Posted: 05/02/07

As American as…

Bill O'Connor | contributing columnist
woconnor@smcvt.edu

It isn’t quite culture shock.

Culture shock comes at the beginning. Culture shock is a jolt into the reality of living in a new place with different customs and traditions. It’s a sense of unfamiliarity, coupled with a focus on how unlike home this new world is. It’s going to the store and buying Kraft peanut butter.

It isn’t quite culture shock that my American friends and I are beginning to feel after spending the last three months studying in Australia. It’s something else entirely, and it’s incredibly hard to define.

Let me put it this way, I would pay any amount under the sun for a good, worn in whiffle-ball and a bat.

Yesterday I was horrified to learn that I have dropped from second to fourth place in the pre-season rankings for the summer whiffle-ball league my high school buddies and I have because I have been “out of the country.” (And yes, I am aware of the fact that having preseason rankings and records kept for a fictitious whiffle-ball league indicates some rare form of mental illness that doctors have yet to discover; especially since I’m confident we’ll still be doing this when we’re 40). In addition to prompting a string of angry e-mails, the incident served as a reminder that I couldn’t play whiffle-ball, or for that matter even toss a baseball around, here in Oz.

It’s tiny everyday realizations such as this one that frustrate me about living away from home.

I relish the day that I can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without hearing, “Oh my God, are you actually doing that. I thought that that was just made up,” or “I knew that some people did that, but I thought it was rare and it was only for little kids. You actually eat that huh?”

Scratch that completely. I relish the day I could make a peanut butter and fluff sandwich.

Obviously my American friends and I miss home and certain domestic amenities. We have since we got here. But now it’s a different type of feeling, more annoyed than anything else. And it gets vocalized, like when my friend Sean says, “Jesus Christ, I just want to be able to watch a Suns game.”

It’s been especially tough lately for those of us American students who are sports fans. We’re missing the NBA and NHL playoffs, the start to the 2007 MLB season and this year’s NFL Draft. Big things are happening; Randy Moss coming to New England, the Bulls upsetting the Heat, the Warriors looking to pull an upset of their own, and the red hot Red Sox taking five of six from the tanking Bronx Bombers. And here we are stuck watching the Cricket World Cup. (Australia won for a record third time in a row and I still couldn’t care less. I’ve decided I don’t like them, as far as I’m concerned they’re the Yankees of cricket.)

I rarely watch television at home, unless it’s sports or ESPN, but one of the few shows I enjoy is HBO’s “Entourage.” New episodes started playing a few weeks ago. I know quite a few Americans here who are fans, and let’s just say that none of us are happy about missing out on our weekly dose of Ari, Vince and the boys

It’s frustrating knowing that all of these things are going on back home and we’re missing out.

P-day was this past weekend. It's my fourth favorite holiday of the year, just behind NFL Kickoff Weekend, MLB Opening Day and Christmas. I couldn’t believe I missed it (my attempt at establishing P-day as a holiday here in Australia was unfruitful and disastrous to say the least).

Memorial day is right around the corner and those of us here in Oz will surely be missing the BBQs we attend each year. (How can you not love Memorial Day BBQs, they’re the official start of the summer).

Living here in Bizarro World, where cars drive on the wrong side of the road, football is called ‘footy’ and consists of punting the ball to teammates instead of passing and pizza joints try to copy Domino’s taste rather than New York slice pizzerias’ takes it’s toll. It’s about time for a return to the normal.

Another American study abroad student here put it perfectly the other day.

“I’m not ready to leave for home,” she said, “but I wouldn’t mind a short vacation back into familiarity.”

I don’t think any of us would.