FOBs and OFOBs
I wonder if there are differing levels of fobbiness. There are those who blatantly refuse to assimilate into Australian society, those who assimilate some aspects, and those who look foreign and may even sound a bit foreign but totally embrace Aussie culture. Surely they can’t all be defined under one umbrella of ‘FOB’. A friend and I were talking about this (of all things…) and we reckon there are FOBs (fresh off the boat) and OFOBs (one foot on boat). FOBs assimilate to varying degrees, but OFOBs refuse to, hanging onto their parent culture for dear life, choosing to talk their native tongue, hang exclusively around fellow OFOBs, and turn people around them into FOBs. While I recognise the importance of parent culture (albeit not as much as some), and that people feel more comfortable around similar kinds (I’m more comfortable around Asians and am given the freak-out by ocker Aussies sporting wife beaters, hairy limbs and beer breath), I think when in Rome, do as the Romans. As much as you can bear. And if you can’t bear it at all, don’t be offended when people label you as a FOB, or indeed an OFOB. Yes, according to Wikipedia, there are non-offensive ways to use this classification.