- The doorknobs in our apartment are made for giants. Seriously. The knob on the door coming in through the back door of the apartment complex comes almost up to my head. High doorknobs lead to bruises on my upper arm due to my short stature and clumsiness. Not cool.
arvo = afternoon
-At the grocery store, all 4 wheels on the grocery cart turn (in the U.S., only the front wheels turn). When all 4 turn, it makes it extremely difficult to turn the cart .... especially when it is heavy or full of groceries! One day I will take a video of how fun it is to push the cart.
- Most escalators are ramps. Usually there is some type of grocery store or other store requiring a cart so there are ramps instead of steps. When you push the cart on the escalator, it locks the cart into place so it doesn't get away.
- The all important bar situation:
1. Most places do not allow you to open a tab and/or it is not common practice to open a tab. This means you have to walk up to the bar every time you would like a beverage.
2. Usually to use your card there is a $10 minimum. Since you can't open a tab, you have to spend $10 every time you go up to the bar (unless you have cash of course). Usually this is not a problem because the drinks are ridiculously expensive (my next point) but if you are ordering just one drink, this is usually not enough to cover the minimum.
3. The drinks are expensive! Thank god we were not here in college ... I wouldn't have money for food! A typical beer or glass of wine at a bar costs anywhere from $7-10. A mixed drink costs a couple dollars more. For a higher end beverage (beer/wine/or liquor), it will definitely cost over $10. It was a really exciting night when we found margaritas as a Thursday night special for only $5. Mind you, it was a gay bar but totally worth it. They also advertise Corona specials sometimes for $5 (at Mexican restaurants, not the gay bar).
4. There is no tipping (Yeah!) but ... I also thinks that changes the service. I thought that since tipping was not a common practice that the service would basically still be the same (they still make a decent amount of money. The minimum wage here is around $16/hr), but I was sort of wrong. For one, in most places you do not get served, you have to order at the bar. I have never had a waiter/waitress wait on us at a bar, even if you are at a table. This also goes for food. In most places, bars and restaurants (at least everywhere I have been with the exception of a really nice restaurant), you order food at a counter or bar. They will then bring it to you. The only wait person is the person that cleans up the table after you.
5. A bar here is called a hotel. A hotel as we know it (with rooms) is still called a hotel. Almost all hotels have a bar but not all hotels have rooms. There is a hotel in most every little town and from my observations it is usually the nicest and oldest building in the town. Here is a picture of the oldest hotel in Australia:
6. Cider is a huge thing here. It seems like this is the drink of choice for most females.
Enough rambling about bars ...
What would you think a "refuge island" is?
Just another name for a crosswalk that has an "island" in the middle of the road for walkers ...
- assume sounds like "ashume"
- anything with tu- makes a "ch" sound. So, Tuesday is "chewsday" and a tune is a "chune"
Restaurant Oddities:
1. While dining, you will not receive free bread or chips and salsa, etc. at the table. Such a travesty.
2. It helps to ask for water for the table. Otherwise, they seem to forget I asked for water and never give me a single glass. The water comes in a big jug (usually like an empty wine glass) and I have never received ice. I am slightly worried that in the summer it will be 90 degrees out and I will be drinking warm water.
3. At nicer establishments, it is common to tip, but no more than 10%.
4. They really do not have a lot of chain/franchised restaurants here (U.S. or Aussie chains). Most restaurants are independently owned. The type of food is similar to American.
5. I have seen very little fast food. The most fast food restaurants I have seen are when we drove 5 hours to Tamworth. A lot of the rest stops had a McDonalds, Hungry Jack's (Burger King), KFC (I was most shocked at this one), and Subway.
6. Some of the other "American" chain restaurants I have seen are Starbucks (not huge here), Gloria Jean's, and Outback (which I find hilarious).
- Australians are big coffee drinkers. Like the restaurants, they typically do not have franchises. Most are independently owned neighborhood/mom and pop type places. In our little neighborhood, they have three coffee shops right next to each other. There is never a lack of places to buy coffee!
-Along with the coffee, they usually do not drink their coffee black (or even with sugar/cream). A coffee as we know it would be called a "tall black." I think the most popular coffee is a flat white which is basically a latte without all the foam at the top. I actually like it better than a latte and it is my drink of choice.
- Since I tend to pee (or "wee" as it is said here) more than the average person, I have grown to hate the restroom situation. Mainly, the situation in bars/restaurants. I swear, people here do not use the restroom. I am fairly certain that it is not required to have a restroom on the premises where food is served. Smaller restaurants and coffee shops, etc. will not have a public restroom. In restaurants, I have gotten use to the restroom being outside, in alleyways (not actually peeing in the alley but having a legit bathroom in the alley), or in the fire escape stairway. Not cool.
- No, the toilets do not flush backward. All the toilets are low flow so they go strait down. They also do not have automatic flushing toilets. In fact, I think I saw a sign or advertisement making fun of countries that use automatic toilets (god forbid it flushes on you).
lollies = candy
fairy floss = cotton candy
spiders = coke floats (or according to Adam, any type of float)
There are so many more but all for another post! Enjoy!
