Things I've Learned Along the Way
Small things I've picked up about Australia:) Some obvious, but all things I didn't really know back in The States:
- They call it "Uni" not college/class/school. School equals high school.
- A "jumper" is what they call a zip-up sweater.
- There are two buttons on a lot of their toilets. Ones a half flush, the other is a full flush. You do the math.
- J-walking is no joke. Haven't gotten a ticket but I've been warned by others many times.
- Us, Americans, have "cool accents" - I know, I always thought they have the accents & we have a lack of an accent.
- Their toilets flush weird. And most of the time, they're in different rooms than the shower/sink/tub. Weird right? Yes, the toilet ALONE has its OWN room. Doesn't make sense to me either.
- NO, you do NOT get Netflix here. Or Hulu, or even ABC online. Or any other American network. It's awful.
- Aussie's abbreviate everything. McDonald's is Maccas, Breakfast is Brekkie, Football is Footy, Sunglasses is Sunnies, etc
- They absolutely LOOOVE American culture. When I tell people I'm from California I always get a similar response "oooh!! Why would you ever move out of California?" "Oh is it just like on TV?!" etc
- When using cards (debit/credit) they can choose between "Cheque Savings or Credit" as in they can charge to their Savings. and they can also use a Pin for the credit cards. And they call it "cheque" instead of "checking" account)
- Their Target here SUCKS. It's mostly all clothes. And there isn't nearly as much stuff at these ones than the ones in the US.
- You can't just buy alcohol anywhere. In San Diego, you can buy a case of beer or a bottle of Captain at the gas station. Not here. There are specific "Liquorland" kinds of stores that usually close around 8pm, if not earlier.
- Bringing a full mattress onto a Tram can result in you getting kicked off of it.
- They call their grocery carts "trolley's"
- It's "minced beef" or "minced pork" instead of "ground" pork/beef.
- "How are you going?" is the common way of saying "how are you?/how are you doing?"
- TRANSLATION: boot = trunk (like the trunk in your car), lollies = candy, tomato sauce = ketchup, capsicum = pepper, coriander = cilantro, thongs = flip flops, "I can't/couldn't be fucked/fussed/bothered" = "I don't care", a pot of beer = an extremely small cup of beer (smaller than a pint)
- I suck at Sales.