Dumb and Dumber is one of my favorite movies, but they definitely got something wrong.
“Throw another shrimp on the barbie?”
Well, Australians do love their barbeques, but shrimp?
Mate, shrimp would be a luxury here!
In place of your typical shrimp, Australia enjoys very similar looking, but massive, prawns.
Not only are these critters much larger than what we Americans are accustomed to, but Aussies don’t bother taking the heads or legs off nor de-veining them before putting them on display.
Gross.
Wondering why I’m writing about Australian cuisine?
I am currently studying abroad in Sydney, Australia. I’ve been here since July, and now that my semester is over and I’m about to leave, I figured I’d bust some myths and share some other cultural facts that I’ve learned about the land down under.
Besides those creepy looking prawns, I’ve discovered that Aussies love their abbrevs (abbreviations).
I mean, why say the entire word “university” when you can just tell someone you go to uni to study maths (mathematics)? You can stop at Macca’s (McDonald’s) on the way to campus, but make sure to bring your boardies (board shorts) and sunnies (sunglasses) because the beach is the first stop after class. Obvi. (Obviously).
The list goes on.
I haven’t seen a single kangaroo except for in the zoos. Sure, I also haven’t left the city of Sydney too much, but hey, plenty of people think that those roos are just hopping down the streets of Aussie land.
However, the wildlife does vary extensively from anything in the U.S.
Australia boasts some of the world’s most poisonous spiders. Moreover, zoos are actually packed with kangaroos, koalas, dingoes, wombats, and duck-billed platypuses.
The zoos aren’t the only places you can find the friendly kanga. Just the other day, my roommates and I saw kangaroo….on our lunch plate. That’s right, we ate kangaroo, and it tastes just like beef.
Fosters’, Australian for beer? Hardly. Fosters’ is actually false advertising at it’s finest!
To be completely honest, if you see someone ordering a Fosters in a pub, 9 times out of 10 it’s a tourist. Most is actually brewed in Canada.
Although Fosters’ does have a brewery in South Australia, if one really wants to sound Australian, he should ask for a Carlton, Toohey’s, or maybe a VB (Victoria Bitter).
On that note, Aussies aren’t shy or reserved when it comes to having a good time. On any given night of the week, the pubs are packed with partying Aussies ready to chat up us foreign American girls.
Although I’ve adapted to and taken on the Australian fashion sense (think bright colors and flirty dresses), what still makes me laugh while out on the town is the behavior of many Australian men with each other.
In America, especially college night life, guys dance with girls. You hardly ever find a circle of guys talking, let alone dancing, without a female present.
In Australia, although just as eager to meet girls, the Australian men are perfectly content not only socializing in just a group of guys, but even dancing without a female attached to them.
Think you can imitate an Australian accent? Many Americans think they can, but really, they just sound like Steve Irwin: overexcited and super exaggerated.
Although there is no doubt that the accent is an obvious one, the Australian accent is not exactly the same as Irwin’s. My attempts still come up rather short.
Overall, I’ve learned a lot about Australia, and it’s rather distressing that by the time this is published, I will have less than a week left in this beautiful and exciting country.
Don’t fret too much, however. Within a week, I’ll be taking off for Hong Kong and a few other South Pacific destinations with my family.
Until then, I’ll avoid the prawns, enjoy the kanga, and enjoy my last few days on the beautiful Coogee Beach. Cheers, mate.
P.S. Post-surgery update (as per request): I’m out of my sling and almost entirely back to a full range of motion. By January, I hope to be topping those pyramids on the Georgetown cheerleading squad and cheering my Hoyas through another thrilling basketball season!
Visalli, 20, is a junior at Georgetown University
