The first time I went to Australia, 18 years ago, a woman who was driving me around told me that I had "left my jumper in her boot." I had absolutely no clue what she was talking about - for those who don't know, I had left my sweater in the trunk of her car. I was reminded many times in the past 11 days with the Aussies how many words we say differently, or words that simply mean nothing to the other's culture. The people I was teaching laughed at how I pronounced the word "leisure" - apparently, they think it should rhyme with "pleasure." They call diapers "nappies", and want to throw something on the "barby."
All of this makes me wonder how the same language morphed and changed in different countries - along with our accents. It's really great fun to see how we miss in communicating to those we think should understand. As I sit in the lounge at the Sydney airport, waiting for my 15 hour flight to Los Angeles, I'm looking forward to returning to a place where people don't think I sound funny, and where I can ask my husband to "pop the trunk" open, and he won't be looking for some kind of boot! Home sweet home is coming soon...

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