Barbie: An Intro To Australian Culture

I went to my first Australian BBQ party today. It’s at Jik’s Toast Master friend in Sydney.

We were two hours late, but we brought a gorgeous cake. Ian, the host, handed me a large glass of red wine and introduced us to people’s mismatch. His niece, Asian kids without their parents, Japanese, Indians, and Santa Claus.

At first, I felt a little out of place. I almost regretted saying yes to this in an effort to try new things, but the internal tension melted once I started eating. The meal was cold meat, shish kebab, and what’s left of the salad. It wasn’t what I had in mind about Australian BBQ, but we were late again. We were the only ones who started filling our plates while others were devouring the desserts.

By the second plate, I was already at ease. Making conversation, dashing compliments, and judging people.

Not long after, tea and coffee were served, and the conversations flowed. Now, it felt like an Australian BBQ, and I kind of liked it, except for talking to one girl who was full of herself. I blocked her voice completely when she said that green-eyed people are evil.

After a while, we left our Australian BBQ with another Toast Master friend of Jik. He was supposed to show us the way to the coffee shop nearby as we wanted to do some light reading.

I just bought the book titled YOU. It’s a psychological thriller from the stalker’s perspective. I was three pages in and completely hooked. I kept thinking about the book the whole weekend whenever Jik asked what I wanted to do during this trip. Hence the light reading.

But instead of showing us the way, he joined us at the cafe to read his book as well. When he ordered green tea, he earned my respect. Our conversation flew; it grew to be more engaging and fun. It was 4 PM when we left Ian’s Australia BBQ party, and we left the coffee shop at around 7 PM to have Vietnamese dinner right across the road. 

Cold weather made my heart grow fonder of pho, something I actively hated in Singapore. We all ordered the same bowls of pho. It came. I put the whole plate of cut chilli into it and started slurping. Thirty minutes later, our pho was done, but not our conversations. We continued the discussion with toxic friends, Facebook, and whatnot.

At 11 PM, we parted ways.

Jik and I walked back home and continued our conversations well past our bedtime. All in all, I would say the Australian BBQ experience was a success.

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