The Little Things and the Big M

People ask me the funniest little things about Australia. I invariably get asked about the food we eat (“What is the main food in your country?” – that is a difficult question to answer), the flora and fauna and the transport situation. Fair enough, but the other day, someone asked me, “Do you have potatoes in Australia?”. It probably wouldn’t have been such a strange question if it had been asked by a child, but the fact that it came from a big, tall caricature-looking man with a big nose and a big moustache who is a local political leader, it seemed odd to me. Also, one of my co-workers asked me if we had TREES in Australia the other day! Now, that’s just silly.

I remember when I first arrived here in Naora, I was having one of my laborious conversations with Mr Hussain. We were talking about the food in Australia and we eventually got onto the topic of the fast food industry. Mr Hussain said that fast food was becoming very popular in Dhaka. I made a comment about McDonalds and started telling him about the movie “Supersize Me”. I was met with a confused expression. “What is McDonalds?” he asked. WHAT IS McDONALDS!?! The fact that he is the first person in the world who I've met who hasn't heard about McDonalds worried me and gave me hope at the same time. It worried me, because I've been alive for 3 decades and he is the first person I've met in the world who hasn't heard about McDonalds. It gave me hope because it means McDonalds hasn't completely taken over the world. Yet. I wonder how long it will take before there is a McDonalds here. There is a Pizza Hut, so I guess it won’t be long.