BLOG - MY COLOURFUL LIFE IN AUSTRALIA

What I really missed in Australia was the delicious taste of freshly oven-baked focaccia bread. Focaccia is a typical Genoese piece of crunchy bread on the outside and moist on the inside. I usually eat my favourite focaccia (with rosemary) as a sort of "snack" when I feel a bit hungry!

In Melbourne, despite numerous Italian restaurants, bakeries, cafès, there was no chance to find out a piece of focaccia. So I decided to bake focaccia on my own... but I had no idea how to make it... so I checked recipes-tutorials on the internet... and I ended up to visit Viva la focaccia website: a blog written by an engineer from Genoa settled down in the United States, - with nostalgia of focaccia too! I followed the instructions given and made every effort possible to bake my focaccia... and the result was pretty good!!! It was so yummy!!!

"Don't be scared! It's not poisoning...",

I kept repeating myself, when one morning I noticed this unexpected guest hanging on the front door.

Australia is well-known for its amazing wildlife and beloved icons such as kangaroos, koalas, wombats but ... it has a bad reputation for its dangerous animals too.

Stay safely! Take precautions! Avoid any risks!

In case of emergency, call 000!

Have you ever heard Australians speaking English before? If not, why don't you give it a go and see if you like it? Watch/Listen the extract "Your Shout" from the film "They're a weird mob"!

So I got used to a different pronounciation and I learnt some slang expressions!

Here below a short list of basic Aussie phrases and terms that became part of my vocabulary:

(For more words have a look at Canguroenglish website!)

G'Day, Mate! How ya goin'?  - Good Day, Friend! How are you?

It is heaps good - It is really good!

No worries! - Don't worry!

What do you reckon? - What do you think?

Aussie (pronounced Ozzy) - Australian

BYO - to a restaurant you can take your own wine

arvo - afternoon

cuppa - a cup of tea

footy - football

sunnies - sun glaces

the bush - land beyond the city

dunny - toilet

bloke - a man

shiela - a woman  

As you can notice, Australians shorten most of the words and when they speak: they strengthen long vowel sounds and in some cases they do not pronounce r, t or d letters.

But what really interested me, was their trend to raise the tone of their voice at the end of each sentence as if it was a question. For that reason, every time I wasn't sure, if an answer from my side was expected...

I have to admit: I felt extremely lucky and privileged, when I began to work at Strathmore. The school provided me free accommodation for one month in a comfortable bedroom apartment at Alexander Motel in the suburb of Essendon. The location was perfect, the staff was kind and even the possum in the backyard was a good company!  

The same day I checked in, I met the receptionist Salvatore nicknamed "Sal": a middle aged man born in Messina (Sicily-Italy) and immigrated in his teens to Australia with his family. Every time we caught up, he was really helpful giving me some tips on finding the right accommodation:

- read ads on the Internet! Useful websites can be: GumTree, FlatemateFinders, Easyroommate,

- as Melbourne's monthly ticket is quite expensive, search an accommodation in neighbourhoods that surround your workplace (in my case on the Craigieburn railway line) and closed to grocery shops such as Coles and Woolworths.

So I started searching and searching. I passed my spare time visiting new potential flatemates and inspecting rooms all around the area, but without success. I was so frustrated because the majority of the places was not in good conditions... and the rest, I really liked, was too expensive to afford with my scholarship.

I had almost lost all hope, when my colleague Cathy rang me. Her cousins Rose and Joe were willing to rent me a furnished attic room. As the environment was friendly and the landlords were welcoming, I decided to accept their offer, even if their house was in Coburg and not along the Craigieburn railway line. It was half an hour walk from the nearest train station and the school but further away from the shops. Considering buses did not run frequently in the suburbs, most of the time I got around on foot or by bike.

Overall, I was satisfied with my new "home". Thanks Cathy!