My Experience at Pageant of The World Australia

On the way to Pageant of the World

Right now I am flying to Sydney, Australia. The time difference is a bit confusing, I’m not exactly sure the duration of the flight but I plan to sleep through at least the last half of it as I cannot be jet lagged for the next two weeks!

It’s still so surreal to me how these opportunities have come to me. Why was I, Elizabeth Tran, so fortunate enough to be able to travel to Australia to compete in an international pageant? Similar to how I felt going to Taiwan, why have I been so blessed to be able to do these incredible things and have these experiences that are so eye-opening.

I still don’t understand why, but I don’t think there is a defined reason to it. But I want to make sure I can do something in return, something good for the world, to give these questions I have better reasoning.

I am so grateful for everyone that has been a part of this journey to get me where I am today. Before I started pageants, I was an insecure awkward lanky tomboy. I never found myself pretty or capable of doing big things with my life. And even now I still don’t feel pretty sometimes, but pageants have given me the confidence to know that those superficial things do not matter. I never EVER would have believed I would be competing in my second international pageant! I can’t wait to share what’s left in store!

Aussie Slang Recap

It’s been ten days since I’ve been to Australia, and throughout my trip I picked up a handful of words Australians say that I’d never hear here in America!

And just as a side note, I was told I had an American accent. People would mock the way I said Hong Kong like “Haaang Kaaang” with a Squidward nasally voice, even when I wasn’t there. It was hysterical and ironic, because I thought everyone else had an accent when it was me all along!

So here are the things Australians say that I think you’d never hear in the states, followed by my own Urban Dictionary definition and my own thoughts on them.

The ones that make (more) sense (than in America)

• Foot path: sidewalk. Both terms are pretty self explanatory.
• Capsicum: bell peppers. I was honestly ashamed I didn’t know the scientific word for bell peppers.
• Aubergine: eggplant. Same feeling as bell peppers.
• Fizzy drink: soda. We should call it fizzy drink too!

I think British people say these too: Makes sense as it was a former British Colony

• Toilet: bathroom or restroom. Could also fall under the things that make sense as we do not usually take a bath or rest in a toilet.
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• Rubbish: garbage. The only thing that could fit my Hong Kong headpiece was my giant Burlington bag. It was mistaken for a garbage bag, and although at the time I was distraught by the meat sauce spilling through my flag (thank god my competition wardrobe was also covered in plastic), I couldn’t help but laugh when the Aussies were worried about the rubbish!
• Lift:elevator or car ride. Even saw the signs in the airport.
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• Trolley: shopping cart. Actually not the cuter version of a bus
• Cinema: movie. Even though we would know that’s a movie, it’s interesting to hear some of the girls say so casually “I fell asleep in the cinema” and following that “You went to the cinema too!?” *as me the awkward American observes their use of words*

Seems to be an Aussie thing

• Uni student: a cuter way of saying college student
• Mate: typically friend, but could also be used ambiguously in an argument. First thing I heard off the plane that made me really feel like I was in Australia. I just didn’t expect to hear people use it even during road rage “Get out of here mate!”
• Chuck it: throw it. I can’t imagine people say that in sports.
• Busting: need to go to the toilet. Notice how I say toilet instead of bathroom
• Thongs: FLIP FLOPS! It deserved the all caps and exclamation mark because I am NOT referring to the underwear.
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• Lemonade: Sprite. But what if you want legitimate lemonade, do you just call it lemonade fizzy drink?
• Aluminium: aluminum. Seriously, what was the point in adding the extra “i” when it makes even more of a tongue twister?
• Cozzie: swimsuit. I can’t wrap my head on why they call it that.

Abbreviations that make no sense to me: I apologize for my ignorance, but I don’t understand why these words came to be the way they became

• Brolly: umbrella. I understand we don’t want to say the full word of anything, but did “brella” or even “brelly” seem to make too much sense?
• Arvo: afternoon. That doesn’t even sound like afternoon. I wish you saw how many of these words are zigzag-underlined red as I type.
• Brekkie: breakfast. It would’ve been okay if it wasn’t spelt like that. It was even on restaurant signs and menus. Both words are merely two syllables, there was no point in changing it!
• Doona: blanket. I guess I can see it coming from duvet, but even then I still don’t understand the spelling.
• Lolli: candy. Like lollipops without the pops.
• Macca’s**: McDonald’s. You know someone’s from Australia if they call McDonald’s “Macca’s.” I heard them say it almost three times a day, whether they needed to go on a Maccas run, only had time to eat Macca’s, or their body looked good thanks to the Macca’s. There’s are much better though, with touch screen orders like Wawa and a McCafe with pastries and coffee like Starbucks.

~”We can even have brekkie in the arvo since Macca’s has it all day mate!”~

Other than these few words, Australia actually has many similarities to the USA, in regards to diversity and pop culture. Despite being halfway around the world, all I ever heard on the radio was American mainstream music and saw at 7 Eleven stands tabloids of American celebrities. I think I was more shocked that I didn’t adjust to much of a culture shock. Sydney reminded me of New York or as my friend Silda suggested, San Francisco, as it’s not so chaotic. There’s so much to do and so many things to see, I hope I can come back in the near future to visit the Great Barrier Reef and cuddle a koala!

**IMPORTANT: Immediately after posting this I was informed by the very talented Aussie dancer Danny that it is actually MACCA’S not Maccers. I apologize for assuming it was spelt like Maccers initially because to me it sounded like everyone was saying Maccers. Honestly, for a few of these words people told me I looked them up on Google to make sure I was spelling it right and no Aussie would point and laugh. Sadly, that was still not the case.

This was a post originally created on my initial blog misselizabethtran.wordpress.com that I transferred over to Lashes and Sashes