Australian Differences

When we talk/e-mail back home, friends and families are surprised about some of the differences between Australia and the US. Some of these are obvious once you think of them. Here are a few of the differences:

1) The school year here starts in February and ends in December to coincide with their summertime (Dec to Feb in the southern hemisphere)

2) The time difference with the east coast of the US is 14 hours right now. So if it is Monday 7 pm on the east coast of the US, it is Tuesday 9 am here. That's right we are a day ahead since we are on the other side of the International Date Line. The time difference can be up to 14 hours based on daylight savings time. When the US is "springing forward", Australia is "falling back".

3)  American football is called "gridiron" here. There are a few games that are shown on Fox and ESPN. Football here is soccer which is not nearly as big as Australian Rules Football (also known as "footy". The other football type sport is Rugby which has two variants (union and league) which I guess are akin to the differences between American and Canadian Football.

4) Baseball is a relatively minor sport. The big sport here is Cricket. A cricket test match lasts up to four days and as for the rules, we have not been able to decipher it.

5) Burger King here is Hungry Jacks. Everything is the same, just the name is different due to trademark issues in Australia. Other American fast food franchises in Australia include McDonalds, KFC, and Pizza Hut.

6) Tipping in Australia is virtually non-existent.

7) Australians drive on the other side of the road and the steering wheel is on the other side as well.  It took about a week before Paul was willing to try and drive but he has had no issues so far. Sherri on the other hand has yet to attempt to drive. It may seem like a small thing but it really throws you off when you are used to driving on the right side of the road. Little things like parking or backing up are even harder.

8) Australia uses the metric system so gas (petrol) is sold by the liter and the temperature is referred to in Celsius vice Fahrenheit.

9) There are small differences between US english and Aussie english such as:

pharmacy=chemist

gas=petrol

gas station=servo

shrimp=prawn

10) We have not heard a single person say "crikey" or "throw a shrimp on the barbie".  Most Australians we have met hate that the American perception of Australians is based on Crocodile Dundee and the Crocodile Hunter.

Australian Animals

We visited the Caversham Wildlife Park the other day. We were able to get up close and personal with kangaroos, koalas, and wombats. It was an interesting day. We also toured the wine country and sampled some of the local wines. The wine industry has really taken off here in part because a case of beer is 60 dollars!  

Canberra

Sorry we have not posted any new pictures lately but we were not going to pay $30 for a single day of internet access in our hotel. Canberra is the capitol of Australia and is a beautiful city but certainly not on the scale of DC. We spent 2 days sightseeing between checking in at the US Embassy. Sights included the Parliament House, Australia National Museum, and the Questacon (a joint Australia/Japan Science exhibit). Yesterday, we spent a fair amount of time walking about. The pollen levels were severely high and Alex was in a significant amount of discomfort from his allergies. We are now on our way to Perth where Paul will report aboard and start his two year tour as an exchange officer. Come back soon for pictures of Canberra. 

Australia Bound

After a week of fun in Waikiki at the Hale Koa, it is time for us to make the big jump across the rest of the Pacific Ocean. We are finally departing for Australia. We fly out Friday morning and arrive in Sydney on Saturday afternoon after a 10 hour flight. Since we cross the International Date Line, we will actually lose a day.

Once in Sydney, we fly to Canberra for Paul's checkin at the US Embassy. After 2 days, we leave for Perth, our home for the next two years. Sherri will be posting new pictures soon.