Top 5 Things That Surprised Me About Life Down Under

I’ve been in Australia for a little over two weeks now and I’m having a wonderful time! I’ve meeting so many new people and having so many new experiences, and I can’t wait to share some of those with y’all. For my first post in Australia, I thought it would be fun to share with y’all the top 5 things that surprised me about life down under. Changes such as the accents and driving on the left side of the road were differences I was prepared for; however, there have been quite a few things that have surprised me about living in Australia such as:

1. Trump seems to come up in conversations and lectures almost as much as he does back home. I am aware that many Australians probably bring up Trump in conversations with me because I’m an American; however, in lectures and class readings, even when we are not talking directly about America, he is brought up often. I think part of the reason this surprises me so much is because in the U.S. we rarely talk about Australia, especially Australian politics. Meanwhile, here in Australia, U.S. politics and life are a common topic of conversation. This serves as a further reminder to me just how closely the rest of the world is watching the U.S., and the impact our policies and actions have on other countries. From McDonalds to Hollywood movies, the Australian way of life, though unique, is clearly very influenced and affected by the U.S. 

2. On the other hand, Australia is still very much its own country. If I had been studying in France or China, I would have expected the products in grocery stores to look and taste extremely different from those at home; however, because Australia is such a “westernised” country, with American brands and products everywhere, I was expecting the grocery stores to carry a lot of the more popular American brands. Now, while they do carry some products like Oreos and Nature Valley Oats n’ Honey Bars, American grocery products are few and far between. While a grocery store in Australia being filled with mostly Australia brands may seem obvious to most, for me, it was truly a moment of shock. Walking through the grocery aisles with no idea what to buy was a really humbling experience. I realised just how much the brands and product names that we know and love are ingrained into our society, and how, when faced with a wall of the unfamiliar, concepts like “on-brand” and “off-brand” become irrelevant. I also didn’t have much confidence that I was going to like all the products that I was spending my money on, which was a really odd experience. I left my first grocery trip rather empty handed and a bit discouraged. However, after a couple trips back, and help from some friendly Australians, I’ve become much more comfortable figuring out what I want to buy.

*Smith’s potato chips are like the Lay’s of Australia*

3. The meals they serve for breakfast here are probably one of the weirdest changes I’ve noticed. Both in Fiji and Australia, they’ll eat either canned spaghetti on toast or beans on toast for breakfast. I will admit, walking into the dining hall and seeing a big tray of canned spaghetti as one of the options is not something I find appetizing, and I don’t think I’ll be trying it while I’m here. Beyond that, I’ve also had grilled cheese (cheese toastie) served for breakfast, which I also found rather odd, but as weird as it felt eating grilled cheese for breakfast, it tasted great! Though I know that in America the concept of experimenting with when to eat certain foods isn’t unheard of, breakfast for dinner or something like cold leftover pizza for breakfast is a (somewhat) acceptable meal (especially in college), I’ve yet to meet an American who would intentionally cook a full breakfast of dinner food. An on top of that, it’s rare that you will find an American who really enjoys eating their spaghetti out of a can! 

*Not my pictures, but you get the idea!*

4. Much to my chagrin, air conditioning (air con) doesn’t seem to be as popular here as it is back home, which I find odd considering how hot it is here. Similarly to Fiji, opening lots of windows seems to be common here to get air flow into buildings, but this essentially means that if there is no breeze, you’re out of luck! I didn’t realise how much of an issue this was going to be at first, because though I had no air conditioning in my room, I didn’t find it weird because my freshman dorm at William & Mary didn’t have air conditioning. However, I quickly noticed that places like my classes and the church I’ve been attending also don’t have air conditioning and this was quite a shock since it’s summer time here and the temperatures are often rather high. Though I was originally using my new bike to get from place to place, I quickly learned that that was a mistake. I would arrive everywhere really sweaty from my bike ride and then I would have to sit there fanning myself trying to cool down because the room had no air conditioning. So I decided to started taking the bus everywhere until the weather cools down enough that I can bike without profusely sweating! Lastly, I’ve noticed that when I do find a place with air conditioning, it’s not nearly strong as the air conditioning at home. There have been times when I’ve been in a room with air conditioning and it didn’t feel much cooler than outside!

*This is my wonderful fan which is the only reason I can sleep at night (the first week with no fan was rough) and behind it you can see my open window*

5. Theft seems to be a really big deal here. Not necessarily that it’s particularly high compared to back home, but just that the stores here are hyper vigilant about it. At both the University Shop and grocery store on campus, students have to drop off their backpacks in cubbies outside the shop before they can go in. Also, the grocery store near me, Cole’s, has signs saying they have the right to search your bags if you enter into their stores. They also had something similar in Fiji, where you had to “check” you bag at grocery stores and the university shop if you had a large bag, but here you just simply leave it in a cubby. Now, while leaving it in a cubby is less of a hassle, if I have a backpack with all of my school stuff and want to shop in the grocery store, I’d be worried to leave my laptop unattended! I also find these policies interesting when comparing it to the U.S. because I have heard many stories before of shop workers having to ignore shop lifting if they see it. Here they are hyper vigilant about theft and don’t seem to have any qualms making sure people aren’t leaving with their products without paying. 

While these differences are more day to day stuff, I have also noticed that college is pretty different here as well. I’m thinking that for my next post I’ll discuss the distinctions between going to college in America vs. Australia (which in some cases may just be the differences between William & Mary and The University of Wollongong), as well as talk about what classes I’m taking here! 

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