Everything Australian

Sorry for the delay in posting! It's been a busy week - I had my first assignment due Thursday. 500 word essay and using the library catalogue to find 5 sources relating to the topic at hand. Not too much, right? Right! But that's 15% of my grade right there! YIKES! Hopefully I was on the right track with my essay. I can't really afford to be wrong here.

Besides writing about my daily activities, I thought I might enlighten you to some (not so huge) differences between Australia and the U.S. First rule of thumb: it's not wrong, it's just different.

We'll start with driving.

As you can see, they drive on the different side of the road. I'm really glad I'm not driving here. As easy as it might seem to just switch sides of the road, it still freaks me out when I'm on the bus and we're making right turns into traffic.

It's not just the sides of the road which are different, speed limits are much lower here. It's not uncommon to see 40 km/h which is just about 25 mph. When I've been on the highway, the max speed limit I've seen so far is 80 km/h, a conservative 50 mph.

Australians also seem to be quite tolerant of pedestrians. Everyone will wait for you to cross the road and not seem pushy. It's kind of a nice change not to feel like you're going to get run over when you cross the street.

Despite all that, Australians are big fans of using their horns. Frequently.


Next up, money money money!!

I put two pictures up just to show how cool the money is. Probably not the best time to be posting pictures of money, seeing as how this is the only bill I have. Bills come in $100, $50, $20, $10, and $5. Coins are $2, $1, $0.50, $0.20, $0.10, and $0.05. Any price not ending in $x.x0 or $x.x5 is rounded.

When you take $100 out of the bank, it's given in 2 $50 bills, not $20's.

With this system, you really realize how important keeping the change is! Those $2 coins are quite handy.

By the way, the man on the $50 bill is David Unaipon, a notable Aboriginal writer and inventor.

Now for how cool the money is! The notes are made of a plastic polymer, so they are very durable. They don't tear easily, and you can take them swimming!! (Way to be practical, Australia!) They have quite a few security features, the most notable being the plastic window seen on the right hand side.

Also, the higher the value of the bill, the bigger it is in size.

Next, electrical outlets!
I don't have as much to say about them. They run at 240 volts, compared to our 120. There is an on/off switch at the outlet itself (see pictures below), so even if something is plugged in it doesn't necessarily have power running to it.

Off.

On.















For any of my American appliances to work (mainly my laptop), I have to have my handy dandy converter.

I plug my laptop into the front and the back plugs into  the wall. Super exciting, I know.











Last but not least for the pictures are the light switches.

When then button is up, the light is off.

When button is down, light is on. Kind of opposite from home!

















Now for your Australian language lesson. Just a few random words and phrases that I've noticed since being here.

straight away = right away (Not that big of a difference, and maybe some American say this too, but Australians say it all. the. time.)
How ya goin'? = How are you?
capsicum = peppers (like green and red bell peppers)
Maccas = McDonald's
tyres = tires (said the same, just spelled differently)
petrol = gasoline
Uni = college
school = high school (So I can't tell people I'm here for school or else they think I'm in high school. I have to tell them I'm here for Uni!)
brekkie = breakfast
heaps = lots
chemist = pharmacy

So there you have it! Should you ever visit Australia, these are things you are quite likely to encounter. Hope this was at least semi-interesting! and hopefully next time I update, it won't be so far from now.

Love, Em.