozzie: "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't sure. If you'd been Canadian and I asked you what part of America you were from you'd get offended. American's don't get offended if we mistake them for Canadians."
Me: "Fair enough."
-Getting into a cab, I strike up a bit of conversation with the driver.
"Where you from, mate?"
"Chicago."
"Oh, America! Quite the thing you guys did for us back in the day-I love Patton, favorite movie of mine. Yeah, what could I say? Thanks for winning the war for us, mate! HAHA!"
"..Um..you're welcome!"
-Trying to get myself organized one night in the hostel I accidentally drop my towel.
Me: "Shit."
Danny from England and Gary from Scotland: "HAHAHAH!"
Me: "It's funny that I dropped my towel....?"
Gary: "No, we just love it when American's swear!"
Me: "Seriously..? Why?"
Gary: "It just sounds so potent!"
Flatmate Danny: "Hey, have you heard of this Dave Matthews?"
Me: "It rings a bell."
Danny: "Oh mate, he's quite good, I've really been getting into his stuff. He's just started to get really popular down here."
Me: ".....just....?"
Oh, actually I do have a bit of news to report. My roommates have decided to pack it up and move out of Manly. Which in turn means I'm moving, yet again. However I will not be going with them, not for long anyway. I'll have about a month or so of lounging around their new place in Dee Why and then it's off to Mosman to live with my good friend and fellow toy designer Andrew. The beach won't exactly be down the block anymore but considering my living expenses are being cut in half, I'm not complaining.