Sunday, October 2, 2011

As yesterday was my last day in Australia, naturally I’m reflecting on everything I’ve experienced while living here over the last (almost) two years. Of course, it wasn’t all good and it wasn’t all bad, but there were lots of surprises! Overall, I’m glad I came and experienced another culture, albeit not so different from my own at the core. So today I say goodbye (for now):

Goodbye to saying G’day
Goodbye to everyday use of the word ‘reckon’, both in casual and formal settings
Goodbye to driving on the other side of the road
Goodbye to trying to explain where the Midwest is and why I sound like I’m from Canada
Goodbye to inconvenient business hours
Goodbye to the weekly “late night shopping” night
Goodbye to ending everything in ‘y’ or ‘ie’ (Aussie, tradie, Brissy, sunnies, boardies, footy)
Goodbye to rugby on TV
Goodbye to horrible internet access
Goodbye to paying bills at the post office (so convenient!)
Goodbye to not having to show ID at the airport
Goodbye to not being asked for ID at the pub (guess I don’t look 18 anymore!)
Goodbye to a country with the majority in the upper middle class, at least those who want to be
Goodbye to high minimum wages
Goodbye to a very high cost of living
Goodbye to a universal safety net health care system
Goodbye to cheap health insurance, for those of us who aren’t permanent residents
Goodbye to laws that allow women the choice to care for their children in their first year of life
Goodbye to being invisible to the opposite sex
Goodbye to rarely (if ever) having to discuss religion
Goodbye to strangely inadequate plumbing
Goodbye to freezing at night in a tropical climate
Goodbye to beautiful gum trees
Goodbye to mean magpies
Goodbye to lovely animals like kangaroos and koalas
Goodbye to seeing wild lorakeets and cockatoos
Goodbye to ginormous bats and lizards
Goodbye to hearing the monkey noises of the kookaburra bird
Goodbye to plenty of local bakeries and butcheries, even in malls!
Goodbye to calling malls ‘fairs’
Goodbye to finding Indian food in every food court
Goodbye to seeing the British influence in almost everything
Goodbye to trying to remember to offer visitors tea and biscuits
Goodbye to meat pies, authentic fish and chips, and caramel slice
Goodbye to really good coffee
Goodbye to the exquisite abundance of lamb
Goodbye to that awful ubiquitous sweet chili sauce
Goodbye to swimming every day in the ocean, at least when we lived in the Gold Coast
Goodbye to BBQ’ing without food actually coming into contact with fire
Goodbye to hangis/lovos
Goodbye to good friends
Goodbye to the traditional owners of this country – I wish I would have learned more from You
Goodbye to this sunburnt country… someday we may meet again…