You know you’re a Canberran when

Posted on 23 June, 2015

There’s an episode of How I Met Your Mother where Robyn, a former Canadian, says she can now call herself a New Yorker because she’s been living there for years. Her friends beg to differ – they argue she can’t officially call herself a New Yorker until she’s stolen a cab off someone else, crushed a cockroach with her bare hands, cried on a subway and spotted Woody Allen. So we tasked our writers to come up with Canberra’s own version of those moments when you can truly call yourself a Canberran. We had so many responses, this may have to be a series, but for now here’s our top 12…

1

“You know how to pronounce Manuka (Mah-na-ka), Monaro (Mon-aero) and Canberra correctly (Can-bra).” – Michelle Brotohusodo and Roslyn Hull

2

“You live Northside and meet someone who lives Southside, and despair that you are never going to be friends because of the distance.” – Martina Taliano

3

“The idea of catching a bus from Tuggeranong to Crace gives you heart palpitations.” – Nip Wijewickrema

4

“Spotting the Prime Minister on his morning run is no big deal, but the opening of a new cafe or restaurant is the BEST NEWS EVER.” – Laura Edwards

5

“You find The Roundabout Crew’s video “Shit nobody says in Canberra” extremely relatable.” – Hayley O’Neill

6

“You still get way too excited that we finally have the chance to attend our own fashion week.” – Martina Taliano

7

“It’s the end of the world if you’re sitting in traffic and not moving for longer than three minutes.” – Laura Edwards

8

“You can hold a conversation almost completely made up of acronyms (DFAT, ATO, etc) and it feels completely normal.” – Michelle Brotohusodo

9

“You can’t get over the novelty of FREE plastic bags when you cross the border to NSW.” – Natassja Hoogstad Hay

10

“You only go shopping in Civic on Sundays because it’s $2 all day parking – and the cost of parking on other days could buy you lunch or a t-shirt.” – Martina Taliano

11

“You come across kangaroos while walking the dog, and your dog is so used to them he completely ignores them.” – Wendy Johnson 

12

“You get to a point during winter where you’re perfectly okay going outside wearing a jacket that looks like a sleeping bag and snow boots.” – Michelle Brotohusodo

Any more to add? Leave them in the comments below. 

GIF images sourced from Giphy.com. Feature image of The Skywhale courtesy of Patricia Piccinni.