August1

The shortness , Rs chopped out , lips unopened,’A’sounding like ‘u’ ,words cut in half but meaning the same thing . Yep it’s the unmistakable marker attached to the Australian accent . The verbal trademark that separates us from the locals is also the thing that acts like a mating call to fellow Aussies. The antenna is finely tuned to tracking the Aussie accent . The Aussie Dragons footy on Sunday was an overload , actually made me laugh . All those nicknames . Jabba , chook , and then the surnames with a ‘y’and ‘o’attached;Jonesy , Smithy , Jacko and Thomo.Your removed from all those things you’ve always known and to hear it in chorus on Sunday was hilarious. The special love that you hold for your own lingo runs deep . You hang onto it like a badge of honour , at least I do . The kids are quickly moulding their speak to the Calfornian way . Emma reckons I’m putting on the accent even stronger but she’s working all day with yanks and I probably have gone on the defensive .Still you walk the streets and it’s unmistakable. “Darl if you stretch your head back and keep ya back straight ya won’t get a stiff neck” …. Who said that ? I look around the crowd and ask Emma, ‘did you hear that ?Sure enough we track the voice down to a woman in the crowded Strand . Previously we’d have introduced ourselves but not this time . It’s sinking in , we’ve been here long enough to hesitate and stop , we let it go . Can’t go accosting every Aussie you see . Still , Emma and I look at each other without saying anything . Fuck it , we both desperately wanted to introduce ourselves to a perfect stranger . On the way back to the apartment there it is again . “Boys come and check this out”,we spin our heads back and look down the street and there they are ,a group of fit strong looking young hipster dudes all dressed in light pastels , with designer beards all gearing up to hit the town . Emma and I are almost walking backwards staring them out from 40m . Oh , shit can’t I yell out ‘Aussie Aussie’. No . I promised myself I would never yell that out .Geezuz I really feel an affection for these guys and I know that they’re going to get plenty of that special affection tonight . Lucky fuckers.Charismatic is how I’d describe it, not in Australia but over here it is magnetic.It’s been a few weeks submersing into Californian life , the isolation becomes the normal , but then a weekend comes along where that familiar twang pops out from the crowd . It’s like , ‘yeah I know that sound . It’s  the only thing that truly is our trademark . It separates us from the crowd and that little bit of connection chimes like a homing beacon . No , I’m not changing my speak regardless of Tex’s embarrassment or Emma telling me they don’t understand. Fuckm , I speak strayan so listen carefully.