Tag Archives: culture

Canadian?

Posted on by
1

Nine times out of ten, that’s how the question will be asked.  But every once in a while you meet a brave Australian who dares to ask “American?” thus risking the potential wrath of a proud Canook, a show of disdain which I hope has died down since the end of the Bush Jr. era.  But I wouldn’t know, you’d have to ask a Canadian.

I always ask if that’s why they start with the Canadian question, but most don’t admit it.  They simply say they just can’t tell the difference between the accents.  But without a tell tale “about” pronounced “aboot”, neither can I.  Despite the fact that I have picked up on many subtleties of the Australian accent since arriving here, including the tendency to say “reckon” a lot, end many statements with a cheery upward inflection and pronounce the letter H with an audible huff, I wouldn’t be able to tell a New Zealander from an Aussie unless they were wearing something bearing their respective flags which, I should mention to the Aussies, many Canadians do.

So, it’s not the confusion of the two countries that throws me off, as much as it is the way in which the question get’s asked.  It’s always either “Canadian?” or “American?”.  I can’t remember the last time I was asked “Where are you from?”.  Even when were were being asked by every Aussie we encountered “Are you on holiday?”  the follow up question was usually “Canadian?”. I don’t think I have ever asked someone where they were from by suggesting a country first.  Chinese?  Mexican?  Outer Mongolian?

Perhaps that’s because I’m keenly aware that I have no idea what subtle differences exist in the accents of certain countries and the many varied regions within them.  Even back in the States, I wouldn’t be able to guess what state someone was from unless they spoke with an accent worthy of an SNL skit or a Simpson’s character.  Although “hella” is a dead give away from a Northern Californian.  I guess you do pick up on these things after extended exposure.  I might be able to guess which continent you are from, but even then I’d be taking a stab at it.  I might even be wrong if I offered up a hemisphere, so I prefer to stick to the simple “where are you from?”.

I should mention that I have heard more than one Brit insult the Australian twists on English by saying “whose language is it?”.  Funny, I never heard that joke in the States.  Maybe they’ve finally let go of those colonies, or just desire to cut ties with us entirely.  Our neighbors to the North certainly want to.  I only hope they don’t feel about us they way these Kiwis feel about my new neighbors.

Flight of the Concords – Jermaine sleeps with an Australian

Watch the whole video.  The accent joke is the best.

Progressive? Or just for laughs?

Posted on by
7

I was told, and knew to expect before I came to Oz, that it was a very progressive country.  This means “liberal” in the American sense, although “liberal” means the opposite here when it comes to politics, so let’s just stick with the word progressive for now.  So it was no surprise when I saw an ad for feminine hygiene products that featured a beaver.  Yeah, you heard right, the animal that builds damns across water.  The tagline was something along the lines of “it’s the only one you’ve got, so be good to it.”  Yes, it was funny, and might have been played on MTV in the US, but probably never made it as an ad during ANTM (“America’s Next Top Model” for those of you who don’t know) but during ANTM is precisely when I saw it the other day (of course the A stands for Australia’s out here).

But, I don’t think you would ever see and ad in the States for help with premature ejaculations that featured an, *ehem* animated logo.  I’ll let your imaginations sort that one out.  And even though it was a documentary, on after 10pm, I’m not sure KCET would have ever played “The Perfect Vagina.” This British documentary featured no shortage of “fannys” or “lady bits” (as the Brits call them) and even footage of an actual labiplasty, a surgery I hope to never have to talk someone out of.

But among all the eyebrow raising ads, are hints of what I would call a few old fashioned notions.  Advertisers still imply that making a good roast is women’s business, and watching rugby is men’s.  The other day while walking around my neighborhood, my attention was attracted by a bright pink van.  Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a handyman service called “Hire a Hubby”.  As cute as the van was, with it’s little stick figure wearing a tool belt as a logo, I’m sure the company name would have never made it past the planning phases in an American business model.  Even if it had, some political interest group or another would have attacked the company for promoting the stereotype that women can’t preform household repairs and, lacking a husband, must turn to a handy-MAN.  If you’re anything like me, you would think that they should go out and find something better to do with their time, but that wouldn’t stop them from getting press.

Of course, are all these ideas really so different from what we get bombarded with in the states?  Isn’t dishwashing soap still sold to women, and large TVs for watching “the game” still sold to men?  There is still a rating system for televisions shows, and it functions on parameters similar to those in the US.  Even the word “balls” was bleeped out during and episode of The View, though in the states we’ve grown far past “The 7 dirty words you can’t say on television”, of George Carlin’s day.  (well, maybe not most of them, but I think the FCC has come to at least accept “tits” (the word, not the act of exposing them during the Superbowl))  I think the only real difference is, that Americans worry much more about who they might offend, and get offended a bit too often.

Documentaries aim to bring about an understanding of something we couldn’t possibly understand if they were edited down.  Cute company names are created to help you remember them.  And funny ads are simply that, funny.  So I can only hope that my exposure to Australian media will, in addition to re-familiarize me with “Magnum PI” (You haven’t aged a day Tom Selleck), also encourage me to lighten up.