My Fave Aussie-isms

Hello! Apologies for the delay in this post, the house Wi-Fi has been about as functional as the Mavs defense against the Celts in this year’s NBA Finals (i.e. not very - go celts). We had a bad spell of Wi-Fi and cell service when I started in April and now again in June. I think we’ve narrowed it down to either some big rainstorms followed by [controlled] flooding in the Hawkesbury area or having a full house of 6 people with higher than healthy amounts of screen time in their down time.

Prior to arriving in Australia, I had read about the spotty coverage and poor connectivity, but I didn’t really take into account how much I’d rely on technology during my down time (or how remote an hour outside of Sydney can feel.) Aside from the major cities and suburbs, Australia is still a pretty rural place (especially infrastructure-wise) and my budget-friendly Vodafone plan is fighting for its life out here. 

Another reason behind my lack of posting is the inevitable ups and downs that come with leaving my life of friends and family and comfort 8,348 miles away (or a whopping 13,434.8 kilometers). It’s hard to feel the desire to share much about my experience when I myself don’t feel all that clear on it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met some incredible people and made some great friends, and for that I am feeling super thankful. However, merely acknowledging that life at home will go on doesn’t make it any easier to handle in the moment. I knew I was going to miss my mom’s birthday, both my sister and best friend’s bachelorette parties, an engagement between two close friends, and countless other summer memories. I’ve also never had to manage seasonal depression in June, so that’s a new one! It’s been particularly challenging to understand my emotions around missing someone that I met just before this adventure… a connection that fell victim to unfortunate timing and my steadfast decision to move to Australia. Connection is a finicky thing, whether it be between two people trying to keep in touch across continents or my phone to the Wi-Fi router 🥲 I’m not necessarily upset with my decision to come out here, but I am hoping to gain some clarity on the pull that I felt for this journey at some point soon. Regardless, I’m proud of myself for doing something difficult and continuing to explore what it means to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

In the last month, I’ve been focusing on work and making it out alive without injury via feral young thoroughbreds. Just today one spun, reared, and struck out at me on the other end of the lead, but hey, that’s [racing] show biz. I’m nearly at the end of my time at Hannover and I have some travel planned up the East Coast, which has me really excited. That being said, this move to Australia has taught me just how much I value quality time and close proximity to my loved ones. I cannot wait to be home with them.

Anywho! On a more cheery and lighthearted note, the past few months have armed me with some new vocab and cheeky phrases… so let’s dive in to the list, shall we? 

Arvo = Afternoon… “hey you working this arvo?” 

Bogan: The Aussie term for redneck or hick, but it’s like… kind of endearing? 

Bin Chicken: Technically I think it’s the White Ibis bird, but it generally refers to a common bird scavenging for some food… In the US our pigeons would be the bin chicken.

Brekky: Breakfast, let’s go grab some brekky! 

“Chuck a sickie”: Calling out of work (when you are in fact not sickie)

Crack the shits: You’d use this to describe someone that gets upset or angry at something… “Yeah and then he cracked the shits because I was late” etc.

Cunt: You know I had to include it, and I love the casual nature of this one… if someone (you’re friendly with) says something just a lil outrageous you can give them a “nah cunt”. Also applicable for cheeky little cunts or good cunts!

Esky: Ice Cooler

Fair Dinkum: True or honest 

G’day: I haven’t actually heard this as much as I thought I would, but it feels wrong to exclude it.

Good as: Essentially means good as anything, and you can really put any adjective in front of “as” and just let it ride… sweet as is a good one too.

Headcollar: For my horsey folks, this is a halter…

Heaps: Many times…  “Aw yeah I’ve gone there heaps” 

How ya going? A casual greeting to ask someone how they are or maybe how their day is going. 

Kiwi: Someone from New Zealand

Maccas: McDonalds… Macca is also the name of one of the retired horses on the property and I love it for a pet name.

Mate: Universal term for anything and anyone really… used on poorly behaved horses, a friend that just said something outrageous, or a friendly greeting, “ay mate!”, or a friendly disagreement “nah fuck off mate”. 

Nah, yeah: Yes Yeah, nah: No

Nup: An exclamation of nope! Like if you see a snake or a spider… NUP.

Root: Sex… just don’t tell someone you’re rooting for them alright? Unless of course.. you’re trying to.

Rugs: For my horsey folks, they refer to horse blankets as rugs. A sheet is a cotton, an outer layer is a canvas, and a wool cooler is a woolie!

Seccy: Security guard pronounced “secky” 

Servo: Gas station 

“The other day”: Prepare for this to be any day in that particular Aussie’s lifetime. 

Thongs: flip flops 

“Too easy”: Typically used to acknowledge some type of instruction or favor… “Hey can you do xyz tomorrow arvo?” “Yep, too easy” (important to note, I don’t think it actually has to be that easy, I’ve learned.)

Tradie: A tradesman, good ol’ blue collar boys (or gals!)

Ute: A pickup truck - “yeah you can take the ute.”

“We’re not here to fuck spiders”: This one really threw me when I heard it the first time, and I’m not quite sure I understand it… but if someone says this to you, you’re probably standing around taking too long doing nothing when you most definitely should be doing something. 

I’m hoping I’ll update this post with some more fun stuff after traveling to different parts of the country in the next month, so stay tuned!

Also, thank you to the people that have reached out about these posts, there are so many of you that I haven’t necessarily spoken with in some time, but it feels so good to know we can stay in touch in some way with these updates. When I first created this blog, I thought I’d be driven to post a lot more, but there were no expectations set for a reason, remember?! The last thing I want is for this site to feel like a burden, but I do hope to share more soon.

xoxo,

Alli