- One word: Shiraz. In the States, it goes by Syrah. According to my kids, you don't call something delicious here, you say "it's yum." Shiraz is yum.
- Screw caps. Every bottle we've opened has been a screw cap. Less fuss, and seems easier to just have a glass, knowing that I can put the lid back on. Yes, I could have always put the cork in back home. Regardless, I love the screw caps, esp since our wonderful wine opener is in a container in the middle of the Pacific somewhere.
- Cleanskins. According to Wikipedia, cleanskin wine had no labels, and were sold by the case. Nowadays, they have a very basic label and are sold by the bottle. I'm not sure if what I am buying is excess stock from a winery or just generic wine, but it's very drinkable and very inexpensive.
Another interesting thing about the paper is the use of the word 'partner.' When I hear that word I think business partner or maybe domestic (aka same sex) partner. Here it's used interchangeably with spouse, as far as I can tell.
Finally, something I really dislike: the mozzies, aka mosquitoes. On Saturday night, the girls school had a carnival with food stands. The main event was a movie on the Oval (the circular astroturf track) after dark. It was a drizzly night -- it's been drizzly quite a lot this summer here -- so many people didn't stay for the whole movie, Night at the Museum 2. Aliya and Andy left halfway through, but Alanna and I stayed and enjoyed the whole movie. Despite wearing jeans and jacket, Alanna got many many bites. Took three trips to the
Cheers
It is so fun to watch you discover the language differences, and for me to remember that a lot of these were also Britishisms (some of which I've held on to). I still say, "It's yum", for example.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get your stuff soon! I loves me some Shiraz (though I've seen it labeled both ways here). You are an attraction to get to Australia finally, but the Shiraz may just yet seal the deal.
BTW, I have your package ready to send--is there anything you desperately want from the states that isn't too heavy?
L
I've noticed people using "partner" on web discussion groups, too. Wondered if it was some sort of way to avoid saying "the person who would be my husband (or wife) but who isn't because we never bothered to get married even though we have children." But maybe not. Maybe it is used interchangeably with "spouse." What's wrong with "husband" or "wife?"
ReplyDeleteAh yes, cleanskins and bugs... I had totally forgotten about the former, thanks for the reminder. Many a nice wine has been had via them. One of the sad things is that you often cant go back and get more if it was a nice one. Freddy and I got smart. We would buy one bottle, try it that night, and if it was good, go back the next day and buy more. That was about the only way to be consistent. It was a lot of fun trying them, you never knew what you were going to get!
ReplyDeleteHave you come across many plastic wine bottles yet? We noticed that trend when we were down last year.
Cant say I miss the bugs at all. I knew you would have some problems with them, but wow, poor Alanna, she really got bit! Freddy was the same, they never bothered me much but really got stuck into Freddy. She would suffer for days after getting bit.
There are repellents and repellents, you will have to try a few, but take your time and get a good one, you will need it pretty much all year round and it would be a shame to give up being outside in the evenings because of the bugs.
Sadly yeah on the language. Its the whole 'we are Australians and we tell it like it is' attitude. Its nice most of the time, but its sad that its sinking into the gutter. That said. We are finding the language here to be getting harsher as the kids grow up over here. I think a good part of it is social networking websites. Don't know how you feel, but I would be keeping my kids off FaceBook for as long as I could.
Ok, complaint time..... Where is the button to subscribe to the RSS for this blog???
ReplyDeleteHow am I supposed to keep up if it does not feed my feed??? What? You want me to do the old fashion way and check every day?? Dont think so!
Okay Mr. Orchard, touche. I deserved that. I added a subscribe button, will that suffice?
ReplyDeleteAs for the cleanskins...oh no! It makes sense, but didn't really occur to me that they would run out so quickly. Rats! I'll follow your advice next time. And I haven't seen a plastic bottle yet, not sure what to think about that one.
We finally had to go see a dr for Alanna. Interesting that everyone sees a GP (general practitioner) here, and you get referred to a pediatrician only as a specialist. Of course, in this case it didn't really matter, a GP was fine.
Linda, I agree, I thought of it the way you did. As far as I can tell, it means a variety of things but if it is a husband or wife, why not just say that?