An Ode to Oz

Dear Australia,

I want to thank you for welcoming me into your vast high-wage economy with open arms, giving me not just one but two awesome accents to add to my repertoire, tanning and wrinkling my skin with your relentless sun, and teaching me perhaps one of the most important lessons of my life: the meaning of bogan.

Bogan is not a kind word, and it's used to describe a certain group of people who look like they belong on Jersey Shore but in fact are usually Australian.

They frequently wear short acid washed jean shorts and singlets (also known as tank tops) in ways that boggle the American sense of style.

Bogans love their mullet, whether its a baby mullet like this young bogan's...

...Or the most extreme mullet this side of 1987. Bogans are all about accessorizing as well, take this huge duffel bag for instance.

 Or this high fashion fanny pack/gold jewellery/cheer-leading shoe/rolled up capri combination.

Fitness is something that I have in common with many bogans, though they tend to spend more time hitting the heavy weights and protein powder than I do. Needless to say, I had many a close encounter with bogans in the weight room.

             

Bogans need to be seen from  miles away by fellow bogans, as they are becoming endangered with changing styles, so they wear high viz (or flouro) at a higher rate than considered healthy in the general population.

 When dressing in formal wear, bogans opt for the skinny leg suit for men and the stilt-like flouro heel and dangerously tight dress for women.

Bogans are a progressive bunch and like to gender bend, like this hen that I met at the races, and will go to any length to show their ample collection of tattoos.

As with any important icon, bogans have their vehicle of choice. Utes like this are frequently seen racing around the streets of Brisbane burning rubber and damaging the hearing of anyone within one block. Again, flouro colors are preferable even in cars.

A bogan's second choice of transportation is the ute with kangaroo guard, because large kangaroos are rampant in urban Australia.

Reflecting back on my time in Australia, this lesson is something I will take with me wherever I go, whatever I do in life and has really helped me understand why they say travel is the best education. Thank you, Australia, for educating this simple Yank and opening my eyes to a world heretofore unknown in the northern hemisphere. And thank you, Australia, for giving me the inspiration and opportunity to create this blog that has been such fun to share with my family and friends. Signing off,

Eve