Alan-Joshua Carrasco, of Durham, North Carolina, and Nick Bariesheff, of Canberra, Australia, share what they've learned while living with someone from a different country.
Transcript
Liz Pope: Hey everyone, it's Liz Pope. I'm here with another episode of AppX. I have Nick Bariesheff and Alan-Joshua Carrasco. We're here talking about international roommates. Freshman year, you get paired with a roommate, you don't know who it's gonna be. Sometimes it's someone from Australia, like this case. Nick, go ahead and tell everyone about yourself.
Nick Bariesheff: Hey, guys. My name's Nick. I'm from Canberra, Australia. Canberra's the capital of Australia. But I come from Melbourne, but now living in Canberra. I'm studying biomedical science, currently a third-year, which I think you guys return as juniors. That's the gist of it, really.
Liz Pope: Dope. And Alan-Joshua.
Alan-Joshua: I'm Alan-Joshua. I'm from Durham, North Carolina. I'm a freshman studying political science.
Liz Pope: Amazing. Also from Durham. Love it, represent. Okay, so where do you guys live right now?
Alan-Joshua: The LLC.
Liz Pope: The LLC. What does that stand for?
Alan-Joshua: Living Learning Center.
Nick Bariesheff: You live, you learn.
Liz Pope: You live and you learn — in a center. What kind of people live there?
Alan-Joshua: Wataugans and A.C.E.S. Wataugans are a special RLC that create community and do all sorts of events together, and A.C.E.S. are future educators; they're also in two-year program.
Liz Pope: Cool. So, an RLC is a Residential Learning Community, and A.C.E.S. stands for ... I don't know.
Nick Bariesheff: Too many acronyms.
Liz Pope: Okay, we'll throw it in. A.C.E.S. is education-based. Yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: Okay, cool. How do you guys like it?
Nick Bariesheff: I love it. It's good. The only bad thing that I don't like about it is the toilet is too loud.
Alan-Joshua: That's merely our room, really.
Nick Bariesheff: It wakes you up in the middle of the night, it's that loud. And it's just our room. I've been to other people's rooms, and theirs flushes normally. Ours is like, “bsshhh.”
Liz Pope: Maybe you should put in a maintenance request or something.
Nick Bariesheff: I think so.
Alan-Joshua: We try.
Liz Pope: Oh, you tried. Well, alright. I know that LLC is up above the SRC ... so many acronyms so far ... which is the Student Rec Center. How do you guys enjoy the commute to class? What is that like? Is it worth it?
Alan-Joshua: It's worth it, at least for me. It's definitely a bit of a walk, but, like, we have a bunch of empty rooms and, like, other rooms that we can use, which are just like the music room, the computer lab, art room, library.
Liz Pope: That's cool. So, you might not have to walk all the way to the library, you can just stay in your dorm.
Nick Bariesheff: Most of my classes are, like, far away; Convocation, Walker Hall's right there, but Belk Library, but I feel like I'm gonna have calves of steel by the end of the semester.
Liz Pope: Oh, definitely, yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: And going to the SRC is pretty good. Going to the gym? It's fun.
Liz Pope: It's super close. So where you're from, is it generally flat? Kind of different?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, generally, yeah.
Liz Pope: Yeah, so this is a change of pace.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, and campus in Australia is like a quarter of the size of App State, and this is considered a small campus, apparently.
Liz Pope: Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: What school do you go to in Australia, just to ...
Nick Bariesheff: I go to the University of Canberra.
Liz Pope: OK, cool. Just to have that in there. So, how has adjusting to dorm life been?
Nick Bariesheff: It's definitely interesting. Like, loud noises.
Liz Pope: Yeah, communal bathrooms.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah. Well, we share a bathroom with four people, but it's apparently really good.
Liz Pope: Oh, that's good. That's a lot better than the hall style.
Nick Bariesheff: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Alan-Joshua: Yeah.
Liz Pope: I was sharing a bathroom with like 20 girls, I think, so not ideal.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: How'd you guys get matched up? How did that work out?
Nick Bariesheff: I don't know, I just applied and then got paired with him.
Liz Pope: Yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: I've got [inaudible 00:03:31] [crosstalk 00:03:31]
Alan-Joshua: Yeah, I really don't know either. Last semester I also had an international roommate, and don't know how that happened. It just did.
Liz Pope: It just kept happening. You said, you were saying earlier that you have been roommates with people from a bunch of different areas.
Alan-Joshua: Yeah, my last roommate was from Spain, and my suitemate was from Japan.
Liz Pope: Dang. That's crazy. So that's by chance? That's not on purpose?
Alan-Joshua: Yeah, I talked to my other suitemate that's from Asheville, and had the same thing to him, so yeah, we just got lucky.
Liz Pope: That's so funny. And then you're involved with INTAPP, you were telling me earlier.
Alan-Joshua: Yeah.
Liz Pope: So, that's probably really helpful, as far as being able to help international roommates. You already kind of have a feel for what it's like.
Alan-Joshua: Yeah.
Liz Pope: Yeah. OK, that's awesome.
Alan-Joshua: INTAPP stands for International Appalachian, and it's a club that is organized to like help all the international students, like, make them feel safe and happy on campus during their stay here.
Liz Pope: Super important. How has it helped you? Have you been involved?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, it's pretty good. They picked us up from the airport, that was fun. That's where I first met Alan-Joshua. He was a bit more awkward then, but now he's better. They've been very helpful, had a lot of events that we've gone to. They had the international meet and greet the other day that was fun.
Liz Pope: That's cool.
Nick Bariesheff: I'm enjoying my time here.
Liz Pope: Good. So when did you get here? How long have you been in America?
Nick Bariesheff: January 9th.
Liz Pope: OK. So, over three months. Almost four months.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, I know. I'm nearly gone.
Liz Pope: I know, when do you leave?
Nick Bariesheff: May 11 ... Well, I leave App May 11, and I leave America June 1st.
Liz Pope: Wow.
Nick Bariesheff: I know.
Liz Pope: That's crazy. Are you sad?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, I wanna stay another semester, but —
Liz Pope: Is it flying by?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, definitely.
Liz Pope: That's insane. So, have you guys had any miscommunications so far, as far as adjusting to America and trying to explain certain things about American culture?
Nick Bariesheff: There was a bit of a confusion when I said I forgot my thongs. Alan-Joshua was like, "What? You wear thongs?" Yeah, that was a bit confusing.
Liz Pope: Flip-flops?
Nick Bariesheff: Flip-flops, yeah.
Alan-Joshua: Yeah, that kind of lingo is something you gotta get used to.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: Yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: He's listened to me Skype my family back in Australia, and he just doesn't understand what we're saying.
Liz Pope: Do you find your accent becomes thicker when you're talking to your family, or has it changed at all?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, I feel like it becomes thicker when I'm talking to the other Australians that are staying here. When I give presentations, for some reason, I get a bit more Australian. I don't know why.
Liz Pope: It's like, a little bit of nerves. you're like, "OK."
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, I don't know.
Liz Pope: "Back to what I know."
Nick Bariesheff: It just gets so strong sometimes. But it's not the strongest. I think Bryce's is; he's the other Australian.
Liz Pope: Okay, so how many other Australians are there?
Nick Bariesheff: There's two other Australians here.
Liz Pope: Cool. Are either of them from Canberra?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, Doug is from Canberra. I didn't meet him ‘til I got here.
Liz Pope: Cool.
Nick Bariesheff: That was cool.
Liz Pope: Same school?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: Awesome. Meeting internationals in America, and then you can be friends back in Australia. That's great.
Nick Bariesheff: We're already gonna go out. Planned.
Liz Pope: Cool. Is there any American slang that has confused you?
Nick Bariesheff: Not really. [crosstalk 00:06:26]
Liz Pope: That's good.
Nick Bariesheff: There's words that you guys use that we don't use in Australia, like buggy, for a shopping cart.
Liz Pope: I know, some people will use that.
Nick Bariesheff: We call them trolleys.
Liz Pope: Yeah, trolleys.
Alan-Joshua: [crosstalk 00:06:33] I don't use [inaudible 00:06:33].
Liz Pope: I say shopping cart. What do you say?
Alan-Joshua: I say shopping cart, too.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: Yeah, some people say buggy. I think that's a Southern thing, is buggy. Get the buggy.
Nick Bariesheff: There's not too many language barriers, though. It's pretty good, coming to an English-speaking country.
Liz Pope: That's good. That's all we got.
Alan-Joshua: Y'all.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, you guys use y'all so much.
Liz Pope: Oh yeah, y'all. I definitely said y'all in the email I sent you guys, and I was like ... Yeah, I'm definitely from America.
Liz Pope: Alan-Joshua, what have you learned about Australia, from living with Nick?
Alan-Joshua: Lots of lingo, that's the main thing I learned.
Nick Bariesheff: I taught you about the AFL.
Alan-Joshua: Oh, yeah, AFL, which is a sport that I had no idea existed and ...
Liz Pope: What is it?
Alan-Joshua: It —I don't know, it's hard to explain. It's like —
Nick Bariesheff: I showed you videos.
Liz Pope: OK, Nick, define AFL, I guess.
Nick Bariesheff: OK, so it stands for Australian Football League. It's nothing … it’s completely different to NFL, completely different to rugby. It's its own individual sport, where you kick the ball, and you can punch the ball, and if you kick the ball and someone catches it, they can stand back and take a kick without anyone tackling them. You just pretty much have to get the ball from one side of the field to the other, and you have to kick it between two posts.
Liz Pope: So this is big in Australia?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, it's the biggest sport in Australia.
Liz Pope: OK. I didn't know, so ...
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: We both have learned something.
Nick Bariesheff: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Liz Pope: What else have you learned?
Nick Bariesheff: I had to sing the national anthem to him.
Liz Pope: He had you learn the nation anthem?
Nick Bariesheff: [crosstalk 00:07:48] [inaudible 00:07:48]
Alan-Joshua: I hadn't learned it word for word, but I can definitely recognize it when I hear it.
Liz Pope: Have you taught him what the flag means?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, the Union Jack and the Southern Cross.
Liz Pope: Union Jack, and the Southern Cross.
Nick Bariesheff: And the star, representing the — [inaudible 00:07:59] [crosstalk 00:07:59]
Liz Pope: Oh, stars. What about what school is like, and how different is it from App?
Alan-Joshua: Definitely that they all live on their own and you only go to campus to have actual class. There's kangaroos running around campus, and ... Stay away from them, keep your distance.
Liz Pope: Yeah, will they hurt you?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, they will.
Liz Pope: If you get too close to them?
Nick Bariesheff: Yes. That's one piece of advice I told Alan-Joshua.
Liz Pope: Yeah, OK.
Nick Bariesheff: You get within, maybe two feet, they'll start swinging or kicking. They will hurt you.
Liz Pope: Oh, jeez. Has this motivated you to wanna go to Australia? Not the angry kangaroos, but everything else?
Alan-Joshua: Yeah, Australia seems like a nice place. I might consider it when I plan my study abroad.
Liz Pope: Yeah, it'd be cool.
Nick Bariesheff: The kangaroos won't physically attack you, like I don't want to deter anyone from coming to Australia. They won't charge you. Just don't —
Liz Pope: Just be smart.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, keep your distance. Like spiders, you don't mess with spiders. Just let them do their thing. Most people kill them, but ...
Liz Pope: Just let 'em chill.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: I agree; good advice. Nick, what has Alan-Joshua helped you learn about America?
Nick Bariesheff: He says y'all more than anyone else I know, so —
Liz Pope: [crosstalk 00:09:05] Self.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah. He has lots of American friends. He's part of INTAPP, so, I hang out with them a lot and he teaches me about them. As far as American culture goes, he hasn't taught me anything like that.
Alan-Joshua: He knew a lot before coming in here.
Liz Pope: OK.
Nick Bariesheff: I did my research.
Alan-Joshua: Yeah.
Liz Pope: Yeah, I would, too. Is this the first time you've been to America?
Nick Bariesheff: Technically, no, but first time I've been out of the airport for more than nine hours.
Liz Pope: Got it. What was the biggest culture shock for you, coming to America?
Nick Bariesheff: One thing that did get me was walking on the right-hand side of people.
Liz Pope: Yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: I always went to walk on the left, and then they'd walk on the right, and we'd end up running into each other, and I just don't know what to say. What could I say, "I'm from Australia, we walk on the left side. My bad."
Liz Pope: "Sorry."
Nick Bariesheff: Food sizes here are a lot bigger. I've struggled to finish my meals most days. What's considered small here is like, it could feed you for a week in Australia.
Liz Pope: That's crazy. What about Walmart?
Nick Bariesheff: Walmart, that's so big. It's like Kmart for us, but they — [crosstalk 00:10:00]
Liz Pope: Did you go with him to Walmart for the first time?
Alan-Joshua: Yeah, we took them for international orientation, one of the things we did was take them to Walmart and just seeing all these international going like, "All these options, it's overwhelming." I was just like, "Yeah, this is America."
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: The only place where it has literally anything you could ask for.
Nick Bariesheff: Including guns. That's —
Liz Pope: Including guns.
Nick Bariesheff: Like, honestly. I could buy a gun if I wanted to.
Liz Pope: Yep.
Nick Bariesheff: That's scary.
Liz Pope: It is scary. That's reality. Very different from Australia, I know.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, you'll have Kmart for furniture, general stationery, all that. That's the Walmart equivalent, but it doesn't sell much food. You go to Safeway or Coles for food. That's generally the two separate places.
Liz Pope: So there's nowhere like Walmart in Australia, you would say?
Nick Bariesheff: Like Costco, but that's closed during the night, I think.
Liz Pope: Yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: And it's far away, it's in Fyshwick, so it's really far.
Liz Pope: Yeah, Walmart would be pretty cool. I guess I take it for granted, ‘cause we have like three Walmarts in Durham, and there's the one here, and it's always open, always available.
Liz Pope: So, has living with someone from another country taught you anything about yourself?
Nick Bariesheff: I can be really clean, and apparently I'm a good studier. Alan-Joshua tells me that every day, even though it's just a normal study routine for me.
Liz Pope: [inaudible 00:11:15] [crosstalk 00:11:15]
Alan-Joshua: Yeah, I just feel motivated to watch after myself in terms of cleaning and trying a bit harder when it comes to classes.
Liz Pope: That's good! That seems like a good benefit.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, I'm usually a clean person, but most days I'll walk out of the door and be like, "Ah, I forgot to make my bed, do I make Alan-Joshua mad?" He's generally a clean person, ‘cause he's clean, I'm clean. Usually. I'd usually be clean anyway, but ...
Liz Pope: That's good. OK, so he has motivated you to study, and you've motivated him to be clean.
Nick Bariesheff: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Alan-Joshua: Yeah.
Liz Pope: That's great. Anything specifically to having been from somewhere else, would you say? What has it taught you, living with somebody who isn't from America at all? And you could speak on this from your past roommates, too.
Nick Bariesheff: Obviously, I'm the better roommate, but ...
Alan-Joshua: Just being open to them about anything from a common, small thing about America, where to find things, how to get around. Just being open to helping them, and just if they ever need anything, just talk to me, I'll see what I can do.
Liz Pope: Yeah, I feel like you'd have to have an open mind, for sure.
Alan-Joshua: Yeah.
Liz Pope: So, speaking to someone who might be getting a roommate, why would someone want to live with someone from another country?
Alan-Joshua: You just get to meet some of the most interesting people around campus.
Nick Bariesheff: I'm flattered.
Alan-Joshua: All the internationals are great to me. They're really cool and very friendly. They're just great to be around with, really.
Liz Pope: Yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah. We have a South African as our suitemate, so that's pretty cool.
Liz Pope: Oh yeah, so you're also living with someone from two other countries.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Liz Pope: That is cool. So you guys had no idea that was gonna happen?
Nick Bariesheff: No. I met Alex when we first got picked up from the airport, he's like, "Oh, you're Nick, you're my suitemate." I'm like, "Oh, sweet."
Liz Pope: "Oh, what? Cool."
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: How's that been, having someone living with you who's also kind of experiencing the same thing you are, kind of understanding what going to school here is like?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, it's pretty good. They have good study ethics, it's pretty good.
Liz Pope: Good. That's awesome. Do you have any advice for somebody who has just found out that they're living with someone from another country?
Alan-Joshua: Just have an open mind. Be ready to answer any question. Just be prepared for, they'll ask you anything from which cereal does not have sugar in it to how can I get on the bus or stuff like that.
Liz Pope: Yeah. How did he help you as soon as you got here? What were the most helpful things he did for you, would you say?
Nick Bariesheff: He showed me around the place. He let me use all his stuff, which is pretty cool.
Liz Pope: That's nice.
Nick Bariesheff: He buys food a lot.
Liz Pope: That's a good roommate ...
Nick Bariesheff: He's the best roommate. Yeah, he just answers any question I have. When he's not there I can text him and I know that he'll reply.
Liz Pope: It's good to have somebody for sure. What do you guys think international students bring to App's campus? I mean, you kinda touched on this earlier, but how do you think they improve App as a whole?
Alan-Joshua: I just feel that they connect us, overall, as a campus more. They love meeting new people, and then you meet more people that they met, and interconnecting the campus, everyone brings their friends and we just hang out.
Liz Pope: Yeah, it's cool to have different perspectives like that. The more people you know, the better. What would you say, how do you think, how do you feel?
Nick Bariesheff: Well, I agree that it definitely makes App State more diverse. I looked in the Student Union at that international hallway with all the flags; that is so cool. I'm probably gonna bring that back to Australia with me and get that put in our school somewhere.
Liz Pope: What do you guys think that internationals add to the local community, so Boone in general? ‘Cause I know you went to an elementary school, was that ...
Nick Bariesheff: Primary school.
Liz Pope: Primary school.
Nick Bariesheff: Oh, wait, elementary, yeah.
Liz Pope: Same thing, yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: What was that like for you?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, it's cool, I love sharing culture about Australia, ‘cause kids find it so cool. So, I'm taking any opportunity to present at a school. I've presented to, like, four classes now just about Australia. Animals, questions about it; they ask the silliest questions. "Can you actually ride kangaroos?" It's like, "No. No, you can't."
Liz Pope: We can't do that. Do they ask you to say a bunch of words with your accent?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, yeah. I heard the American national anthem for the first time ‘cause I asked the kids to sing it to me, and that was really cool. They all sang it, they all got up, stood up, put their hands over their chests, and that was pretty cool. And then I sang the national anthem for them.
Liz Pope: Oh, that's really nice.
Nick Bariesheff: I sung a few typical Aussie songs to them, and they loved it. I sang "G'day, G'day." It's like a song without music. I'll tell you how it goes. It goes, "G'day, g'day, how'ya goin', whadd'ya know, strike a light. G'day, g'day, how'ya goin', just say g'day, g'day, g'day, and she'll be right." And they loved that song, ‘cause I got them to come up at the front and sing it to everyone, and they gave their best Aussie impression, so that was pretty cool.
Nick Bariesheff: I sang "The Kangaroo Song." I'm not gonna sing that, it's like the most embarrassing song I sung in primary school. Then I sung the national anthem, and then "Home Amongst the Gumtrees." It's like "Home on the Range," it's like the equivalent back to Australia, it's about the gumtrees and kangaroos and just Australian stuff.
Liz Pope: What is a gumtree? Because I've been told it's like the Craigslist of Australia. Which is like ...
Nick Bariesheff: Yes, Gumtree, yes. OK, so —
Liz Pope: It's like a website?
Nick Bariesheff: So it is a website where you can buy stuff.
Liz Pope: Yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: It's not like Craigslist where you can meet people, it's nothing shady like that. It's actually legit, it's like eBay but for Australia. But like a gumtree is what koalas live in, that's what they eat. It's an actual tree. It's not the national flora, but it's an Australia-only tree.
Liz Pope: OK.
Nick Bariesheff: The surprising thing I've found about being here in America is, 90 percent of the people have not traveled outside of America, which is really ... That's fascinating.
Liz Pope: It is.
Nick Bariesheff: ‘Cause I've traveled a lot of places.
Liz Pope: Yeah. It's cool that you get to come and bring the culture here, ‘cause not everyone has the ability to travel. So cool.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah. So, I went to Mabel School. I don't think I've been to any other schools, I just gave presentations to multiple classes in that school. And then a class, it was either from Mabel or another school came to App State, and I taught them cricket, and how to play cricket. We played indoors, like relatively low-key.
Liz Pope: [crosstalk 00:17:05] That's awesome. Did they pick it up, or no?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, they did.
Liz Pope: Nice.
Nick Bariesheff: It was pretty cool.
Liz Pope: That's awesome.
Nick Bariesheff: Somewhat people got involved. I tried to motivate them with lollies, so it was cool.
Liz Pope: So were you single-handedly leading this group of a bunch of kids?
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, yeah.
Liz Pope: That's awesome.
Nick Bariesheff: I like that.
Alan-Joshua: Nick is part of the Cultural Ambassadors; that's how he gets to talk to elementary schools, and we also have international families and a buddy system.
Nick Bariesheff: It's called the International Friendship Program, and I applied for that and they paired me with a family that lives here in Boone, so I got paired with Serena and, yeah, we hung out a few times, went to her family's place for dinner. I met her kids. That was really cool. Watched football for the first time, like NFL. I didn't know what was going on. Yeah, I enjoyed an American dinner, lamb is so good.
Liz Pope: That's awesome.
Nick Bariesheff: And ‘cause she's ... Can't remember what nationality she is, but she's not from America, and she moved here, so I tried her cultural food as well as American food, ‘cause her husband's American. I haven't seen her in, like, two weeks, so I'm probably gonna go back soon.
Liz Pope: I didn't even know that was a thing. That's awesome.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, International Friendship Program.
Liz Pope: Got it. Sweet. That was all the questions I have, but we didn't touch on any Australian creatures. [crosstalk 00:18:17] I know y'all have very dangerous —
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, we've got plenty. Like 70 to 90 percent of the animals in Australia can kill you. We have nine out of the 12 of the deadliest snakes in the world.
Liz Pope: No!
Nick Bariesheff: Even more of the spiders.
Liz Pope: OK, maybe don't tell me that.
Nick Bariesheff: But it's all west side. East side's safe.
Liz Pope: Okay, that's good.
Nick Bariesheff: Just don't go central. It's where the desert is. That's where you'll find snakes.
Liz Pope: The Outback.
Nick Bariesheff: The Outback.
Liz Pope: Have you been to Outback?
Nick Bariesheff: No, I haven't left the east side. I've been to Victoria, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland. But I have never been past that sort of border to Northern Territory and South Australia.
Nick Bariesheff: The population is more to the east side, it's like Melbourne. Sydney's like 6 million, I think. Population of Australia's like 25 million at the moment, so. Nothing compared to America, but ...
Liz Pope: Have you been to Outback Steakhouse?
Nick Bariesheff: Here? No. I've been to Outback Jack's.
Liz Pope: Gotta take him to Outback Steakhouse.
Alan-Joshua: I don't know where the closest one is.
Liz Pope: There's one in Blowing Rock, actually. Not far. And in Durham. We have one in Durham, too.
Alan-Joshua: We might go.
Liz Pope: The menu is hilarious, it's like Alice Springs Quesadilla, and Kookaburra Chicken Wings.
Nick Bariesheff: Wow.
Liz Pope: Victoria Filet. Yeah, it's just like really cultural — [crosstalk 00:19:27]
Nick Bariesheff: [inaudible 00:19:28]
Alan-Joshua: Kangaroo statues.
Nick Bariesheff: Anything that —
Liz Pope: Yeah. It's so —
Nick Bariesheff: So, anything you've heard about Australia, you just put it in the name.
Liz Pope: Right, and make it a food item. Yeah, Thunder Down Under is the best sundae of all time, though.
Nick Bariesheff: Damn.
Liz Pope: Which is very good.
Nick Bariesheff: I've gotta go there. It sounds cool.
Liz Pope: Yeah, you should probably check it out. You'll probably be offended, but I don't know.
Nick Bariesheff: We have a similar place called Outback Jack's, but you have normal menu names ‘cause you're in Australia.
Liz Pope: Right. It's not like you have an American steakhouse. Or maybe you do, I don't know.
Nick Bariesheff: We don't have any American, you're getting like an American burger. That's as American as food gets. It'll be called the American Classic and it'll just be a huge burger.
Liz Pope: A huge burger. That sounds right, sounds American.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah, mm-hmm (affirmative).
Liz Pope: You gotta go to Outback. They have good cheese fries.
Nick Bariesheff: You've really talked it up. I gotta go there now.
Liz Pope: You gotta go.
Alan-Joshua: Taking him out to eat here is ... seeing his reaction to Cook Out, for example.
Nick Bariesheff: Reese's.
Alan-Joshua: Yeah, Reese's.
Nick Bariesheff: I tried Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for the first time —
Alan-Joshua: And fell in love.
Liz Pope: Chocolate and peanut butter is unmatched.
Nick Bariesheff: Yeah.
Liz Pope: It's so good. You can get a Reese's milkshake at Cook Out.
Nick Bariesheff: I've tried that.
Liz Pope: You should probably do that.
Nick Bariesheff: In Australia, we have peanut butter and celery. It's like, amazing.
Liz Pope: Oh, that's a good combo. Where else have you taken him, where he's like, "What the heck is this?" [crosstalk 00:20:40]
Alan-Joshua: We went to IHOP.
Liz Pope: Oh, yeah.
Nick Bariesheff: Been to Cracker Barrel. Haven't been to Waffle House yet.
Liz Pope: Oh, you gotta go.
Nick Bariesheff: Haven't been to Come Back Shack yet.
Liz Pope: What?
Nick Bariesheff: I've gotta go to these places.
Liz Pope: He's gotta go. Nick, Alan-Joshua, thank you guys for coming in today.
Nick Bariesheff: No worries. [crosstalk 00:20:52]
Alan-Joshua: Thank you.
Liz Pope: It was awesome. This is Liz Pope. That was AppX. Catch you next time. Boom!
Nick Bariesheff: Love it.
What do you think?
Share your feedback on this story.
About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
