A sea change can work wonders for the soul. And a Marine Corps veteran has discovered moving to a new country can be life changing – and really expanded your vocabulary.
Presten Boydstun, 22, had found himself becoming increasingly depressed while in the Marines, struggling with deaths of multiple friends.
Needing to make a change in his life, Presten, who had been in the Marine Corps in San Diego for four years, decided to make the leap and buy a one-way ticket to Australia to instead work on a cattle farm.
‘I had a tough time with some of my buddies passing away,’ Presten explained to Insider.
Presten Boydstun, 22, was in the Marine Corps based in San Diego, but found himself becoming increasingly depressed in his role, struggling with deaths of multiple friends
Presten (pictured) left the Marine Crops honorably in July and arrived in Western Australia on September 1
‘It got kind of sad and went down this path of depression, which was pretty difficult for me.’
According to the publication, a family friend of Presten’s operated a cattle farm in rural Western Australia, and offered him a job working on the farm – which he eagerly accepted.
Presten, who left the Marine Corps honorably in July, arrived in Western Australia on September 1.
Immediately after arriving, he dove straight into work on the property, which was located a few hours outside of Perth, Western Australia’s capital city.
Presten, who is in Australia on a year-long holiday visa, now works with livestock on the cattle farm, documenting his idyllic lifestyle and adventures with his border collie mix, Jess, on TikTok to his 286,000 followers.
Although he loves his job and life in the rural town, Presten has noticed some stark cultural differences between Australia and the United States – admitting grasping the slang used has been an eye-opening experience.
‘I wrote down a bunch of sayings that I have heard so far or have been brought to my attention from Australian people,’ he explained in one clip with 2.3 million views.
He then went on pull out a notebook, in which he’d listed the new words he’s learned since arriving Down Under.
Presten now works with livestock on the farm, documenting his idyllic lifestyle and adventures with his border collie mix, Jess, on TikTok to his 286,000 followers
Although he loves his job and life in the rural town, Presten has noticed some stark cultural differences between Australia and the United States
The Marine-turned-farmer admitted grasping the slang used has been an eye-opening experience
‘I bet there are heaps more to learn but enjoy,’ he captioned the clip.
Some of the new words in his extensive list included ‘oi’ – for hi, or getting someone’s attention, ‘na-yeah’ is yes, ‘na’ is no, and ‘Eskies’ – which is the collective term for coolers.
Other words he spoke about were ‘avo’ (avocado), ‘arvo’ (afternoon) and ‘ute’ (short for utility truck – known in the U.S. as a pickup truck).
Presten added ‘dodgy’ meant a bit rough or sketchy, ‘bottle-o’ was a liquor store, ‘lappy’ was a laptop, ‘fanging’ was speeding or fast, a ‘hoon’ was someone who drove recklessly, if you’re ‘buggered’ you’re tired, ‘lollies’ is candy, ‘dart or ciggy’ is cigarette and ‘telly’ is television.
He went to include some other sayings to the list as well, such as ‘ken oath,’ which means ‘heck yeah,’ and ‘we’re not here to [f***] spiders’ is ‘we’re not here to mess around,’ ‘far out’ which was crazy, ‘flat out,’ is busy.
Despite the different vernacular, Presten loves his new life and learning some new slang.
Presten’s Aussie Slang
Oi: Hello
Yeah Na: Yes
Na: No
Fanging: Speeding
Hoon: Recklessly driving
Eski: Cooler
Avo: Avocado
Sketchy: Rough or dodgy
Buggered: Exhausted
Dart or ciggy: Cigarette
Far Out: Crazy
Lollies: Candy
Telly: Television
Ken oath: Heck yeah
Ute: Pickup truck
Dodgy: Rough or sketchy
Arvo: Afternoon
Not here to f*** spiders: We’re not here to mess around
Thousands of people commented on Presten’s TikTok about slang words in Australia
‘Really cool,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘Absolutely love it out here.’
TikTok users – mostly Australian – loved the list, with thousands of them commenting on post.
‘As an Aussie I really didn’t realize how many “sayings” we have till you point them out in a huge list like that,’ one laughed.
‘This is the best list of our Aussie sayings ever compiled!!’ a second exclaimed.
‘Fellow American in Aus. You will need about 50 more of those notebooks… I still hear something new at least once a week even after 9 years,’ another expat joked.
Other than learning some new words, Presten said he also had to adjust to driving on the other side of the road and some of the Australian foods, like Vegemite.
He’s documented himself drinking Milo and trying a Tim Tam slam, which involves biting the end of the iconic chocolate cookie and drinking a (usually) hot drink through it.
Presten has even adopted Vegemite, which despite being quite a divisive spread, he learned to love.
‘It’s weird at first, but then it changes your life,’ he quipped.
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