Ouch!

Yep, I'm still playing with the old train set.


Days to Australia: 3

Merry Christmas!

How does the world celebrate Christmas?
How does Australia celebrate this special day?
How did I celebrate Christmas? With family, of course - and tinkering with a 1950s American Flyer train set!


Choo Choo around the Christmas tree!


Days to Australia: 5

Aussie Slang 101

G'Day, and Merry Christmas Eve!

Aussies have some hilarious phrases, like the ones below.:
Bathers : swimsuit
Cat burying poo, as busy as a : busy
Chrissie : Christmas
Compo : Workers' Compensation pay
Cozzie : swimming costume
Bowl of rice, not my : not my cup of tea; I don't like it
Bottle shop : liquor shop
Billabong : an ox-bow river or watering hole
Ankle biter : small child
Dag : a funny person, nerd, goof
Gutful of piss : drunk, "he's got a gutful of piss"
Hooroo : goodbye
Kangaroos loose in the top paddock : Intellectually inadequate
Knocker : somebody who criticises
Outback : interior of Australia
Quid, make a : earn a living
Yabber : talk (a lot)
Stoked : very pleased
Sunbake : sunbathe

I've applied my newfound knowledge to create the (extremely awkward) paragraph below. Phrases are in bold. It's kinda like Mad Libs, only awesomer.

So I'm off to Oz in less than a week. Before my trip home for Chrissie, I was as busy as a cat burying poo - packing up my flat, looking for my old cozzies and saying plenty of Hooroos. Some folks think I've got kangaroos loose in the top paddock, but I figure, what better a place to make a quid? I'm stoked about camping in the outback, sunbaking on the weekends, and chewing the fat with the locals.

For more education and a good laugh, check out the Australian Slang Dictionary or this video.






Days to Australia: 6

One week to Australia!

G'Day!

As an introductory blog post for my trip Down Under, I thought it would be fitting to share some of the random things I've learned about Australia while digging through travel guides, blog posts and newspaper archives.

1. Do all Australians wrestle crocodiles? Yes, even though sometimes the 5-year olds lose, it's true that most grandmothers fair better than Chuck Norris.
2. Do Australians walk upside down? Yes, if you're using this map.
   
3. What's most likely to kill me Down Under? Drop bears
4. With the current exchange rate, how many In-N-Out Burgers can I buy in Sydney? None.
5. How likely am I to develop an accent while Down Under? I'm about 25% likely, but I'll probably have to work at it. Or I could watch Crocodile Dundee a few hundred times or just Ask Yahoo.