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Flying north for winter
I was on my way back to the office from lunch, and there was a guy selling all manner of stuff. Curiosity got the better of me, so I stopped and bought a couple of little things. Turns out that he's from Australia. "Really?" I said. "Where?" "Somewhere between Melbourne and Sydney." "Serious? I'm from Melbourne." "You're kidding?" said he. "Where in Melbourne?" That's a complicated question for me — I'd lived in various places in the South-Eastern suburbs. Finally, I said, "Near Caulfield" because it was easier than trying to remember the fricking long name of the last place I'd stayed in Melbourne. Then he asked me about the Caulfield races which I'd never been to. "Did I give you your change?" he suddenly asked. "I'm so absent-minded today. Too much beer." I laughed. And he went on to say, grinning, "Yeah they think we drink beer all the time, accounts for the absent-mindedness." Chuckling, I asked, "How many Foster's jokes have you had?" He'd just about flipped. "We don't even drink Foster's! Do you tell them that?" By this time, I was seriously grinning from ear to ear. "And we don't know who Steve Irwin is, and he's a hero here!" "Nah, we just ignore his existence," I said. "Where are you from, between Melbourne and Sydney?" "Oh yeah, that's right, I never told you. People don't usually know Australia, so I sometimes say I'm from Melbourne. Works until you get caught out by someone from Melbourne." He poked me in the shoulder. "Albury-Woodonga. Know it?" "Yeah. Got a friend who drives three hours and a half or so up that way to see his girlfriend every other weekend." Never mind that I haven't spoken to said friend for several years. He showed me some photos, having been around Canada for four months now, but I had to leave, work was calling ... I only had Foster's once, ever. It was in Paris, just before the blogmeet, partly for the humour value, and partly because I never actually tasted it, though I guessed it might not be too dissimilar to the Carlton Coldie. Well, that's probably my last ever Foster's — it's really not particularly good. Posted by sniffles at October 08, 2003 02:03 PM