*In the airport:
There are no restrooms… there are TOILETS
(Lesson on sanitation –I believe the Indus valley dwellers were the first to have a central sewage
management system).
There are exits, but most of the time …. WAY OUT
(Lesson on direction and mapping skills)
*We could speak extensively about driving on the left side of the road .It was really unnerving- no, frankly it was terrifying in the beginning, so we won’t dwell on this. Suffice it to say, we are ALL very grateful for God’s provision and deliverance! (By all I mean ALL of the drivers in ALL of Australia!)
Some interesting traffic signs:
We don’t yield… we GIVE WAY
(Great opportunity to pull out scripture and apply a lesson on submission)
In Australia, we don’t pass another car… we OVERTAKE
The Oldest thought that sounded a little more aggressive than passing…. (another potential Devotional- and honestly when we got to this sign, after driving on the LEFT side of the road through town, we had all said multiple arrow prayers! You know - the prayer you shoot up when you need to be refocused on the Lord quickly!!)
There may be deer crossings at home, but here there are KANGAROO CROSSINGS and WOMBAT CROSSINGS here. YIKES- these rodents are huge!
(Insert lessons on habitat and God’s amazing creation)
*And at the grocery store:
They don’t have carts or buggies at the grocery store, they have TROLLEYS.
(You could do a physics lesson on these babies; they will slide in any direction- not just forward and backward. Way cool!!)
*The Money is also really different… it has a little window.
(This might be a good opportunity to do a short lesson on exchange rates, beginning with the development of the bartering system which grew into currency and how that went on to influence the industrial revolution. This influences our culture today…sorry, got a little carried away).
We learned there are nicknames for their money… $10 note is called a Smurf (it is blue), a $20 note is called a Red Back (clearly it is red J), and the $50 note is called a Pineapple (it is yellow). Just for the record, we have not used these terms in conversation- but it is now on our bucket list. HA
*And finally... We LOVE the accent. We love it! Although there are not pictures, Essie has begun talking in a really bad Aussie accent. It started as a bad British accent, and then somehow morphed into something really disturbing… I am sure she will have it down by the time we get back home.
Some slang terms: Parent's please note: there seems to be a large number of inappropriate Australian slang terms... please do not let your children search for Australian slang terms without supervision.
Billabong- it is a creek that changed course and left a little pond – ish
Billly – a teapot
Bikkie-biscuitBoomer, Buck- male kangaroo- huge
Brekkie- breakfast
Footy- Australian rules football- a game with a ball similar to our football, but similarities end there- no pads, very large men crashing into each other.
Jumbuck- a sheep
Lollies- any candy (you see Lolly shops everywhere)
No worries- response to thank you, No problem
G’day- Hello
Cheers- kind of like goodbye… but different
All the Best- it’s like ‘have a nice day’… except they mean it. ;)
(Of course a language study could ensue....or the evolution of slang.)
All the Best...
There are no restrooms… there are TOILETS
(Lesson on sanitation –I believe the Indus valley dwellers were the first to have a central sewage
management system).
There are exits, but most of the time …. WAY OUT
(Lesson on direction and mapping skills)
*We could speak extensively about driving on the left side of the road .It was really unnerving- no, frankly it was terrifying in the beginning, so we won’t dwell on this. Suffice it to say, we are ALL very grateful for God’s provision and deliverance! (By all I mean ALL of the drivers in ALL of Australia!)
Some interesting traffic signs:
We don’t yield… we GIVE WAY
In Australia, we don’t pass another car… we OVERTAKE
The Oldest thought that sounded a little more aggressive than passing…. (another potential Devotional- and honestly when we got to this sign, after driving on the LEFT side of the road through town, we had all said multiple arrow prayers! You know - the prayer you shoot up when you need to be refocused on the Lord quickly!!)
There may be deer crossings at home, but here there are KANGAROO CROSSINGS and WOMBAT CROSSINGS here. YIKES- these rodents are huge!
(Insert lessons on habitat and God’s amazing creation)
*And at the grocery store:
They don’t have carts or buggies at the grocery store, they have TROLLEYS.
(You could do a physics lesson on these babies; they will slide in any direction- not just forward and backward. Way cool!!)
*The Money is also really different… it has a little window.
(This might be a good opportunity to do a short lesson on exchange rates, beginning with the development of the bartering system which grew into currency and how that went on to influence the industrial revolution. This influences our culture today…sorry, got a little carried away).
We learned there are nicknames for their money… $10 note is called a Smurf (it is blue), a $20 note is called a Red Back (clearly it is red J), and the $50 note is called a Pineapple (it is yellow). Just for the record, we have not used these terms in conversation- but it is now on our bucket list. HA
*And finally... We LOVE the accent. We love it! Although there are not pictures, Essie has begun talking in a really bad Aussie accent. It started as a bad British accent, and then somehow morphed into something really disturbing… I am sure she will have it down by the time we get back home.
Some slang terms: Parent's please note: there seems to be a large number of inappropriate Australian slang terms... please do not let your children search for Australian slang terms without supervision.
Billabong- it is a creek that changed course and left a little pond – ish
Billly – a teapot
Bikkie-biscuitBoomer, Buck- male kangaroo- huge
Brekkie- breakfast
Footy- Australian rules football- a game with a ball similar to our football, but similarities end there- no pads, very large men crashing into each other.
Jumbuck- a sheep
Lollies- any candy (you see Lolly shops everywhere)
No worries- response to thank you, No problem
G’day- Hello
Cheers- kind of like goodbye… but different
All the Best- it’s like ‘have a nice day’… except they mean it. ;)
(Of course a language study could ensue....or the evolution of slang.)
All the Best...
Reminds me of England! Thanks so much for sharing! Speaking of slang, when we were in England my dad could not bring himself to say "toilet" and called the bathroom the "loo." Suffice it to say, although toilet may sound less classy, it's decidedly not. =)
ReplyDeleteYou're cracking us up over here! Reminds us of Antigua. Andrew could come and chauffeur yall around. He felt (and prayed) much the same when he had to learn to drive on the right (& correct :) side of the road here. And we have brekkie and lollies, etc. at our house, too!
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