Perspective

Last week on my way out of the shopping centre where I work, I held a door open for a lady who turned out to be Australian. Once again reiterating the fact that we live in a tiny world, for she was practically my next door neighbour in Brisbane; when I’d lived in Kuraby, she lived in Salisbury.

We blabbed like old friends the entire walk to the train station and on the train through the three stops I make daily. As this was her very first week in Atlanta, she made me laugh as she pointed out the things she was noticing for the first time about America and Americans: things I had also experienced upon arrival but had long since forgotten about; things that don’t stand out at all anymore.

She pointed out (as I once had) that the sheer variety in retail over here is mind blowing. There is MORE of everything from shower curtains and tea strainers to furniture, makeup and clothing.

Another thing a fresh Aussie notices is the sky! Even in the summer months, the sky in America is a lighter blue –a faded blue, compared to the vibrant one in the sky above OZ.

The other major difference that is sure to disorientate is that –aside from driving on the opposite side of the road and having the steering wheel on the opposite side of the car – people even walk in the opposite direction! And I had never noticed back home that the direction in which our escalators ran was the same as the direction of the road system until I came to the US and noticed it in reverse.

And one of the funniest and most honest things she said was: “it feels so good to be able to swear! Americans are so polite all the time, it seems inappropriate to – but Australians love to swear, it’s who we are! We’re suppressing who we really are when we aren’t swearing… it’s liberating when we get to talk freely!”

While it was nice to get a fresh perspective, it unsettled me to notice the changes within myself that I had subconsciously made! How could I be losing my Australian accent after a meager year in the States, when I was always the first to discriminate about those Australian super-stars who move to the States and “sell out” their Australian-ness after a mere decade!

Will says now that I’m used to life over here, when we go home for our visit in November; it’ll be home that feels strange and different. It will be interesting to see what strikes me as “odd” about my home! I never thought that was possible, but then, I never thought I’d stop ripping this bloody paper currency either!

... Now if I could just learn to spell in "English” the American way…