I was talking with a friend about the differences between Australia and the US and it made me realise how many things that I've gotten used to here, things that were once weird to me, but are now part of my everyday life. I thought I'd share some of the things that, when compared the the US, seem “so Australian”.....
CarsMost of the cars here are old, small hatchbacks. There are the occasional sedan and whatnot, but as a whole the types of cars on the road are quite different. The biggest difference is the utes so popularly driven here in AUS. Useful, but ugly if you ask me. Bigger utes are around and are similar to trucks in the US, but they still have their differences. For one, the bug utes here tend to have snorkels on the exhaust (to allow for driving in water) which makes it look like the cars have periscopes haha. If only they did....
Everyday ute 
snorkel ute
Fluoro trade shirts
soo bright... Here in Oz it's not the common thing for people to go to uni after high school, which is so strange to me. The most common path is to specialise in a trade, whether it be a plumber, a baker, etc, etc. For that reason the part-time casual jobs are harder to find because even a job at the chemist (pharmacy) becomes a somewhat professional one. Anyway, back to the fluoro shirts. Since heaps of people work in trade jobs there are hundreds of people out and about in these colourful trade shirts. Most of them tend to be outdoorsy trades, like gardening, construction, and plumbing, but you see heaps of them around town. I feel that my eyes are going to be so bored when I am home in the states without the bright fluoro in my life everyday.
Specialty ShopsOn par with the trade jobs follows more specialised shops and businesses. There are few “one stop shops” like all the stores in the US are turning to. Generally there is everything you need in the shopping centre, but you need to go to different places to get it all. It was a bit frustrating at first, having to hunt around for the things I wanted, but now it seems natural to me. Run to the chemist for your lotion and such, the butcher for your meat, the grocery store for your food, and the news agency for your cards and whatnot. They have something similar to wal-mart, Big W, but it is still quite different and doesn't have everything you need. Also, all the shops close at 5pm, except Thursday night (which is late night shopping) when they are open until 9pm. Grocery stores are open until 8pm ever day, so that's never a problem. (on the note of grocery shopping, they don't refrigerate their eggs. Weird, ay? And also you don't need to wear shoes to shop...ew.) It's kind of nice actually because when they close that early your evenings are free, you don't have to worry about working or bogging them down with errands. It is a bugger when you've realised you need something and nothing is open...which has happened a few times.
Pub FoodI didn't eat out much when I was here last time, and to be honest I haven't eaten out much this go around...but after working and hanging out with more Australians I realise there is a typical pub menu, and it doesn't branch out much from that. In the US I feel like people try different restaurants to try different things, but here they go to different pubs only to find who has the best food. The few times I have been to a pub with some Aussies they almost don't even need to look at a menu because they know exactly what they want walking in. Hamburgers, chicken schnitzels, steak burgers, crumb steak, chicken burgers, salt and pepper squid, fish and chips, and lasagna can be found on just about evvvery single menu in this country. And every burger will have beet root on it, no doubt about it. Now don't get me wrong, there are some restaurants that branch out, but if you walk into a “pub” you know exactly what to expect. Also, every single pub has pokies (slot machines) and keno. Gambling is just a part of everyday life here, which is so strange to me. Even people who come to Angelina's (my work) for lunch will head over to the news agency and buy scratchies to play in the afternoon. On the note of food, fish and chips shops are absolutely everywhere. Every suburb in Townsville has at least 3 fish and chips places...and the suburbs are not that big. No complaints from me though, I love me some fish and chips. :)
Bottle shopsAka...liquor stores. Here there are heaps of drive through bottle-o's where you rock up, tell them what you want, and they bring it out to you. They call it "the drive". How convenient! Though I usually just park the car and get out myself to have a look, I am too indecisive to know straight away what I want. There are so many pre-mixed drinks that make your decision so much harder. They have tons of flavored vodka with sodas as well as pre-mixed rum and cokes, etc. I have definitely gotten used to those!
Australia's own rum, pre-mixed with cola...a very popular drink here!
Pre-paid mobileNo one (well very, very few) here has an actually phone contract, everyone has pre-pay, which is rare in the states. Apparently it is really hard to get a credit card here until you have been working ages (which is also very different from the states where they force feed you credit cards the moment you turn 18) so getting an actual plan is really hard.
No pay at the pumpThis is the absolute weirdest for me. In the states there is absolutely no way you can even get a drop of gas without prepaying. Not here, you pump and then go inside to pay. I actually find this annoying because it takes so much longer. I want to swipe my card, pump, and be on my merry way. But oh well, what can you do. Also, you have to hold and squeeze the gas pump the whole time. I'm going to have a buff right hand when I come home so everyone be ready. :)
TalkingObviously they sound different here, with that sexy Australian accent and all, but even the words/phrases they use have melded in my vocab...and it isn't until I really think about it that I realise we don't use it in the US. For example, if you ask someone “how ya going?” (which is what they say, not how ya doing/hows it going) the person would respond with “yeah,_____". I have absolutely NO idea why they say “yeah” before answering a question, but they do. And now I do too. Also, instead of saying “what” if you didn't hear what they said they say “hey”...which I have also adapted. Other words that have snuck their way into my ever day vocab: reckon, keen, arvo (afternoon), brekkie (breakfast), off (instead of gone bad. “do you reckon this chicken is off?”), “true?” (instead of “really?”). In addition to different vocab I have picked up some weird ways of saying things like they do...like tuna is pronounced “chuna”. So weird, but I say it that way now. Same with Tuesday the “tu” is said more like “chu”...to “chuesday”. Strange. Also, they say assume like “ashume”, which I have caught myself saying. I still haven't picked up the sexy aussie accent so I just sound like an American fool when I say “I just ashumed we'd eat chuna on chuesday”. Hahahaa. (on the note of tuna, they have soooooo many flavoured tunas here. SOOOO many. I absolutely in love. Anything from mild indian curry to caramelised onion and sun dried tomato...mmm) Also, when calling someone on the phone, even just calling up a shop, they introduce themselves. This was extremely confusing when I worked reception at the hotel because people would call and say “oh hi Jamie this is Bruce” and I would think “should I know who Bruce is...?” . They are just a very personable country and it is reflected in their casual interactions I guess....kind of how everyone is a mate. :) It also comes out when you're checking out at a shop, they will say “see you later” after almost every transaction. At first I thought “umm, when? I really don't think you will” but now it has just become normal. And, as you can tell from this post (since it was set on AU spell check) they spell things weird. They're not keen on using Z's...which baffles me.
There are obviously HEAPS more, but there are a few for now. :)
Posts
1 comments:
That's soo true!!
Post a Comment