One of the many things I love about travelling is learning and navigating foreign accents and words of the English language. If you feel safe travelling to a country that speaks English as it's first language think again! We Aussies are a rare breed from Down Under. At home in OZ it can be confusing for others too as we have been invaded by the Kiwis. To all my Kiwi mates out there, they will always be thongs.... not jandals.
So during my recent move to Canada, I've had a few situations where conversation abruptly stops mid way through and you basically have to play charades just to get the rest of the conversation out. Other times I find myself repeating the word in question over and over again until it feels foreign even to me. Do I have you intrigued? Ha well enjoy my somewhat embarrassing yet laughable experiences thus far.
One of the many draw cards for my move to Canada was the wildlife. I mean killer whales and grizzly bears are a normal part of life here. Not to mention the random deer that hang out on the side of the road. Who wouldn't want to experience that?!? So in my second week here I spent some time on Vancouver Island and bought my killer car aptly named Betty, Black Betty. The owner very generously picked me up the day I got her. He was asking me what I was doing on the island, where I was from etc. I told him I was on a mission to see killer whales and bears. He turns to look at me with a strange look on his face and says 'sorry what do you want to see?' So I said again, killer whales and bears. He's silent for a moment and then says 'biers?' 'No, bears'. 'Biers?'. 'No, bears'. 'Umm biers?'. 'No. Bears. You know grrrrr' (imagine me doing claw imitations with my hands). 'Oh! Bearrrrrrrrrs!' 'Yes. Bears.... like I said'.
I'm currently reacquainting myself with the whole cooking fad. I have my fall back dishes and being half Italian, Risotto is one of my favs, and I have to say I make a killer dish. So I move into my new place with 3 awesome Canucks (that's what they're called here don't ask) and this is something I make in my first week. One of them come up to me in the kitchen and asks what I'm cooking. 'I'm making risotto.' 'Reesotoe?'. 'Risotto.' 'Ree-so-toe?' 'Ri-sott-o. Italian dish'. Oh! that looks yum!'. Someone get me a wine!
I admit I was a little naughty during my travels and would randomly stop through McDonalds for a drink or an ice-cream. This one day I was driving through the drive-through and ordered a coke. OMG let's just say every other item on the extensive menu was added to my bill with me literally yelling at the speaker that I just wanted a coke. 'I'm sorry, you want a McChicken meal?' 'Ummm no a coke.' 'So that was 10 nuggets?' F*^K! 'No a coke. You know a soft drink?' 'Oh so that's a caramel sundae?' Really?!? About to get out of my car and hit something I try and remember all the American lingo I can from the movies I've watched (as charades wasn't an option to the speaker) and say 'OK I want a coke. You know - pop, soda - does that make sense?' 'Oh you want a cola?' FML. 'Yes.' 'OK drive through.' I'll never get those 10 mins back.
I've got to say though I am loving the Canadian accent. I love it when people try to imitate the Aussie accent and say what they think is an Aussie phrase. Most of the time I have no idea what they think they are saying. One of my flat mates is currently working on how to say 'around the round about' in 'Australian' purely because we have a round about at our corner and she thinks its funny that I say that when I literally need to go around the round about. Confused but kept entertained.
As much as single words trip people up, our slang keeps 'em guessing too. I've just started a new job in the service industry. Talking with people is a passion of mine and I'm good at it. So being my friendly self I said to a guy 'Good Morning how are you going?' His step faulted only slightly and he looked at me like a deer in headlights for a split second. 'I'm going' he answered. Before I could laugh, apologise or explain (I probably would have just laughed), he quickly followed that up with a 'You're obviously not from around here' while still trying to mentally work out what it was I was actually saying. Note to self: use that line more often.
So next time you think about learning an exotic language like French or Spanish, don't waste your time. Travel to another English speaking country. Trust me, some of it will be just as challenging!
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