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| Hardest thing to adapt to here.... | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 2 2011, 05:14:29 PM (4,459 Views) | |
| Toriaballet | May 12 2011, 09:11:06 PM Post #81 |
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True Blue Mate
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I am addicted to the elliptical, low impact cardio and I don't have to worry about being too tired to "run back" home or predict how much I will want to run in advance....but I like the variety because I like to cross train with weights, yoga, and cardio and the pool! and its all in one convenient location. Then I use the sauna for "dessert"....alas those days are gone! |
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| kopiko | May 16 2011, 05:22:52 PM Post #82 |
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Anklebiter
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The prices and laundry would have to be the hardest things to get used to. "Omg! I paid like 1/4 of the price back home" I also hate that shops close so early and I miss 24/7 Walmart and grocery shopping late at night. Crossing the street  My boyfriend had to hold my hand for a while when crossing the streets as if I was a little kid. So that being said, I am way too used to driving on the 'right' side of the road back home. When I get car ride, which isn't often, I head to the driver's side as a habit from the US and I get funny looks. I think I finally got used to the coins here. The silver coins go in order with size and value but the $2 coin is smaller than the $1 coin  Sometimes I have to process in my head what's being said, as in the accents. I remember someone said Auckland once and I thought "why is she mentioning Oakland, CA?" I wanted to laugh at out loud when I realized she meant Auckland, New Zealand. Speaking of accents, I have to consciously think to say tomato like an Australian and not say it like an American, same for banana. I wish the accent came with the change of location! The "reverse" seasons I have to get used to. There's no snow for Christmas! So the same goes for the degrees, Celsius and Fahrenheit. Then that leads me to the metric system. I'm only familiar with it because of science classes but that's been a while... I couldn't just pick one thing to mention in this post >.< |
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| Jennie | May 19 2011, 04:05:58 AM Post #83 |
Chinwagger
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This is so interesting to me as an American who's lived in France for 5 years. A lot of things that are frustrating or hard to get used to for the Americans in Australia seem to be the same things that I have trouble with in Europe. About the store hours, do they close for lunch (between 12-2) and are any open on Sundays? Do any 24 hour stores exist? Are all the shopping carts of the "all 4 wheels turn so they're impossible to push in a straight line" type? Do you have to bring your own bags and bag your own groceries while the cashier and everyone behind you stare at you angrily because you're going too slow? |
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| TerritorianTori | May 19 2011, 10:53:37 AM Post #84 |
It couldn't happen here
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Where I live: No and limited hours on Sunday Where you live: Not sure We used to have a 24-hr Coles (supermarket) in the CBD, but that was sadly scrapped a few years ago. But Adelaide is a much bigger city, so you might! Yes! Not yet. They've recently banned single-use plastic bags in the Northern Territory, so eventually we'll all have to bring our own... but I don't think you have to bag your own groceries. P.S. For more on the "Aussie shopping experience", check this thread: http://yanksdownunder.net/topic/460245/ 
Edited by TerritorianTori, May 19 2011, 10:55:24 AM.
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 South Texas to the Northern Territory - since 2004 I'm a huge fan of... Angry Video Game Nerd | The Big Bang Theory | Doctor Who | Pet Shop Boys | Yanks Down Under ~ Americans living in Australia Avatar by Sketch Shop Boys I don't do Facebook, sorry. | |
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| mamkai | May 19 2011, 05:56:40 PM Post #85 |
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True Blue Mate
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Melbourne has at least one 24 hour K-Mart and the Woolworths by my house stays open late. Beyond groceries, you are out of luck after 6:00 pm Sat-Wed. Thursdays & Fridays open later. |
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| SanDiablo | May 19 2011, 11:39:21 PM Post #86 |
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True Blue Mate
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No 24 hour grocery stores in Adelaide, but I know where you can get a pie floater anytime of the day or night. Plastic bags are banned in Adelaide (although some shops still have them...I don't quite understand...). The folks here are pretty good about bringing their own bag (and when I forget, I just push the shitty trolley right out to the car and put it all in my boot. Every once in awhile, a cashier simply doesn't bag my groceries...I don't quite understand...but I like to bag my own cuz only I do it just right 
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| "I'll try anything twice." | |
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| SanDiablo | May 19 2011, 11:40:33 PM Post #87 |
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True Blue Mate
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Oh, and grocery stores are generally open til 10 or 11 pm - except on Saturdays they close at 5. |
| "I'll try anything twice." | |
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| elzzzz | May 20 2011, 03:51:24 PM Post #88 |
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Anklebiter
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I'm a scientist and I still can't deal with the switch to Celsius... I tend to use Celsius when it's cold and Fahrenheit when it's hot, because 40 degrees C just doesn't SOUND hot enough in the middle of summer in Sydney.... :P And I really, really miss the changing leaves, snow... All the stuff I hated when I first moved to CT from CA, strangely enough! |
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| Bindie | May 20 2011, 07:18:34 PM Post #89 |
True Blue Mate
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Come to Canberra! The leaves are beautiful! Visit Thredbo for the snow! |
 The future is no place/to place your better days, DMB Canberra, ACT since 2004 | |
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| Ausson | May 23 2011, 02:48:36 PM Post #90 |
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True Blue Mate
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I'm with Bindie, the changing leaves here in Canberra have been absolutely gorgeous, and actually a treat for me as in Colorado I was used to mainly Aspens turning golden, but here the colours have been every shade imagineable. Plus, just look west at the Brindabellas in winter to see them covered in snow. All the beauty of the snow without the hassle of watching the Texans and Southern Californians learn to drive on the stuff every winter. |
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| yaussievi | May 23 2011, 03:02:08 PM Post #91 |
True Blue Mate
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If you have a good Cannoli recipe I'd love it! |
| Yaussie-Vi | |
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| elzzzz | May 24 2011, 11:55:04 AM Post #92 |
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Anklebiter
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Hmmm... I'll have to check Canberra out at this time of year! I hadn't thought about it... I've only been in winter. Thanks!! |
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| elzzzz | May 24 2011, 11:56:26 AM Post #93 |
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Anklebiter
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| Cimexus | Jun 11 2011, 04:26:02 AM Post #94 |
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Chinwagger
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Hehe interesting how that works, mentally-speaking - it's the opposite for me: I use C for everything except very cold temperatures, for which I feel more natural in F. Having grown up with Celsius 40 'sounds' HOT to me. It's that big number that the very hottest days get to (I imagine like 100 F for Americans). But to me, all temperatures in F just sound ridiculously high ... they might as well be 'eleventy billion' as far as my brain is concerned. BUT I find myself using F quite naturally for cold temps (below around-10 C / 14 F). This is because these are temperatures that I didn't come across in Australia (the coldest Canberra gets is around -7 C / 19 F in a typical year). But I do come across much colder temperatures in the US (in Wisconsin, down to -30 C / -20s F, less if you include windchill). So I 'learned' Fahreinheit for those temperatures without even realising it, because I had no past experience of them using metric. Edited by Cimexus, Jun 11 2011, 04:28:36 AM.
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