By A.J. Llewellyn
It ain't easy being an ex-patriate Australian. In 1988 when I went to the Department of Immigration to complete the last stage of my Green Card application, the guy behind the desk thought he was being hilarious by asking me how I planned to celebrate actually getting the cherished, hard-won card.
"I suppose you'll throw a shrimp on the barbie, right, mate?"
Considering this man held my entire future in his hands, I pasted a smile on my face and laughed. I should have won a bloody Oscar as well as my green card because I acted a) as if I'd never heard this joke before and b) bit down on the urge to scream that we don't call them shrimp in Australia. We call them prawns.
By and large, being Australian has helped me in the US, I will admit. People ask me where my cute accent is from and they always ask me questions, such as what language do we speak [English] but the misconceptions are still there.
And from what I saw last night, likely to remain indefinitely.
I watched the Nia Vardalos comedy "My Life in Ruins" and cringed at the stereotypical portrayal of an Aussie couple traveling through Greece.
They swilled Fosters beer night and day in the movie. I'd like to know where and how they managed to get all this beer since it's not actually available in Greece.
I've always managed to shock new friends by NOT ordering beer for breakfast. Visitors are stunned when they open my fridge and don't find crates of Fosters...or empties in the bathroom. Surely I bathe in the stuff, right?
It ain't easy being an ex-patriate Australian. In 1988 when I went to the Department of Immigration to complete the last stage of my Green Card application, the guy behind the desk thought he was being hilarious by asking me how I planned to celebrate actually getting the cherished, hard-won card.
"I suppose you'll throw a shrimp on the barbie, right, mate?"
Considering this man held my entire future in his hands, I pasted a smile on my face and laughed. I should have won a bloody Oscar as well as my green card because I acted a) as if I'd never heard this joke before and b) bit down on the urge to scream that we don't call them shrimp in Australia. We call them prawns.
By and large, being Australian has helped me in the US, I will admit. People ask me where my cute accent is from and they always ask me questions, such as what language do we speak [English] but the misconceptions are still there.
And from what I saw last night, likely to remain indefinitely.
I watched the Nia Vardalos comedy "My Life in Ruins" and cringed at the stereotypical portrayal of an Aussie couple traveling through Greece.
They swilled Fosters beer night and day in the movie. I'd like to know where and how they managed to get all this beer since it's not actually available in Greece.
I've always managed to shock new friends by NOT ordering beer for breakfast. Visitors are stunned when they open my fridge and don't find crates of Fosters...or empties in the bathroom. Surely I bathe in the stuff, right?
Wrong.
As I sipped my late night tea, I silently seethed as I watched "My Life in Ruins" but I'll admit, Americans, British and Canadians all got jabbed too, but at least none of them were portrayed as mindless drunks.
I'd also like to know why REAL Australian actors couldn't have been found to play these doped dingbats, but that's by the by...I'd also like to know where the screenwriters came up with their Aussie slang. I'd never heard ANY of the expressions used in this movie.
Aussie bashing is sort of fun for Aussies themselves, but just once I'd like people NOT to act surprised when I tell them Australia isn't just one gigantic beach with a bit of desert in the middle.
I've had people refute my claims of Australia's great snow skiing - FACT - and also that our criminal past as a penile colony is over 200 years ago - FACT - and that we have four seasons too - FACT.
I love my origins, I really do. I have to say though that in spite of the fact many of us do enjoy a beer, some of us, ahem, prefer a Mai Tai.
What about you? What misconceptions about your own country or culture bother you the most?
Crikey Mate!
A.J,
Aussie bashing is sort of fun for Aussies themselves, but just once I'd like people NOT to act surprised when I tell them Australia isn't just one gigantic beach with a bit of desert in the middle.
I've had people refute my claims of Australia's great snow skiing - FACT - and also that our criminal past as a penile colony is over 200 years ago - FACT - and that we have four seasons too - FACT.
I love my origins, I really do. I have to say though that in spite of the fact many of us do enjoy a beer, some of us, ahem, prefer a Mai Tai.
What about you? What misconceptions about your own country or culture bother you the most?
Crikey Mate!
A.J,
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