Attending college in the U.S. after having lived in Australia my whole life opened my eyes up to the many differences that exist between the two countries. Here are some of the ones that stand out the most to me.
1. Driving.
Americans drive on the right side of the road compared to Australians who drive on the left. This also means the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car. As a result, I have had many awkward moments where I have almost been run over due to looking the wrong way while crossing the road or attempting to get in the wrong side of the car.
2. Differences in spelling.
Australians spell words the same way the British do. This has caused trouble for me with writing essays because words like colour (color), behaviour (behavior) and centre (center) are spelled differently. Americans also use ‘z’ instead of ‘s’ in words such as organize and analyze.
3. Everything is cheaper.
The exchange rate and the cost of living in Australia are very high so coming to America it was a shock to see how cheap it is to pay for things, especially gas.
4. Gasoline.
On that note, Australians call gas "petrol."
5. The sports are very different.
In Australia, popular sports include cricket and various types of football including rugby league, rugby union, and Aussie Rules. In America, you won’t find any of that. Instead, the main sports are American football, basketball and baseball.
6. Sports padding.
In America, football is played with helmets, pads, strapping, etc. In Australia, you wear a pair of shorts, a pair of boots and a jersey. Australians do not understand padding.
7. College sports.
Also, college sports are extremely popular in America. They are broadcast on live television and every year thousands of people participate in March Madness, a bracket concerning college basketball. In Australia, university sports are not popular at all and are rarely played on television, let alone bet on.
8. College/University.
Americans call university "college" while Australians call it university or "uni" for short.
9. Cigarettes.
Cigarettes are extremely expensive in Australia compared to the U.S. thanks to the huge tax that is placed on them. Also, it is legal to smoke inside certain clubs and bars, which is very different from Australia where smoking is banned in pretty much every public place you could think of (bars, bus stops, beaches, etc.).
10. There are no TimTams or Vegemite in America.
TimTams are chocolate cookies/biscuits which are the most delicious things ever. Americans are seriously missing out.
11. Biscuits.
An American's idea of a biscuit is a breakfast item that as an Australian I would compare to a scone. An Australian idea of a biscuit is a sweet food, e.g. a TimTam which Americans would refer to as a cookie.
12. Writing the date in a different order.
In America, the date is written in a month/day/year formation whereas in Australia it is written as day/month/year.
13. Voting.
Voting is optional in America while in Australia it is compulsory.
14. Tipping.
In America, the minimum wage is low so it is customary to always tip. People will tip not just waiters and waitresses but hairdressers, too, which I found very odd. In Australia, we have a comparatively higher minimum wage so tipping is not necessary and is done more out of politeness and in response to the level of service of the waiter/waitress.
15. Tax on goods and services.
In America, the tax is not included in the price of items, which is very confusing when trying to figure out how much something is going to cost. In Australia, it is included in the price which makes it a lot easier to determine what something costs.
16. Currency.
In America, all bills are the same color whereas in Australia they are different colors ($5 is pink, $10 is blue, $20 is red, $50 is yellow, $100 is green). Also, Americans have $1 and sometimes $2 bills instead of coins. The coin systems also have stark differences. In America, there are pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters whereas in Australia, we have five cent, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent and one dollar and two dollar coins. The size of American coins is confusing because the nickel is bigger than the dime whereas in Australia the coins generally increase in size with value.
17. Metric system.
In America, the Metric System is not used which continues to cause me great confusion every time I am over there. Fahrenheit is used instead of Celsius, gallons instead of litres, feet and inches instead of meters and centimeters, miles instead of kilometers. As a result, I spend a lot of time attempting to convert between the two different measurements in order to understand.
18. Food names.
The American "bell pepper" is called "capsicum" in Australia, and the American "cantaloupe" is called "rock melon."
19. Electrical plugs.
I have a collection of different electrical outlet converters which I am required to use every time I am in America in order to charge my electronics. Also, American electrical outlets do not have a switch to turn the power on and off whereas in Australia we do.
20. Seasons.
Because America is in the northern hemisphere and Australia is in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are back to front. As a result, while Americans are celebrating a White Christmas, Australians are celebrating their Christmas during the hot summer.
21. Drinking age.
In America the drinking age is 21 whereas in Australia it is 18.
There are many more areas of divergence between these two great countries but these are the ones I have encountered most often.
