Say what, mate??

After slightly over a month in Sydney I think it appropriate to deal with the “language/culture barrier” issue, not that there is an issue, or have I encountered much difficulty in being understood, or understanding. Here are some of my observations of the Aussies:

1. They are very friendly people. When I approach strangers for help, or sales people in shops, more often then not, I’ve been asked “How’s your day coming along” or “How are you” or “How are we doing today”. No doubt it is superficial, perfunctory formality, but you can’t deny their sincerity and genuine willingness to help.

I give customer service in Australia 5/5 stars, and Singapore 2/5. We’ve got a lot to learn from them.

2. They are very laid back people. “Laid-back-ness” is synonymous with Aussie culture. People are generally unfazed when faced with situations like slow service in check-out queues because cashiers are making small talk with customers, or mix ups/clashes in timetable, eating food off the ground (seriously), walking bare foot on public streets, to name a few. Their common response to such situations is to remark off-handedly “no worries, mate”!

Saying “no worries” is something I’ve grown accustomed to. Good training for patience. Heh.

3. They are very non-judgmental people. Aussies tend to let you be what/who you want to be, without judging you or alienating you. You can be gay, transvestite, Christian, a resident nerd, a single mom, or whatever, but people generally just let you be.

Its good in a way as people are tolerant towards each other. They may not be particularly friendly, but they are tolerant. It’s bad however (from a Christian perspective) as the lines of right and wrong are blurred and the benchmark of morality is subjective - the unfortunate result of a postmodern era I guess.



On a separate note, one thing that I had to get use to was the nuances in Aussie English, though English should be English regardless of where you are.

For example:

When picking up the phone/greeting friends, I’ve heard countless people say “G’day” instead of “Hello”. Seriously. I use to think it was a joke that people would say “G’day mate!” but they really say that. And you have to say it quick too, not deliberately pronouncing “good” and “day”, but kinda like “gooday”. It’s funny.

When asking “how you doing” (like what I’m use to) they say “how’s it goin’ ”. Why I don’t know, but they just do.

When asking you sign the receipt after paying for your goods they say “Can I just get you to sign the docket please”. Yeah, docket = receipt. I’ve never heard of any other brand of English using docket in place of receipt.

And lastly, my favourite, I was in the mall and walked past two girls who were talking. One girl said to the other “Man, my new thongs are really hurting me”. My eyes widened as I stared at them.

In lecture, this random guy went up to my Canadian friend and said, “Hey I really like your thong”. We looked at each other in horror.

After some time we realized that thong = slippers, sandals, tevas, havanas, etc…



D’oh!

Spot your gift... Wow! You can cook?!

This is my desk in my sizable hostel room. I really can't complain about the size of the apartment. Its very spacious. So is my room. Thankfully! :) Doesn't my desk look "used"?? I've really made use of it to do my *ehem* WORK!

See if you can spot the following, haha:

1. The cow photo frame with a picture of Elliot and I. (I can't believe Elliot gave me a cow picture frame, without a picture mind you, and thought it was romantic!!) HAHAHAHAHA :P

2. The little black book that my bible study group at PUNJ gave me.

3. The pink water bottle that April gave me. (I love it ap, but it leaks!! So can't use it much unfortunately)

4. The 2007 diary that Keeevin and Carilyn gave me for me birthday last year. (It's come in VERY handy)

5. The violin books that Carl gave me to practise so that I can be a violinist like him! haha

6. The stash of food that's always kept in my room for my insatiable appetite.



I've also been cooking fairly regularly and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I even have an apron just to suit the role! HAHA!! Its fun creating your own dishes and having control over what you want to eat. I can cook whatever I feel like eating and make it as spicy/salty/sweet as I want it to be (some of the plus sides of cooking for yourself).

The hard thing about cooking for one person is that you have to enjoy your food alone, there's no one to say "that was yummy" haha, so I usually say it to myself HAHAHA (no surprises there heehee) and there's ALWAYS left-overs because its just so hard to cook small portions of food! Its actually easier to cook for more people. Of course anyone with any sort of cooking experience can tell me all this, but I found out on my own.

So I usually cook for two people, freeze the left-overs and eat it the next day! :)



This is (half) the salmon dish that I cooked (I ate the other half yesterday). Here's the idiot's guide to I've-never-cooked-never-ever-in-my-life recipe that I conjured on my own!!

INGREDIENTS

1 salmon cutlet
Chopped onions
Chopped tomatos
Chopped garlic
Chopped mushrooms. (I used the longish mushrooms, I think its shitake mushrooms?? No buttom mushrooms from a can please!! That's an abomination!!!)
Soy sauce for seasoning
Salt
Pepper
1/2 a lemon
1 Chilli

METHOD

1. Wake up early in the morning to wash and season the salmon. Make sure the salmon is already defrosted if it was kept in the freezer. I used Kikoman sauce to season the salmon, though you don't really need to do this, me thinks, cause salmon meat is quite tasty on its own.

2. At lunch time, pre heat the frying pan for a coupla seconds and pour a table-ish spoon of olive oil (it's healthy). Wait a few seconds for the pan and oil to heat up.

3. Put the garlic and onions into the frying pan. Use the frying slice to "fry". Once the garlic turns a little brown..

4. Put the salmon cutlet into the pan. (At this point you should be hearing a sizzling sound, I LOVE IT!! hahaha). The fire should be on low and not high, why I don't know, but its doesn't over cook the outside of the fish.

5. Wait a few seconds. Pour like a table spoon of soy sauce (depending on how much gravy you want at the end) and pour some water (depending on how much gravy you want at the end) haha

6. Add the tomatos, mushrooms and chilli.

7. Squeeze some juice from the lemon so that the gravy has a lemony flavour (DUH)

8. Cover the frying pan and let everything simmer for 10-15 minutes.

9. I suppose you can turn the salmon over at some point. I don't know if this is necessary. But I do it just for fun. heh

VIOLA!! You're done!! Serve with rice and you've got a meal fit for a king!!! haha

Cooking is so fun and common sense. :) Thank God somewhere in my DNA, my mom's cooking gene got passed to me. Yay!

Someone please, amuse me, try this recipe and tell me how it went!!!

LATEST LATEST!! read all about it!!

Its been about 9 days since my arrival in Sydney. Figured the best way to update everyone is to come up with a list of questions that I'd anticipate people to ask. haha.

Just in case you think I'm wierd and talk to myself in the third person.


I do.


haha.


But only when I'm alone. So here goes...


Enjoy!!


Q: Have you been cooking?

A: Yes I have! Made chicken & mushroom with 'kecap manis', fried rice, and some other random dishes.


Q: Oh wow! I didn't know you could cook!

A: Haha, oh I don't. But I'm just experimenting. I tried to make steamed tofu with minced meat like how my mom does, but failed miserably. I had to throw everything away. :(


Q: So have you made lots of friends?

A: I've met people here and there. People in Sydney are generally very helpful so you just have to take the initiative to talk to people. :)


Q: Who are your flat mates?

A: At the moment I've got 3 other girls I'm staying with. Jacqui from Wollongong (which is 2 hours away from Sydney), Siam from India and Dashy from Sri Lanka.


Q: How's the church situation coming along?

A: Church has been great so far. I'm attending a church called The Bible Talks (TBT) which meets at St. Andrew's Cathedral, in the heart of Sydney City.


Q: What are some difficulties you're facing?

A: Nothing life threatening so far. Haha. Just learning to cope with doing my own cooking, washing my own clothes, making sure my room/the apartment is tidy.


Q: Wow! With so many things on your plate how are you going to cope with your studies?

A: Haha! Good question! I don't know really. Just take it one day at a time I guess. I'm really excited about starting school on Tuesday (6th March). I've met some of my lecturers. They've all left a positive impression on me so I really can't complain.


Q: Sorry, I forgot, what are you studying again?

A: I'm doing my Masters in Teaching.


Q: Oh! That's right! And what will you be teaching?

A: I'm enrolled for secondary social studies, commerce/economics.


Q: Social studies, commerce/economics??? I thought you wanted to teach English?

A: Yeah, that's what I thought too. But because I didn't do a BA in English, I didn't meet the requirements to be an English teacher. I can, however, teach Legal Studies (which is part of Social studies in the Sydney school system) and commerce/economics because I took come modules in uni.


Q: Oh I see! So will you be employable when you graduate?

A: Haha. I don't know. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.


Q: How are you and Elliot coping with long distance (again, haha)?

A: We're doing good so far. He's been very supportive and patient with me as I settle in a new place.


Q: When will you guys see each other again?

A: Hopefully sometime end June. We're trying to gather some friends and we can all go snowboarding together! Anyone interested email me and I'll review it on a case by case basis. haha.


Q: Have you played your violin yet?

A: Haha!! Somehow I knew that question was coming! Many of you will be pleased to know that my violin's not tuned. So I can't play it just yet. But I will soon!! MUAHAHAHHAAHA!!


Q: Will you be uploading pictures on your blog soon?

A: I'd love to. But I still don't have internet connection in my room. Once I get that sorted I'll try to upload some pictures.


Q: What is one important lesson you've learnt in your 9 days in Sydney so far?

A: Ive learnt to humbly rely on others for help, that I can't always be stubbornly independent and so everything on my own.


Q: Is there any one you'd like to thank for helping you settle in Sydney?

A: Oh yes! Definitely! There's Edmund and Mei who so graciously drove me around the first few days just so I could set up my bank account, handphone etc... There's Roger and Mayhsin for letting my stay with them the first few days. Deb and Den for bringing me to Kmart to buy stuff (and letting me use their internet to blog haha). CC and Glorya for hanging out with me, calling me and just being there so I know that you're there if I'm in a life threatening situation.
Thanks so much guys!!


Q: Lastly, is there anything we can we can pray for?

A: Yes please. Thank God that I'm coping well with the many changes in my life and my routine. I'm a bit overwhelmed at times, there are so many different things on my mind and I'll spend the whole night worrying about it. But I'm learning. Learning to rejoice in the Lord and not be anxious about anything but to rely on him through prayer. (Philippians 4:4-7)


Q: Cool!! Thanks for sparing us the time to do this interview!

A: Its been a pleasure. Thanks! :)