New Favorite Aussie Phrases

A client gave me a ride from the training site back to my hotel. On the way, she suggested I might want to drive up the beautiful south coast and do some sticky baking. I thought that sounded delicious. I was disappointed to learn that sticky baking has nothing to do with cooking a dessert. It means to poke around and explore.

At my next seminar I shared how charmed I was by my new Aussie word. That’s when I was taught that it’s not sticky baking, it’s sticky beaking. Now I can imagine a long beaked bird poking around in the sand the way a tourist might amble through a new town.

In order to connect with my Aussie audience, I show a photo of me at the zoo appreciating Australian wildlife. “This was my first experience cuddling a wallaby,” I told them. “That’s a wombat!” came a voice from the back. The group got a giggle out of that: she can’t tell the difference between a wombat and a wallaby!

The next phrase I enjoy is how Aussies describe a situation that has fallen apart:

“Oh, the whole thing’s gone pear shaped.”

I find pears a bit grainy myself but they certainly don’t offend me enough to give them such a bad name.  And so with a sigh of resignation, I must acknowledge that all nationalities have their prejudices.

The poor, maligned pear.

From Brisbane to Adelaide (with Four Cities In Between)

It was the Sunday before my biggest work week. In five days I would travel and work in Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart, Tasmania. I planned for my day to be as relaxing as possible. By the afternoon, I was coming down with something. My throat hurt, and my body was tired. I faced the week with trepidation (along with zinc, vitamin C, orange juice and prayer).

Despite that, there were wonderful highlights in the week. I met two Aussie colleagues I had been corresponding with. They came to my seminars to get tips from me. I was honored to be looked to as an expert. And it was so much fun to talk shop. Geoff, the fellow who was assigned to be my helper for two seminars noticed that I was clanging a pen to a water glass to signal the end of an exercise. He bought me the perfect practical souvenir – a kangaroo bell!

One evening a driver was assigned to take me from Newcastle to Sydney. I felt like a rock star. Newcastle is known as a coal mining, industrial town. Let me tell you a secret the locals know: it’s a hidden gem. There is such beauty and charm there. The driver was full of incredible stories. For instance, on the coast there is a shark issue. So there are special pools along the shore filled with sea water that are safe for swimmers to enjoy. Aussies like a good practical joke. Every once in a long while, a baby shark would be wrangled and anonymously inserted into one of the pools. Imagine the surprise of a morning lap swimmer when he sees the fin.

By the week’s end, I was flown to Adelaide. I usually stay in the same hotel where my seminar will be. Because Adelaide had a huge car racing event that weekend, there was extremely limited occupancy. My alternative hotel was actually a vacation village just steps from the beach. I was delighted. The Adelaide Shores Holiday Village touted an amenity called a “jump pillow.” I had to find out what that was. Here is a jump pillow.

 

Here is what you do with it.

 

Here are the rascals with whom I played a spontaneous game of jump pillow tag. (Aussies children call it “chase”).

I jumped, rented a bike, napped on the beach, and got a funny shaped sunburn; all activities that any respectable tourist might do. The nature and fresh air did me good. I was ready for my final three seminars of the tour.

Response to “Radio Silence”

 

I knew my March “One Minute Note” about abstaining from watching the news would be controversial. I received some very thoughtful responses. Here are two for you to chew on: 

“I’ve been reading the newspaper and listening to KPFK, rather than watching the suckling tube, and the effect on me is interesting.  Because I am now close to forty and understand a little bit about human psychology and the way the world actually works, none of the gloom bothers me.  It’s like the world has caught a cold and needs to run a fever for a while.  It’s actually very healthy. 

Just a different perspective, I guess.  Some medicate their way through a cold, trying to trudge onward as if they were healthy, some panic and run to a doctor for help, and others let the fever run and take some time to let nature take its course.  The latter strikes me as wiser, but… different strokes.”

 

                                          David Abramson – Writer, Director, Film Editor 

 

“I view the news in a different way.  I’m a news junky, always tuning in to CNN or MSNBC or devouring the latest news in the LA Times or online.  Although it is filled with depressing items and many demagogues trying to capitalize, I find the humanity in the news fascinating.  We see ordinary people like you and I suddenly swept up in some extraordinary event and then we get to see what kind of human being they really are – hero/coward, liar/trustworthy, admirable/despicable.  The news is really about us and what we make of the world we are in.  So I watch with fascination and I learn from the mistakes and successes of others.  This way, if I am ever in the news, maybe I will come out a hero and not a goat.”

                                         Don Ford – President, Training Education Management, LLC

 

 

 

 

 

Tranquil Beauty and Cute Wombats

For the month of March, I will be giving seminars in Australia. I have an intense schedule; it begins easily…

At the Sydney airport, I needed to take a shuttle from the international to domestic terminal. Once on line I realized it costs $5.50 and I hadn’t yet exchanged my money. The sweet ladies behind me saw my predicament and without a thought gave me cash to get on. I accepted their hospitality with much gratitude. What a nice start to my trip.

I took a puddle jumper to Bateman’s Bay on the Southern coast. This was my first airport landing where children biked up to a chain linked fence to see who had arrived. The travel gods have smiled upon me. I’m staying in a villa.

Steps away from my door is a muddy, sandy area. In a country famous for crocs, I’m not naïve enough to walk on a beach without knowing it’s safe. The wooden stairs leading down was a clue. And then I saw the volleyball net not far away. A few careful steps onto the sand and my eyes closed in on a moving pattern in front of me. Crabs, thousands of them. There were so many that I could hear them walking.  As I made my way, I couldn’t help but be grateful that their constant migration was away from me. If they all came toward me, it would be the stuff of a horror film.

On my acclimation day, I took a walk to Bird Land – the zoo. That’s were I reconnected with my maternal instinct. Take a look at this baby wombat.

So cute!

Later, I went into a large wooded area where tame kangaroos hang out. It was me and twenty roos for as long as I chose to pet. This place is zoo nirvana.

March One Minute Note

“The world has taken a nightmare pill.”

                                                                Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith

 

To listen to the news, we’re all in a pretty sorry state. That’s why I boldly report to you that I do not watch the news. Nor do I read the papers. My good spirits are not just precious to me they are vital to my survival. In order to have the courage to build my business, I need to protect my thoughts like a mother protects a kid who’s very allergic to peanut butter.

 

The nightmare pill Dr. Beckwith speaks of is a placebo. But a placebo can be as potent as pure cyanide or as benign as a tic tac.

 

Join me in this radio silence – where we can listen for signals from within.