For the most part, the transition to Australia has been fairly smooth, but there are definitely little reminders everyday that we’ve moved to a foreign country.

One of the first things that made me do a double take was Safari Snorkels (an exhaust coming out of the side by the front window) on trucks and SUVs. This is our neighbor’s- not sure why they need it in the city. Also, pickup trucks tend to have a bed on them like this as well. We rarely see a regular truck like in the US.

Figuring out the brands in the grocery store did take a little while. Initial trips to the grocery store were not fun when trying to read labels/ingredients while trying to entertain two kids, but I think I’ve found most items that we like. {Of special note: they have good peanut butter here unlike in France, so we do not need to request that in our care packages with every visitor or bring it back from every home visit. The big jars always caused our suitcases to be searched by TSA!}

But, again, there are things that aren’t the same. Like Tasty cheese. It is everywhere and in many variations, like one called super tasty. It turns out to be their equivalent of Cheddar.

This has nothing to do with Australia that I know of, but I’m obsessed with it. I don’t recall seeing it in the US, but if you do get it. It’s Feta cheese marinated in garlic, oil, peppercorns, and bay leaves. {Notice the slight difference in spelling of Feta though}.

I think I’ve turned into my mother and have a cup of tea as an afternoon pick-me-up. I’m not sure if this type of tea is available elsewhere, but I figured I might as well try it, so when in Australia, drink….

I’ve already posted how different it is to drive on the other side of the road, but the road signs are different too. Here you “Give Way” instead of yielding. I don’t have a picture of it, but instead of a sign saying “Do Not Pass”, the sign says “No Overtaking”.

On the driving theme, many cars have a P or L in the window. This signifies if someone has their learner’s permit or probationary driver’s license. You can’t get a license until you are 18 years old here and have many restrictions on a probationary license. It sounds like a long process, but perhaps a safer one.

And, in case you are wondering, I still walk to the wrong side of the car a few times a week and try to get into the passenger’s side instead of the driver’s side. I can hold a conversation while driving now and no longer have white knuckles. I do still have mix-ups. Sometimes I think that I’ll go down a certain road so that I do not have to cross traffic when pulling out…. here I’ve visualized the roads going the way they do in the US, and end up having to cross traffic anyhow.

Most people have a sign like this on their mail slot. How nice would this be to eliminate junk mail?! We don’t have it on our mailbox, so I’m not sure if it really works or not… It’s actually been okay for me to get the flyers so that I see what stores carry which items.

A lot of my friends from France where actually from the UK, so I got used to some of their terminology for things. Australians use a lot of the same terminology. They say rubbish a lot. In fact, on my phone, when you delete an email, it goes into rubbish and not trash.

As I said there are reminders everyday… such as needing to order meat in g/kgs…. having to think twice when the yoga teacher said to put your hand 6-10cm in front of your foot… using an oven that’s Celsius when all your recipes are in Fahrenheit…getting on the treadmill and wondering why it didn’t feel like I wasn’t walking fast enough when I was at 4.0, then realizing it km/hour and not miles/hour.

I could go on and on about the little reminders. But with that said, there is a lot of America here too. If we want to eat at McDonald’s or Subway, shop at Kmart, or even stop at 7-Eleven for gas, a slurpee and Krispie Kremes, it’s no problem.