Growing up in Australia we think we know a lot about how the
USA works. With influences in both the British and American cultures through TV
and movies we like to think we have the USA figured out. While those avenues do
give you a perception to the way they live, they don’t tell you everything. I wanted
to give you 8 quick insights this Aussie girl from Brisbane has learnt on her
few years studying abroad in the good ol’ U.S of A. Without further adieu, here
are they are.
1. The Banking System
2. The Internet
The internet here is AMAZING. Back when I first
left for U.S of A, my house was only able to have an ADSL1 connection which is
about 8000kbps on a good day and even at $60 a month we were only on a plan of
60gb allowance a month. While it’s still true that my parents can only get
ADSL1 they can now get more gigabits for their buck but it still doesn’t compare
to the speed I get here on my minimum cox plan of 16mbps… oh and by the way your
plan cost is determined by speed not by data allowances. So that means I have
been spoilt with the power of streaming media. It’s something I am going to
miss big time when I go back home! A
byproduct of the way the internet plan work here means that you can generally
get free Wi-Fi anywhere that you stay or eat.
While it is true in Australia that you can go to some places for example
a McDonalds a.k.a maccas in Aussie lingo, you are usually on a time limit of 30
minutes with purchase of goods, where they generally have the Wi-Fi password on
the receipt.
3. Guns
Owning a gun is perfectly normal in the
USA, I mean it is written into their constitution after all. In Australia it is
unusual to own guns, if you own one it usually means you’re a farmer or you are
gun enthusiast who likes to go to the gun ranges on a Saturday and shoot some
targets. Whereas here I know that guns are a way of life but it still shocks me
when I hear that friends and people have them in their cars or just hiding out
in their house somewhere unsuspecting. There
are a lot of rules and regulations surrounding gun ownership in Australia, they
would never be allowed to have ammunition or a gun just lying about somewhere
in there car. We did have looser regulations on gun control, but that all
changed when we had a mass shooting at a school. If you want to get an idea on
it I suggest watching John Oliver’s 3 part segment on gun control in Australia.
4. People
What we learned as kids about the
USA is that they big, loud mouth individuals, while that is true for some I was
blown away with how friendly people were here. Every time I go to the
supermarket or grocery store I am blown away by how friendly all the staff are
there, I always get asked at least once how I’m doing and if I need help with
anything.
5. University
In America there is a whole culture in
regards to University. In Australia you typically go to a university (uni) or
TAFE (a mixture between a trade school and a college) in the town that you
live. You chose which uni you want to go to depending on what you want to study
as some of the schools are better at certain areas. Then from their graduates
tend to go on an overseas adventure before settling down to a job, or you could
do it the other way and go on a gap year before uni and travel the world.
Whereas in America the trip to an out of state university seems to be there way
of breaking out on their own. There is also a group of Ivy League schools that
are on the pick of most eager young high school students, we don’t tend to have
that back home. There is also another thing we don’t have back home and that is
fraternities and sororities. 
That title pretty much speaks for
itself. Every time I take a trip to California and go near the coast you are
sure to find oil/gas refinery’s, nuclear plants or desalination plants. Pretty
much if it’s ugly and commercial it’s on the coast. It’s always a shame.
7. Dryers
Now you must be thinking, what are dryers doing
on the list? It is because clothes lines are an in danged species over here. What
I have gathered from my few years here is that having you clothes on the line
is almost a statement of how much money you make. When you drive past low
income house or government housing that is really the only time you will ever
see one. I don’t know when it became a standard that houses shall not have one
(it is even against the rules in some HOA’s or Body corporates). I live in Las
Vegas and we thought it was crazy not to have one so we built on in the back
yard. Why waste electricity and burn coal when it is perfectly fine to dry them
outside, it’s even better than Brisbane, 30 minutes and that desert air dried
them out quicker than the good old drier.
8. Air Conditioning
While it is hot in Australia never assume
that the air conditioning is on. Most shopping centers(malls), restaurants,
hotels and offices have the air con on during those hot summer days don’t expect
them to be cold. I’ve noticed while living in Las Vegas people like to believe
they live in a different place during the summer by setting their thermostats
to 21c (70f) while outside is typically 43c+ (110+f). In Australia we only
typically turn our air on while we’re trying to get to sleep or if it is a particularly
bad day and only to take the edge off. You just learn to live in the heat. We
also have this thing called reverse cycle air conditioners to heat the house in
the winter.
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