November

It's getting very hot here in Brisbane, and it just doesn't seem right to see the shops stocked with Christmas puddings, mince pies and candy canes. Christmas lights and gigantic balls hang from the outdoor pubs and cafes in the city, but we're sitting around in sundresses and flip-flops instead of wool coats and boots. I have to admit dreaming about snow, but I'm not sick of the heat yet. The pool is coming in very handy now. It went from being ice cold to bath water temperature in the course of two weeks.

We've booked our journey for Christmas, but the paranoid husband does preclude me from revealing the route on a blog. Suffice it to say we will be having Christmas lunch served to us on the beach and there is the remote possibility of seeing us on TV when the New Year hits this part of the world.

It's time for a little introduction to 'Strine (Australian). I assume you are all familiar with G'day, No worries, Cheers and Mate but if you were in doubt I can assure you that these are not just the expressions of Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin. You hear these expressions a lot, and I was thrilled to be in on a conference call to the US with my colleague. He opened with, "Oh. G'day. I'm (name protected for same reason as husband, these people are both Linux guys with security issues)...from The University of Queensland" and then much to my great pleasure, closed with "No worries." Not premeditated, I assure you.

Here are some of my favorite new expressions. (You'll have to excuse me (and correct me) if any of these have actually floated into the American language without my realizing it. I've been away for a long time.)

iconic - used to refer to any man-made structure more than 60 years old, especially if Sydney had one first, also used for natural wonders (sometimes justifiably, but you can never be sure).
hot desking - we don't  have enough space in the office for you, but we will hire you anyway. You can just float around to a vacant desk when someone is sick.
flick - get rid of an email (meaning, get rid of work) - as in "I'll just flick that email over to you, and now I've done my bit. It's your problem now."
appropriate - mostly referring to the speech and clothes tolerated at school, a very short list
inappropriate - mostly referring to speech, behaviour and clothes not tolerated at school, a very long list
consequences - what there will be after school if anything inappropriate goes on
luxury fittings - the taps go on and off (sometimes)
stubbie - bottle of beer
schooner - glass of beer
long black - black coffee, no milk, no sugar - you can also have a small long black which just doesn't seem right
short black - espresso - I don't think you can have a large short black
flat white - not sure, but it must have milk in it so I'm not drinking it
we should have coffee - let's not have coffee (unless said by a foreigner, in which case, "let's have coffee right now")
cossie - swimsuit
thongs - flip-flops (can get confusing - my daughter wrote in a poem that she felt happy right down to her thongs)
Mackers - McDonald's (they NEVER call in McDonald's)
Hungry Jack's - Burger King (for some reason the brand name is Hungry Jacks, but I'm pretty sure it's owned by Burger King because the logo is exactly the same. They serve beets on their signature burger.

I must be in a bit of a negative spin here. I can't seem to come up with too many positive expressions. Maybe the frequency of G'day, No worries, Cheers and Mate more than make up for the above, because generally the conversation is very jovial and the Australians very friendly. I'll add to the list as I think of more.