Surprising as it may be, I was once a child, but one who happened to grow up in a multilingual environment but dominated by English. That I actually ended up having a career using my languages from childhood did not come easily. I had to overcome some major hurdles 🚧 in the form of widely-accepted […]
Are you a fan of the cult TV comedy show The Office?🕺And which version: the UK one 🇬🇧? The US one 🇺🇸? The French one 🇫🇷? The Indian one 🇮🇳 or any of the other 13 variants made? 📣 News in is that an Australian 🇦🇺 version of The Office will be hitting our screens […]
🎉 50 years ago today, the Adelaide Festival Centre, the premier performing and visual arts venue and precinct in Adelaide, Australia, opened. The centre to this day remains one of the symbols of Adelaide. 🇦🇺 🎭 I know what some of you are thinking… it looks like a boxy version of that more famous Australian […]
Did you know that Tina Turner has been one of the biggest contributors to Australian culture? 🦘 Honestly, her impact has been huge! Here’s how… Go to any Australian wedding 💍 or social event 🎉 and you’re bound to hear the rock guitars 🎸 that herald Tina Turner’s 1973 hit Nutbush City Limits. The long […]
Time to get out the sequins and huge props. The world’s most watched non-sports TV show is on, the Eurovision Song Contest 🎤. Tonight is the second semi-final, with 16 acts from Europe… and Australia. But wait! 🪃 Australia is nowhere near Europe. How come it’s at Eurovision? 📺 Well, for one, it’s massively popular […]
Last Saturday Australian 🇦🇺 🎭 comedy legend Barry Humphries passed away aged 89. You might know Humphries better as Dame Edna Everage 👓🌺, the vicious-tongued housewife-turn-international gigastar from the Melbourne suburb of Moonee Ponds (yes, such a place does exist). What is less acknowledged is that as one of Australia’s most widely known cultural exports, […]
Bunnies are considered cute and loveable… except in Australia 🇦🇺, where they’re a major scourge🤬. Famous Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby (check out her special Nanette on Netflix) even makes mention of this, to much comic effect, in her latest show Body of Work. After humans, rabbits have been the most catastrophic species introduced in Australia, […]
Have you unwittingly done a hand gesture that meant something completely different in another country? Here’s a true story… During a state visit to #Australia in 1992, US President George Bush Senior was confronted by protesting sugar industry workers angry at the US dumping cheap, subsidised sugar in Australia’s traditional markets. How did Bush greet […]
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts today ☪️ For the past few years there has been debate in some countries over what to actually call the month. In Bulgaria, where over 10% of the population is Muslim, online forums have been going off about whether to call it ‘Ramazan’, the traditional Balkan way (originally […]
💪🏼 Calisthenics (US English) or Callisthenics (UK English), one the biggest crazes in fitness worldwide, is a form of strength training using bodyweight exercises and minimal equipment… except in Australia, where it means something rather different. Do a search for “calisthenics” in Australia and what you’ll get are loads of images of young girls dressed […]
