At orientation the other day I met a girl who found her housing through this website called Couch Surfing. Basically, people just offer their couch or a room in their house for you to stay at – free of charge. Sounds like a nice idea (sort of) except often times you have no information about the person and don’t meet them until you get there. I was a litttttle skeptical about it but she swore by it. Funny imagining telling my parents (or rather, my mom) that that was how I arranged my housing. Have a feeling she wouldn’t be too thrilled.
Here ketchup is called tomato sauce. Still feels weird asking for tomato sauce, but I am getting used to it. On top of that, it’s pronounced toe-mott-o not toe-mate-o the way I’m used to saying it. I’ve always known the expression, “You say tomato, I say tomato” (Hm … that doesn’t really work when typed, but I’m sure everyone knows it) but I had never actually heard anyone pronounce tomato the other way.
Every now and then the Australian accent slightly sounds like an English accent. When I said this at the pub the other night, my two English friends were “offended” that I thought that and my Australian friend was offended that they were offended. Oops! Next time I’ll keep quiet and ask for some tomato sauce. All comes out in the wash.
Oh also ... I added a tab at the top called pictures which, as you might have guessed has a link for a slideshow of the pictures I've posted so far. Also on the right side as you scroll down are Recent Comments since it sounds like many of you aren't receiving emails when someone replies or adds a comment.
Oh also ... I added a tab at the top called pictures which, as you might have guessed has a link for a slideshow of the pictures I've posted so far. Also on the right side as you scroll down are Recent Comments since it sounds like many of you aren't receiving emails when someone replies or adds a comment.
Well, you sure do know your mom. Your dorm room looks just great--no couch surfing necessary for the guy from New York (whew...). I love the stuff about accents and the Aussies vs. the Brits! Heaps of fun--makes me think of that chapter in Bill Bryson's book, the one that had us laughing hysterically.
ReplyDeleteUmmm my thesis advisor (so random) in college participated in the couch surfing.. she offered her couch to random travelers and had these amazing adventures and experiences to tell about them. They were always respectful travelers and she got to learn about them and take them around to sites in the area.
ReplyDeleteShe says the process of becoming a "couch" is relatively comprehensive so you can "trust" them. She swears by it.. and recommended it to me and my buddy when we road tripped across America. That being said, I am sure mommy would not be too happy :)
I know a couch potato. Me
ReplyDeleteYeah she really swore by it and said that she has never had a bad experience. Apparently, the people who are nice get referrals so you can tell which people seem legitimate through that. It's a cool idea
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