Oceania

Travel through Oceania by country:

Australia, Indonesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Travel through Oceania by popular city:

Auckland, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Wellington

Travel through Oceania by popular things to do:

Cook Islands, Sydney Opera House

Travel through Oceania with our writers:

In the Corner of the World, Work and Play in Queensland

Word for the Travel Wise (04/22/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Ah, Fiji, land of beautiful tropical paradise, shallow
reefs, clear cool waters and sacred caves. Who wouldn’t want to take a vacation to the South Pacific Island? I’ve got
a friend I’ve been begging for years now to let me tag along the next time she goes to visit family and another mutual
friend who wanted to make me one of his 12 wives, spoil me rotten and stay and play in Fiji all I wanted. For a while I
laughed off his crazy multiple wife chatter thinking I’d be able to zip over on vaca with my gal pal, but these days I’m
wondering if he’s still accepting applications.

Today’s word is a Fijian word used in Fiji:

daulomani – husband

Okay, I wouldn’t marry for a tropical island vacation and don’t act like you’ve never thought of it before, I’m
talking Fiji here. You have to understand where I’m coming from. Perhaps wife number 3 or 7 wouldn’t be so bad. Luckily
I have some time to sort out my thoughts and brush up on the Fijian lang. I just might need it in the event I ever
decide to head out on my own to search for a husband who will want me and only me. How sad does this sound? Anyhow,
let’s get onto the language resources, shall we?

Fiji
Dictionary has about 850 words translating from Fijian-English and vice versa. The author of the site has a small
disclaimer up top to remind those of us seeking methods to learn Fijian tongue online, that theirs may not be the most
accurate and to use at your own risk. Rob Kay’s Fiji Guide
has a pronunciation guide in addition to several useful words and historical background on the Fijian language
including Fijian Hindi. Before clicking into the two above, check out Wiki for other interesting lingo facts.

More on Ugly Americans

by Erik Olsen on

Lots of folks are
atwitter over the release of the "World Citizens
Guide" – which we posted about – that
seeks to help reduce the amount of ugliness Americans export within themselves when they head abroad. Only you can know
xactly what your "AUE" (American Ugliness Export) quotient is, but my guess, esp. if you like fast food and
Hawaiian shirts, is that it’s pretty high.

The guide was underwritten/assembled by the Business for
Diplomatic Action (BDA), a non-profit group funded by big American companies, who are saying the anti-Americanism is
bad for business. It features some 16 etiquette tips on how Americans can help the country by not fulfilling
stereotypes of themselves as brash, loud, annoying, fat, stupid, bossy philistines. Ed Gomez over at SF Gate
examines the subject and finds many of these stereotypes sadly accurate. While, over at the UK Telegraph, Philip Sherwell
probably has the best take on the subject, as he makes the point that it’s not really American tourists who are the
problem, it’s more often the perceptions of American policy…although loud fat Americans don’t help themselves much
either.

So let me put the question out there? Are we fat, loud, bossy, annoying, etc.? Or is it just that
people like to pick on the big guy? Or more, are people in general becoming more like us? I mean, have you ever seen
German travelers? Let’s get the debate started.

 

Word for the Travel Wise (04/20/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Even though I never watched a single
episode of Survivor: Palau, the seasons long reality show
always comes to mind when hearing the country name. (Now, that’s how you know you’ve got a show that works.) While I
lack the time to sit engulfed in primetime television, I’ve got nothing against watching the adventure armchair type
travel/challenge programming and I suppose with each season Survivor has given the hard working mother, under tipped
waitress, and the too-afraid to fly there themselves person the opportunity to see Palau up close. My only question for
all those religious Survivor fans out there is did they teach you any Palauan? If not perhaps it is time to start tuning
into Gadling as well.

Today’s word is a Palauan
word used in Palau:

chellimosk – expert; a
person who has in depth knowledge on his/her trade

Palauan (also spelled Belauan) is spoken by some 15,000 people
in Palau. It is considered one of the two languages of Micronesia and belongs to the Austronesian language family.
Palauan is 64.7% official in all islands except Sonsoral, Tobi and Angaur. Filipino and English are also spoken on the
island. Learning Palauan online may prove a bit difficult, but you can start at this Palau: Airai – Native Place site. The word list found
here covers family members, society and terms relating to geography. A small pronunciation guide is included below the
list as well. Palau Island has a phrase
list, common proverbs, and tons of info on diving and things to do and see when visiting one of Oceania’s most popular
destinations.

Man Eats Frogs and Lizards to Survive

by Erik Olsen on

Talk about your new-fangled diets.
Judging by the photo in this story,
this one seems to be really effective.

Here’s how he did it: Ricky Megee first got himself lost in the
Australian outback, no one is quite sure how or why, and then he ended up surviving out there by eating leeches,
grasshoppers and lizards. Yum. When he was found, the 35-year-old was discovered looking like a "walking
skeleton". Now, lots of questions surround what he was doing out there in the first place, but it seems that he
had set off on a 3,500-mile journey in order to start a new job in a place called Port Hedland. Then it is murky
whether he was drugged or beaten or whatever. The whole thing sounds a bit fishy. But he did say that at one point he
found himself asleep in a ditch, and "what woke me was that there were four dingoes scratching the rocks to try to
get at me."

He was also very enterprising when it came to his food, as he later described to
reporters how he had left frogs on the roof of his makeshift shelter to go "a bit crispy" before he ate them.
Double yum.

Google Zeitgeist

by Erik Olsen on

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in on the Google
Zeitgeist, so I figured I’d see what the world is thinking about and searching for. The list is usually pretty
predictable, but sometimes there are interesting surprises. Last week, which I’ve pasted below, looks to be on the
predictable side with the Bush leak and Katie Couric’s move to the CBS anchor chair of the topmost importance to folks.

1.       masters
2.      katie couric
3. 
    gospel of judas
4.      palm sunday
5.     
narnia
6.      kim mathers
7.      kenny rogers
8. 
    bush leak  
9.      red hot chili peppers
10. 
    passover
11.      kenzie dalton
12.      gene
pitney
13.      eva longoria
14.      meredith vieira
15. 
    spirit airlines

But even more interesting, I think is the international Zeitgeist page, which lets you see the top
terms in different countries. Here is where you get a true feel for the global Zeitgeist. Here, we learn that
Brazilians are interested in Carnaval, the Canadians and the Norwegians love Britney Spears, the Fins love, um, ystävänpäivä, and lots of
countries seem to be into both Paris Hilton and Harry Potter. Seriously, though, isn’t this fascinating?