I know I do!
I totally missed that the fact that this Sunday is the Fourth of July. I mean, I was aware that Sunday is the 4th day of July. But it was only today that I read something about a holiday weekend in the States, and I was like, "What holiday....Oh!" This, combined with how I forgot Thanksgiving last year shows how out of touch I am with my Americanness, y'all. My roots! (Except, you have to say it like, "Mah rutes!")
I did a quick online search to see what's going down in Sydney for the Fourth. I mean, there's heaps of Americans here, right? Well, there ain't nothing, not that I could find. There were a couple of invitations to parties that happened in 2008 and 2009, but that was about it. Thank goodness I noticed the year on those invitations! Can you imagine how sad it would've been to show up there on Sunday? "Happy 4th of...guys? Hellooo? Anybody?" I did read that the US Ambassador hosted a party this week at his house in Canberra (our capitol city). I think mostly diplomatic staff attended and they ate hot dogs and tried to play baseball, the article said. Unfortunately, the party was on a really cold day. Canberra is, as we say in my country of birth, butt-cold. So, I bet that wasn't oodles of fun.
One other sign of Aussie assimilation? My abbreviating. Aussies abbreviate lots of words. Not all the time, but very often. Breakfast is brekky, presents are pressies, aggressive is aggro, gossip is goss--you get the idea. Jason and I used to laugh at it, like, "Gosh that extra syllable is soooo exhaust--nevermind!" But I've noticed a sharp increase in my abbreviation-usage. Just a bit ago, for instance, I texted Jason. "What time do you think you'll be home this arvo?", I wrote. Arvo is short for afternoon, and it's an abbreviation I've never used, cause I felt too self-conscious saying it. Like I was trying too hard, y'know? Plus, it seemed silly to me. How do you get arvo from afternoon, anyway? But there it was--I did it, and didn't even realize till after.
It won't be long now.
Resistance is fute-y.
Happy Fourth of July to my American buds, and to everyone else, have a great weekend. xo
You have a great 4th too! If it weren't so cold you could have a cook out on the "bar-bee"!
ReplyDeleteArvo?!? What the hecks? I too think the abbreviation thing is funny, but I can see how it could grow on you.
ReplyDeleteHappy Fourth of July to my favorite expats!
Yeah, I'm a sucker for a good Borg reference. Although I'm not sure if the Australian government would appreciate the analogy. I have an old friend from high school who has moved to Australia and her Facebook status updates are always riddled with sort of embarrassing Aussieisms. Sort of "look at me, I've gone native!"
ReplyDelete