The Notable Things that Haley did in Sydney …
BY HALEY COHEN
1) Strolling Around Newtown on a Sunday afternoon…
Newtown feels a lot like Greenwich Village meets Astor Place. I immediately found myself immersed in a sea of ethnic restaurants serving everything from Tom Yum to Injera to good ol’ Pies (an Australian specialty) and musty used book and record stores – a rarity in the era of the ipod. Men in Doc Martens with Mohawks rivalling Everest in height stomp up the street holding hands with lithe girls in fedoras and skinny jeans. Most buildings are blanketed with graffiti, but the graffiti is often evocative and ornate. My personal favourite was the vibrant portrait of the Hindu god Ganesh, a saffron map of Africa with borders meticulously marked (at least where borders can be agreed upon) and a cobalt Thomas the Tank Engine surrounded by his multi-coloured locomotive pals (my number 1, obviously).
2) Went to the Sydney Aquarium…
The day was overcast (again) so we nixed our initial plan to go to the Taronga Zoo and instead headed to the indoor, aquatic equivalent: the Sydney Aquarium. We were lucky enough to get a photo op with Bruce, of Finding Nemo fame, though sadly he refused to do autographs.
The Sydney Aquarium
In addition to rubbing fins with celebrities we also saw Dugongs, an endangered relative of the Manatee. Apparently there are only 5 in captivity in the world so it was impressive that Sydney had 2. That being said, Dugongs are one of the more laughable critters that I’ve ever seen. First off they are MASSIVE. We’re talking Star Jones pre-gastric stapling, Sumo wrestling champion, massive! They are also adorable. Tongues lolling, they clumsily flop around, pressing themselves to the side of the tank to rest every 5 seconds or so. On a total aside, after sending a photo of one of the Dugongs to my Dad, he quickly replied “I think I was fixed up with one once”.
Another thing I was reminded of when visiting the aquarium was my fervent love for Platypi. I mean COME ON, how could you not become obsessed with an egg-laying, venomous (little known fact: male platypi have stingers on the back of their feet for hunting), duck-billed, beaver-tailed, furry, otter-footed mammal? When they first encountered it, European naturalists were so flummoxed that they considered it to be an “elaborate fraud”. How could an animal possibly be a fraud? It seems those confused scientists were giving our friends the platypi a bit too much credit. Egg-laying, venomous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, furry and otter-footed…Are these creatures really masters of disguise? Probably not (although with platypi anything is possible).
Glorious creature
The Notable Things Haley found out about Sydney:
1) Rugby Parties are the same worldwide…
Well maybe I’m over-generalising a tad considering I’ve only ever been to rugby parties in the US and now one at University of Sydney in Australia; but they were so incredibly alike it was scary! Shirtless, sweaty ruggers happily pushing each other around; while the girls try not to get mauled over. The only difference was the stench. Australian rugby players need a SERIOUS lesson on how to apply deodorant. So goodonya (good for you) American boys, you have one up on the Aussies.
2) ‘Strine is Crook! (Translation: Australian is Awesome)
The first thing you need to know when trying to speak ’strine is to abbreviate everything. E.g. Australia = Oz, breakfast = brekkie, cup of tea = cuppa, university = uni.
Here is some of my favourite ’strine I’ve heard so far:
Boofhead ~ (n) fool
Daggy ~ (adj) unfashionable, goofy
D&M ~ (n) deep and meaningful conversation
Squiz ~ (n) a look e.g. i’m gonna take a squiz at that dugong
Narky ~ (adj) annoyed
Nibblies ~ (n) snacks
Furphy ~ (n) exaggerated rumour
Tune in for the second installment of Haley Cohen’s adventures – coming soon on ProjecTravel!
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