Monday, 29 June 2009
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"You Say Ta-MAY-Toe, I Say Tah-MAA-Toe"
With no classes to attend, no exams to study for, and (quite frankly) no interest in doing anything other than turning into a lazy blob for the next few days, I decided to put together another post on the differences between Kansas and Oz.
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- "Hotels" are not usually real hotels - they're bars or pubs. So, when you see "Mosman Hotel, The Clock Hotel, Cremorne Hotel, Harp Hotel", etc, they aren’t typically places to sleep, they're places to perform that favourite of all Aussies' past-times, drink.
- Devestatingly, "lemonade" is not lemonade - it's Sprite or 7-Up. You can’t really find what we think of as lemonade in many places , but if you ever do find it (after promptly calling to inform me where you discovered this precious rarity,) you'll discover it will be called "traditional or real lemonade."
- Entrees actually are entrees. And by this I mean they come before your main course, as they should. Entrees in the US ARE the main course, but, in the rest of the world, entree means appetizer or starter. So, don’t order an entree and expect it to be big enough to fill you up!
- "Ta" means thank you. Because yes; it seems that (to keep up with that laid-back attitude Aussies are renowned for) even saying "thank you" uses too much energy.
- There's not such thing as "ketchup," and (if you make that rookie "American Traveling Overseas" mistake of asking for "ketchup," you will likely be the center of a few laughs in the room until someone graciously explains that they don't have "that," they have "ta-maa-toe sauce." And is just that: a thin, slightly sloppy paste made from tomatoes. Their "pasta sauce" is our "tomato sauce."
- Along with driving on the left, walking on the left, taking the stairs on the left, escalators are also "built" on the left. Back in the States, if you take a series of escalators to, say, the fifth floor, you'll begin on the first floor, on an escalator going up. Once you reach the next floor, you typically turn 180 degrees to your left and hop onto the next escalator. Here, you would make that rotation to the right, maintaining that "driving on the left" mentality.
- On another note, the first floor isn't the first floor, here. It's the "ground floor." At the University of Wollongong, classrooms are listed by building number, floor number, and room number. For example, my Chemistry Lab class took place in 41-340 this last session. That stands for "Building 41 (the Science Building), 3rd Floor, Room 40. Similarly, my Anatomy Lab class was in 41-G04 - Building 41, Ground Floor, Room 4.
If you thought Starbucks was a confusing place in which to order coffee, you’ve never tried in Australia. They don’t seem to call it the way we call it in America, and it took a a few days (and a few misordered products) to work it all out. Of course, once you learn the lingo, it actually makes a little bit of sense.
Short Black: This is a single shot of espresso.
Long Black: Espresso with water (1/3 espresso 2/3 water). If you want a close approximation of a regular cup ‘o joe, order a long black. It’s equivalent to a Cafe Americano ordered in your local coffeehouse.Simple, yeah? Well, I hope you didn’t want milk with that. That’s where the confusion starts.
Flat White: This is a popular drink in Australia and New Zealand. As far as I know, it’s not served anywhere else in the world. A flat white is an espresso with steamed milk (about 1/3 espresso, 2/3 milk). The closest approximation in America would be a no foam latte.So, what if you want a regular cup o’ joe with milk? You order a Long Black with Milk on the Side. This gives you cold milk to add to your long black. Thankfully, I was able to discover a latte is a just your normal latte and a cappaccino is a cappaccino. (Something normal!!)
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