In a little over two weeks I'll have lived in Australia for six years, and in this time I've slowly adjusted and adapted to this country and its customs. In the last week, however, I've sped up this process and made a massive leap towards becoming a true blue Australian - allow me to explain.
In many ways I'm still an American at heart - I favor baseball over cricket, I pay more attention to the political system of my home country than the one that presently governs me, and I drown hot dogs with ketchup and put mustard on pretzels (a custom I've converted many an Australian to). Adding to this, I never dreamed of anyone putting a savoury spread on a piece of toast until my Australian mother introduced me to Vegemite.
I remember trying it as a kid and hating it - it looked like tar and had a taste I couldn't imagine going with anything. My dad vehemently despised the stuff, and would make cracks about the smell whenever my mother used it, which resulted in her relegating its use to when we were out of the house. Because of this, Vegemite and I didn't cross paths for a long time, until I moved to Australia at sixteen.
As soon as I started making friends and hanging out at other people's houses I saw the dreaded Vegemite again, and didn't miss a single opportunity to bash the absolute shit out of the stuff. I've heard the argument that 'you've gotta grow up with the stuff' as an explanation for my dislike of it countless times from countless Australians. My dislike for it became a joke amongst my friends, one of them went so far as to wager that I'd have to eat a spoonfull of the stuff if I lost a bet. Thankfully, I won.
I was walking through the aisles of Woolies picking up and few things last week and went into the spread aisle and passed the Vegemite, then stopped. I noticed the small jars were on sale, and much as I hated it I thought it'd be polite to have one lying around so that visitors didn't have to go without their prized yeast spread. Into the basket it went, and shortly thereafter it had a place in my cupboard.
Then, I had a crazy thought - what if I gave Vegemite a second chance and I actually liked it? After all, my tastes had changed quite a bit since I was a kid - there was a time when I hated Chinese food and shellfish, and as I grew up I was able to recognise the vast amounts of awesome these foods possess. What the hell, I thought, I might as well - onto the toast it went, and then I took a bite.
I am officially a Vegemite convert, not to mention proof that one doesn't have to grow up with it to love it. I also take back all the bad stuff I've ever said about it, and look forward to the rest of life as a now more-Australian Rob.
In unrelated news, Monday is my last day of uni for the semester, and I'm looking forward to being able to come to hook-ups for a change. It's been too long!
In many ways I'm still an American at heart - I favor baseball over cricket, I pay more attention to the political system of my home country than the one that presently governs me, and I drown hot dogs with ketchup and put mustard on pretzels (a custom I've converted many an Australian to). Adding to this, I never dreamed of anyone putting a savoury spread on a piece of toast until my Australian mother introduced me to Vegemite.
I remember trying it as a kid and hating it - it looked like tar and had a taste I couldn't imagine going with anything. My dad vehemently despised the stuff, and would make cracks about the smell whenever my mother used it, which resulted in her relegating its use to when we were out of the house. Because of this, Vegemite and I didn't cross paths for a long time, until I moved to Australia at sixteen.
As soon as I started making friends and hanging out at other people's houses I saw the dreaded Vegemite again, and didn't miss a single opportunity to bash the absolute shit out of the stuff. I've heard the argument that 'you've gotta grow up with the stuff' as an explanation for my dislike of it countless times from countless Australians. My dislike for it became a joke amongst my friends, one of them went so far as to wager that I'd have to eat a spoonfull of the stuff if I lost a bet. Thankfully, I won.
I was walking through the aisles of Woolies picking up and few things last week and went into the spread aisle and passed the Vegemite, then stopped. I noticed the small jars were on sale, and much as I hated it I thought it'd be polite to have one lying around so that visitors didn't have to go without their prized yeast spread. Into the basket it went, and shortly thereafter it had a place in my cupboard.
Then, I had a crazy thought - what if I gave Vegemite a second chance and I actually liked it? After all, my tastes had changed quite a bit since I was a kid - there was a time when I hated Chinese food and shellfish, and as I grew up I was able to recognise the vast amounts of awesome these foods possess. What the hell, I thought, I might as well - onto the toast it went, and then I took a bite.
I am officially a Vegemite convert, not to mention proof that one doesn't have to grow up with it to love it. I also take back all the bad stuff I've ever said about it, and look forward to the rest of life as a now more-Australian Rob.
In unrelated news, Monday is my last day of uni for the semester, and I'm looking forward to being able to come to hook-ups for a change. It's been too long!
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
punchdrunkblake:
May I offer an alternative; Promite. It's not so sharp and there's less salt. Double win.
_ghost:
im glad you gave vegemite a second chance! now you have to try cheese and vegemite grilled on toast. yum! next hook-up we both have to go, i havent been going recently. what an ass.