Culturegram #2

Continuing with our impressions of the Aussie culture … last time we talked about language, food and birds. I did miss a few things on those items. We totally forgot about the poor little kookaburras – they are pretty elusive in terms of being able to see them, but you hear there laugh from miles around. It’s kind of infectious as well. In addition, I had the kids at the park the other day and there were these two rosellas. They look like parrots with red heads and blue breasts. Very pretty birds. There were just the two of them eating on the grass. Collin kept sneaking closer and then finally they flew away.

Sports

Aussie football, Rugby League, Rugby Union and Cricket. Mix in a little soccer and basketball … and some netball for the girls and there you go. We posted a bit on our blog recently about the Aussie football experience at an ‘AFL (Australian Football League) game. It was good fun and the action is pretty nonstop. They rough each other up even when the ball isn’t around but it’s just part of the game (although the ‘minor’ league games are a little more of the no holds barred variety.) Not sure on the Rugby stuff since that’s primarily played on the east coast – New South Wales and Queensland (footy is big in Victoria, South Australia and West Australia.) We’ve never had much to do with cricket. It’s a lot like baseball in terms of pace of the game and such … kind of boring unless you know the tactics and players. Basketball and soccer kind of take a back seat, but are popular among the younger generation. There is netball as well which is basically basketball without a backboard but you can’t dribble with the ball and players, depending on position, are allowed in only certain areas of the court. A little different but Savannah has enjoyed playing in a little league with her school friends. And this section wouldn’t be complete without a comment on their emphasis on swimming. All kids are expected to be able to swim. There is a sign in the swimming pool where I go that they are expected to be able to swim 400 m by the time they finish primary school. And it really does show … the schools even take a full week during the year and they do swim training. As near as I’ve been able to tell, they don’t have a whole lot of high school sports competitions (between schools that is). It’s more based on community programs, which is nice for kids and adults alike. Tennis is something that isn’t as common. In fact, it’s pretty difficult to find a public tennis court. Kelli had to join a tennis club to get her fix and a decent tennis court.

Shopping

Australians have a unique set up for their shopping. With few exceptions, grocery stores close around 9 during the week and by 5 on Saturdays. Pretty much all other shops close at 5 every day except for Thursdays. That means that Thursday evenings you just stay home. Going to the mall (or plaza) on Thursday is just asking for crowds akin to the morning after Thanksgiving. It’s nuts but something you have to experience to believe. As far as the actual shopping, prices are 1.5 to 2x more expensive than prices for the same items in the States. It probably has something to do with the lower supply and longer shipping routes. But, then again, you don’t have the same demand as well. I only managed a B in economics and don’t even claim to understand it all. People just generally don’t buy so much junk (which isn’t such a bad thing :) and have to save more before buying certain items. Definitely makes you more conscious of what you are spending your money on. As Kevin alluded to in their blog, gas is around $6 a gallon. So, we’re already getting used to the pain of the gas in the States coming up to $4.

Pubs and Pokies

When you want to go out to eat, the most reliable source of reasonable food without going to the expensive joints downtown are the local pubs. No kidding, take the kids and lounge in the restaurant. The local footy clubs also have very good restaurants that they use as a source of additional support for their teams. But, also attached to these establishments are drive-thru liquor stores. No kidding, you pull in to something like a Jiffy Lube, but instead of an oil change, you place your order for whatever sort of spirits you are looking for. You don’t even have to get out of your car --- this is full service we are talking about. Inside the pubs and footy clubs you’ll find a festive atmosphere of food, drink and … pokies! These are the Vegas style slot machines that many a person enjoys in the middle of the Nevada desert … and in all throughout South Australia. In fact, gambling in general is pretty popular. It’s generally even an acceptable practice to do ‘footy tipping’ inside the government workplace … including using government e-mail and such to advertise it. Horse racing is also hugely popular. Look inside the newspaper at the sports section and 2 full pages are dedicated to nothing but horse racing for that day.

Wildlife

So we mentioned the Australian birds which do deserve their own little section since they are so unique to Australia. That’s taking nothing away from some of the other amazing animals down here. We’ve had the opportunity to see kangaroos, wallabies, emus (pronounced em-you for all you Yankees!), Tasmanian devils, wombats (did you ever know there was such a thing), and koalas. I did fail to mention one bird which I’ll mention here. It’s the wedge-tailed eagle. I’ve seen golden and bald eagles, but this thing is enormous. When we drove up north through the center of Australia on our way to Uluru we could see out in the distance a roadkill and it looked there was this long-legged dog of sorts standing over it. As we got closer though, this massive ‘dog’ spread it’s wings and took flight. I couldn’t believe the size of this bird. It was just amazing how long its legs were, saying nothing of its wing-span. The kangaroos are big and muscular. Not something you’d want to mess with and can very easy grow taller than you in height (and width) and are amazing to watch in how smooth they bounce and how fast they cover distance. The wallabies are basically miniature kangaroos that are your cute and cuddly variety that don’t come any higher than your waste. Emus are nasty ostrich-type birds that have little to no fear when it comes to humans. I did taste emu once and they aren’t too bad. Tasmanian devils are pretty elusive, but I don’t know much more about them. Koalas appear cute and cuddly but when they walk on the ground or you hold them they are more or less wirey little creatures with not much to them. Wombats are about as bland as they come. It’s basically a generic oval-bodied animal with a round head that you’d see a kid drawing in elementary school. But, they are Collin’s favorites … they do kind of look alike. And then there is the hard-to-see platypus. We’ve tried numerous places to see one, but just haven’t been successful. They like their solitude and only tend to come out at night. Alas, we’ll have to wait to see them in a zoo J