Valentines in 'Straya

The past four weeks have been an enlightening experience for me, diving into Australian office culture and speaking to more Aussies every day than I would have a chance to otherwise. It was apparent right from the get-go that there are more differences between Australian English and American English than previously thought. Yes—there are the 'how are you goings' and the 'good on yous' and (of course) the endless abbreviations, but there are other subtleties that are a bit harder to pin down. In my own conversations with customers or listening to my coworkers there have been many times where I have thought a particular phrasing sounds a bit strange, or wondered why what I said naturally sounds so weird.

I was the only non-Australian at the office and from the various customers I spoke with, you would think that is quite the peculiarity. (Nevermind that one in four here were born on another continent.) I had several people remark upon my accent: some only for their own curiosity, several who insisted my American/Canadian accent must mean I was at an overseas/out-sourced call centre (negative connotations of course), and one woman who hung up on me and refused to believe she had not called The Philippines.

I am sure I will never be 'local' and truly shake this peculiar way of speaking. Nor would I exactly want to—there is a bit of pride, somehow, in my American voice. As much as I do enjoy the Aussie lilt, I should also say that speaking with a nice Southern (American) Gentleman in Darwin was the highlight of last week. (Talking to that man made me inexplicably happy. It should not have, but it felt very much like home.)  That said: I have adopted some Australianisms to make myself less obvious. I no longer say “expiration date” (Australians say “expiry.”)  It did not take long to shake the habit and say 'zed' for 'z'. I am also starting to say Australia correctly (it is not quite 'Straya, but close. e'strayya?  Maybe.) And after two years of trying to get the hang of 'double this' and 'triple thats', after repeated exposure I am finally getting the hang of it. (I realize this may seem a bit unclear, so let me explain. For example, my phone number ends in “5-double-4” and if I had to tell you how to spell Uralla I'd tell you “u-r-a-double-l-a”. It used to throw me a bit. When people speak very fast, sometimes it still does. Especially when there are W's involved.)

And speaking of abbr., I recently learned an interesting new one, Office Edition: 'smoko', which was originally coined for cigarette breaks and now means any sort of short break in the day. There is a Smoko Van that drives around Armidale delivering coffee and (presumably) bikkies to the various offices. It was quite confusing for me, on my first day at the office, to see a van drive up into the parking lot, announcing its own arrival with a jaunty tune, and my supervisor to ask “Anyone for a smoko?” (Good thing Reid knew what it meant, when I asked him later, because I was not willing to reveal my ignorance at the time.)

As for Valentine's Day—well, to be quite honest, I have never paid it much mind so I am probably not the best judge of such, but it seems to be almost exactly the same as the observance in the US. Flowers, heart-shaped balloons, and red and pink packages of chocolates abound the supermarkets and couples go out for special dinners together (though considering it was a Sunday this year, I'm sure there were Valentine Brunches galore from Sydney to NYC.) The biggest difference between the two countries would have to be weather-dependent as it is still rather the height of summer. (Despite the autumn colours beginning to show in Armidale and the sun rising much too late for my liking.) There are no tulips to be had and the weather is much too hot for delicate flowers. We are in a bit of a heatwave here, actually, though it's supposed to start cooling down a little starting tomorrow. (Though, I should say, Tasmania is exempt from this, as I saw it snowed in Tassie this morning.)