When American and Aussie English don't match

I may have spurred an HR issue today over a misunderstanding.

The woman I share my office with, who I’ve become good friends with, casually leaned over to me and asked, “do you have a rubber?”

I turned beat red – I didn’t know she was asking for an eraser!

Hobnobbing with Parliament

A large part of what Ogilvy PR does in Sydney is public affairs and lobbying work, so it wasn't a huge surprise yesterday when I was was told the company had bought a table at dinner for a former Premier of New South Wales (similar to our state governors... with a few exceptions). Several of our clients were coming and I was asked to attend the event, which I happily did.

What followed was an insight into Australian politics, which seemed as relaxed and informal as Australian culture. Several prominent members of the Federal Government were in attendance, such as Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson, Malcolm Turnbull, and local opposition leader Barry O'Farrell. I was surprised at how accessible the members of Parliament were. These are people featured on TV every day. No secret service, no political handlers, they just moved through the crowd on their own. I even got the chance to speak with Dr. Nelson personally when we passed one another on the way to the restroom.

Even more surprising was how down to earth they were. I was approached by a members of the state opposition saying, "are you Kevin? We hear you just moved here from New York." It seemed so far from U.S. politics.

After meeting these people, I feel as though I can start speeding without any worry... Ok, maybe not.

I still call Australia home - part 2

For those interested, I did a little research on the commercial, and received the info below from Qantas:

"In August 2004, we launched our new television commercial, I Still Call Australia Home. The sequel to the 2000 television commercial features children from The National Boys Choir and The Australian Girls Choir singing the airline's signature song, Peter Allen's 'I Still Call Australia Home', against the backdrop of some of the world's most spectacular landmarks

Filming took place in every state and territory in Australia, from Cradle Mountain in Tasmania to Jabiru in the Northern Territory. The finale, shot at Whitehaven Beach in Queensland, features 500 children in the shape of the Qantas kangaroo. Nearly half of these children came from local schools.

A number of amazing international destinations were also visited from Queenstown in New Zealand to the Temple of Poseidon in Greece, and from Shoro at the Ninnaji Temple in Kyoto, Japan to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, USA.

Facts about filming

• It took five months to film, from late October 2003 until early March 2004.
• 169,561 kilometres travelled. That's 4.25 times around the globe!
• 112,370 feet or 280 rolls of film were used
• 656 production crew from 9 countries
• 245 hours of filming took place"

I still call Australia home

I saw this commercial the other night when I went to the St. George Open Air Theater (which was brilliant -- more on that soon) and I keep thinking about it. The advertising team at Qantas definitely earned their money for this one (perhaps it was Ogilvy...).



I say that because the commercial works on so many levels. It reinforces Qantas' commitment to Australia (important right now with competition from budget carriers) though key images of Australia, Australian (including indigenous) children, the held, focused shots on traditional Australian aboriginal people, and of course, don't forget the song.

The images they select also reinforce Qantas' destination cities to the viewer, both in Australia (I saw everything from Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the deserts and beaches) and abroad (New York, Rome, London, Paris, Athens, Singapore, Hong Kong, The Greek Islands, etc). And every time they came back to the chorus ("I still call Australia home") they cut back to their homeland, suggesting that Qantas is always there to carry you home. Brilliant.

And of course, the song is pretty catchy too. That always helps.

Kev's faux pas

Apparently I didn't read enough of the US to Australian English dictionary I included last night. As a result, I sent our Consultant* into a 20 minute fit of laughter this afternoon when I told her about how much I love Cheez Doodles.

Apparently in Australia they're called twists... because "doodle" in Australian English is slang for penis.

You can say I was a wee bit embarrassed when they told me.

*For those in the U.S. in public relations, Consultant = Assistant Account Executive

English to English dictionary

I've knew even before I arrived that the Aussies use a different dialect of English than we do in New York. Usually it's only a word here or there that differs, but this afternoon I received an e-mail with the following phrase in it:

"I'm flat chat this arvo. Can we do tomorrow morning?"

And with that, I actually had to Google an Australian to U.S. English dictionary. Thank God for the Internet.

(For those left wondering like I was, "flat chat" means "I'm crunching/crashing/moving quickly on something" and "arvo" is slang for afternoon).