Drop Bears

Working with Pascal is always a hoot because that’s when our cultural differences become so apparent. For example, we all met before the students arrived to discuss RA responsibilities in welcoming the students and planning floor events around Sydney. Having come straight from GYLC and the whole Envision experience, I suggested making little signs with each student’s name on their door, similar to what I had my first dorm room. Pascal looked at me as if I had suggested to knit them all matching sweaters with their initials on them. He tried to let me down as easy as possible with a quiet hint that that was all kiddie stuff and basically… we don’t do that here in Australia.
Well, guess I can throw all my icebreaker and team bonding activities out the window! Kids are here to study, meet folks and drink lots of beer, so I guess that makes my job easier! But I was looking forward to making the floor a little homier… I suppose that’s what I get with two male co-workers.
Another fun typical characteristic of Aussies is their great mastery of joking around. I’ve experience this a bit with my Australians during this past summer and their elaborate tale of “drop bears,” or koala bears that hide in trees, go for humans and usually aim for the throat. They wove this embellished tale of drop bears, a certain species of koalas, that are actually quite dangerous and will attack you from trees. This one was slightly more believable than Jordan’s account that there are special harnesses with which to ride kangaroos. They love this stuff! And what’s more, they try to see how many people they can get to believe it. I’m pretty much screwed since I’m the most gullible person on the planet and have not only believed the drop-bear and kangaroos-are-the-new-horses story, but that the “Plant Room” on the Residence roof is where there is an organic garden (later found out that it’s where the generators are.)

Other expressions I’ve picked up that I love are: chuck it, another way of saying throw it/toss it/put it away, but used however you like; heaps of fun, or tons of fun; I’m keen to do it, I’m excited to do that! And of course, the greeting, how you goin’. Flat out like a lizard drinking means you’re quite busy at the moment. A budgie smuggler (which always makes me giggle) is the Aussie term for…a Speedo, invented here in Sydney. Smuggle your budgie! Mad as a cut snake is…pretty self-explanatory, but folks actually say it here. And my personal favorite: full as a boot in the Big Smoke, or heavily intoxicated in Sydney.

A popular coffee here is the flat white, like a latte but with slightly less milk (I can’t actually note the difference, but I like the name!).