Yes, We Have No Bananas

I just paid $2.10 for ONE banana at Coles! I hadn’t had a banana in months and I really missed them. It was really difficult, however, to enjoy my banana knowing I paid $2.10 for it.

I’ve gone from a banana a day to a banana every two months since Cyclone Larry hit Queensland and wiped out 90% of the banana crop. The news at the time was along the lines of, ‘Don’t panic. Other banana producing regions of the country will be able to take up the slack. The consumer shouldn’t suffer overly large price increases.’

$2.10 for ONE banana! I heard somewhere that it will take nine months for the next banana crop to be ready for sell. If this is true then sometime in November I’ll go on a banana binge. I logged onto the Australian Banana Growers’ Council Inc.’s home page to see if this nine-month gestation period of the new crop is correct. I couldn’t find that answer but I did find this interesting article. It seems that I’m not the only one missing bananas. Some people have resorted to banana jacking.

Unless a man in a long overcoat approaches me on the street and says, ‘Pssst. Wanna buy a banana?’ I’ll have to wait for November to nosh nanas. Never again will I pay $2.10 for ONE banana!

Rambling or Waffling On About English

G'day ya'll ,

The English language, specifically, the way English words are used differently in different parts of the world fascinates me. Carbonated beverages, for instance, could be known as soda, pop, soda pop, or fizzy drink, just to name a few, depending on where in the English-speaking world you are. In Texas we call all carbonated beverages ‘coke’.

‘Would you like a coke?’
‘Sure!’
‘What kind?’
‘Dr Pepper please.’

What do you call your afternoon or evening meal? Do you say ‘lunch’ or ‘dinner’ in the afternoon? Do you say ‘supper’, ‘dinner’, or even ‘tea’ to name your evening meal? When I was growing up my family called the afternoon meal ‘lunch’ and the evening meal ‘supper’. For us ‘dinner’ was a special occasion. We would have Sunday Dinner, or Christmas Dinner, or Thanksgiving Dinner. Personally, I define dinner as a meal with mandatory dessert.

The verb to tump, as far as I know, is unique to Texas. To tump means to spill something out of its container.

‘What would you like me to do with the water in this bowl?’
‘Tump it into the sink please.’

The second person pronoun is both singular and plural. There is no grammatically correct plural form of ‘you’ other than ‘you’. People feel the need to make up their own. I say, ‘ya’ll’. Many people here in Australian use ‘youse’ (sounds like the plural for female sheep). I’ve heard ‘you guys’, ‘youse guys’, ‘you all’ and many more in my travels.

Words that are innocuous in one part of the English-speaking world have dirtier meanings in other parts. Two words I’ve come across since moving here that have extremely different meanings are ‘root’ and ‘fanny’. Throughout America we define the verb ‘to root’ as to support one’s team. Here in Oz they use the word ‘barracking’ for supporting one’s team. Here, ‘to root’ is a very rude way to say ‘to copulate’. It’s almost as rude as the f-word. In the US ‘fanny’ is a polite way of speaking about a rear end. Here, ‘fanny’ is a very rude way of saying ‘vagina’. Therefore, what Americans know as ‘fanny packs’ are known here as ‘bum bags’.

I could easily ramble on about this. It fascinates me to no end. But I’ll leave it here for now while reserving the right to revisit the topic in future posts.

Football

G’day ya’ll,

Four years is a long time for a Texan to go without football. For 30 plus years I was fed on a steady diet of high school, college and pro gridiron. Suddenly I had to go cold turkey wondering what to do with myself on Friday nights, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and Monday nights. The only games I’ve seen are the Super Bowls and the last two have been a bit boring.

We recently subscribed to cable so I hope to catch a few Cowboys games this year. But I’ve decided that to fit in my new home I should follow local sports. Local sport in this part of the world is Aussie Rules football.

My hubby explained a bit of Australian football history to me. In Victoria football has always been what is now known as Aussie Rules. But in Queensland and New South Wales football was rugby. It’s only been in the last couple of decades that Aussie rules football has branched out into other states.

Aussie rules is as local a sport as it gets. I live in the western suburbs of Melbourne. Therefore, I declare myself a Western Bulldogs supporter.

The Doggies are 6 and 4 so far this season. That’s the extent of my knowledge. I’ll need to do a bit of research and perhaps watch them play a game or two and buy a t-shirt or sweatshirt or some such. Until then I’ll content myself with a www dot cheer. GO THE BULLDOGS!

G’day y’all,

It’s cold today. Of course June in Melbourne is meant to be cold. June in Melbourne = blue hands.

Handsome hubby and I are going out for dinner this evening. It’s kid-free weekend in this beautiful culturally diverse city and all we could come up with to do is…out to eat. We’re going to check out a Mexican restaurant in Williamstown. I still haven’t given up on finding decent Mexican food here. I’m not asking for great, just decent. I made a big pot of red beans Thursday. It’s still in the fridge, so if the Mexican bites it I can always cook up some rice.

My favorite thing about Melbourne is the quantity of quality restaurants and cafes. Back in good ol’ Victoria, TX Asian food is Chinese buffet. Here we have Indian, Thai, Malaysian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean… I’ve also come to love African cuisine, most notably from Ethiopia and Morocco. Best of all about food in Melbourne is the seafood. Because we’re on the oh-so-cold Southern Ocean seafood is edible and fresh year round. No having to worry ‘bout whether or not the month has an ‘r’ in it. I just wish I could find decent frijoles and tamales. I wish I could find a margarita made with limejuice instead of gasp lemon.