Monday, January 9, 2017

At first glance, Australia is not that different from the US.  You can buy a snickers bar at any convenience store cash register, regularly see KFC and McDonald's (colloquially known here as "Macca's") on street corners and we even watched the Sunday night Giants/Packers live on TV this Monday morning.

The differences here are subtle, but many.  I don't mention them to Australians very often, because the "You call it a rock melon?  We call it a cantaloupe" conversation gets very boring after awhile.  But I love the differences that I see everyday, and by no means am I saying that one way is better than the other.  There would be no reason to go anywhere if everywhere was exactly the same.  However, the little differences are fun to notice, or sometimes a little embarrassing when I realize I'm 'doing it wrong.' 

Let's start with the date.  Today is 9/1/2017.  The 9th of January, 2017.  The day goes first.  Morgan is my surname...not my last name.  Many homes do not have clothes dryers, or if they have them, they only use them occasionally and I am now a pro at hanging clothes on a line. 

Two days after we got here, I went to the supermarket.  As my groceries were being checked out, I stuck my credit card in the credit card reader...unintentionally unravelling the space-time continuum.  The reader started flashing weird messages and the cashier looked at me as if I'd tried paying with a goat.  Slowly but firmly, he said "MA'AM.  DO NOT PUT YOUR CREDIT CARD IN UNTIL I AM DONE CHECKING OUT YOUR GROCERIES."  I hung my head and thought to myself "I am SO STUPID!  Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Speaking of paying, I'm pretty slow when paying with coins.  The bills are colored and different sizes, but the coins throw me every time.  There is a one dollar coin and a two dollar coin.  Other coins are the  $0.50, $0.20, $0.10 and $0.05.  There is no penny.  The ten cent piece is bigger than the five cent piece, which makes sense, but to me, the ten cent piece looks like a nickel, and the five cent piece looks like a dime.     

At many restaurants, you order your food at the counter and pay.  Then, you either bring a big number back to your table and your food is brought out to you, or you're given a pager, and when it beeps, you go and get your food.  Even if you have a server, tipping is not customary (while you can leave something, 20% is not expected at every meal).

Random Breath Testing (RBT):  When driving, at any time of day, you regularly see RBT stations set up by police.  They randomly flag down passing cars and give you a breathalyzer, regardless if you were doing anything wrong...they can randomly drug test too.   

Then there's the words.  So many words are different, and while I have no doubt Australians know what I'm talking about when I call a holiday a vacation, I make an effort to speak the words commonly used by Australians while I'm in their country.  So in no particular order:


The trees are different!  This is the Norfolk Island Pine.  If you look closely, it's needles stand upright.  Although it is native to Norfolk Island in Australia, they can be found in various parts of the world, including Southern California and Florida.  (Thanks, Wikipedia!)

These birds, Lorikeets, are everywhere and I still get excited every single time I see one. 


We took this picture in  'FNQ'  or Far North Queensland.  This is something I never had to worry about paddling in Lake Dillon.  

From Left to Right, I bring you $0.05, $0.10, $0.20, $0.50, $1 and $2.  Can you understand why I mix up the $0.05 and $0.10?





Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)