Straya

Happy Australia Day everyone! I LOVE our national day. I like it better than my birthday and it is a tough call between it and Christmas that I don't want to have to make. Unfortunately this year will be my worst Australia day hands down, this is partially because all the other ones have been so good, partially because I am not in Australia and partially because I will be having a party for one for most of the day (unless I invite Nona over to kick back and listen to JJJ in the morning?) So I'm going to do some reminiscing on some of the wonderful things about our country. I have compiled a very small list of things that you will see in Australia that you will not see in Italy. I'm not talking the obvious ones like the Opera house, cricket or kangaroos, but the smaller ones that you might not notice help to make our nation great.

Takeaway coffee cups

This might sound strange. Isn't Italy famous for it's strong dark coffee? Aren’t they known for drinking coffee at all hours of the day? Yes they are, but how they do it is different. Italians, like in the movies, stand at the bar to drink their coffee, or they will have it quickly at a table after a meal. I do not think I have ever seen a native Italian carrying a coffee to go. When tourists ask for takeaway they are often confused (as I was) at being handed a clear plastic cup, only half filled with coffee (Italian coffees are small). On occasion they will also give you a plastic lid WITH NO DRINKING HOLES IN IT. It is not thought that you would walk and drink at the same time. You must be walking to somewhere where you will stop, remove the lid, and drink your coffee.

Road rules

Most people have heard that Italians are terrible drivers. And whilst that is a huge generalisation.... I have experienced it's truth. But I have also found out some things that may perhaps explain it a little. They love roundabouts in the region I am living in (Veneto), they have huge three laned roundabouts, they have these strange kind of figure 8 roundabouts and they have roundabouts that look like they should have 2 lanes but actually only have one. And all these different types can get a bit confusing. Add to the fact that on top of that, I found out that the first roundabout in the Veneto region was only introduced 3 years ago! And they came in a huge flood and now cover the region. So all of these people who had been driving for years and had never used one before were now encountered by all of these strange new things, but were they educated on them? My guess is not.

Another one is zebra crossings. I couldn't figure out from watching traffic if the cars were supposed to stop for pedestrians at the crossings or not. I asked my family here and they looked perplexed. Well of course you were supposed to stop they said, but they couldn't tell me why people didn't. Then driving a regular route the other day I took notice of the road. On one stretch of busy main street I counted 7 zebra crossings in the space of 1km. I realised what the problem was, this is the case all over, if they are putting zebra crossings on a street they tend to put down A LOT of them. And you kind of get immune to them as bad as that sounds. Zebra crossing's power is in their scarcity.

And finally. Indicators. Drivers here don't use them. I do not have a reason for this so I am guessing it is sheer laziness. Just to freak the locals out, I use mine all the time, I'm a particularly big fan of indicating OUT of a roundabout, just to show some locals what they should be doing.

Hipsters

Everyone loves a good hipster, don't they? There's something in that neatly trimmed beard, ironically printed shirt buttoned all the way up to their chin and tight tight jeans that make you think they must have been born in them that just gives me the warm fuzzies. Well it hasn't caught on over here. Either they completely don't have them or maybe they don't look the same as Australian Hipsters. Which might also explain the dearth of coffee cups... nothing a hipster loves more than a good takeaway coffee, except maybe a good vintage store.

Picnics

I asked very recently what Italians thought of picnics. My answer was that it was pretty much a fad that started and ended in the 60's. On occasion people might eat at a picnic table (which are rarities in themselves but if you go up the mountains there are more) but put down a rug on the grass? No. One excuse that was used was that the ground was too wet, please, they invented rubber backed rugs for a reason. No picnics= no eskies = no backyard cricket stumps. And there we also have the answer as to why cricket does not exist here.

So there we have it. A list of a few things that I am missing this Australia day. I have the hottest 100 on, we are up to #18 and it's getting intense. Happy Australia Day where ever you are in the world and I hope you are using it to think about what you love about Australia!