It has now been two whole years since I packed up and moved my life down under from Los Angeles, and holy crap does my life continue to change and adapt to this country. At 10 months, I wrote on all the major changes American’s would experience when moving here that I noticed at that time. Money, work, transport, meat pies etc – I recommend reading the original post that can be found here that covers the basics.
Now 24 months later, 30 and still single (oh, how you will notice) I continue to find more and more variables that make my life here unique from America, which obviously provoked this sequel! Some are adjustments I have been able to make and some others are ones that definitely need more time!
So here you go, 15 MORE ways your life changes when you move to Australia:
UNDER MY UMBRELLA ELLA ELLA
Weather in Australia, is quite the bipolar bastard. Showers happen off and on allll the timeeeee, making it quite impossible to dress appropriate. Due to this carrying an umbrella, even when it is all rainbows and butterflies, is still a must. I have one in my desk, one at home, and one in my purse in order to attempt to stay dry from these random attacks.
OH and ironically, it seems to rain every weekend! It’s like the weather says,”Ohhh heyyyyy time for everyone to enjoy the outdoors and go to the beach…. HA! SIKEEEEE“- <3 Always, The Rain
KEBAB O’CLOCK
Long nights out always have to end somewhere, and that somewhere here is your corner Kebab shop. Greasy meats, creamy sauces, cheeses and oh so many naughty additions to devour. These 24/7 open shops might make you gag walking past at 8am on your way to work, but definitely make you crave every night around midnight.
A KISS ON THE CHEEK PLEASE
In America we are famous for the hug, no kiss greeting. Having strangers kiss your cheek on a daily basis can be very icky at first and takes a bit of getting use. You slowly transition from the awkward “going in for a hug while they go in for the kiss” stage – to just full blown going in for the kiss kill. I always kiss regardless now. In addition, good friends receive a complimentary hug and hot boys receive a complimentary extra 3 seconds of lip time 😉
AMERICAN SPORTS
You know Sunday Funday for football and fun nights of watching the Lakers? Yeah… unless you want to wake up at 4am or take a day off work, you will not be able to witness these games first hand. Enjoying these simple sporting events become a bit more difficult and quite annoying. You become co-dependent on friend’s Facebook statuses to get scores, highlights and all the beloved shit talking. So instead, Rugby, Cricket and AFL are your new go to for live sports.
POLITICS SCHMOLITICS
Living abroad really opens your eyes to the world of politics from well, all around the world. After 2 years you should be out of the “American bubble” and starting to understand politics from many sides. You will quickly learn there are idiotic politicians in every country. Whether it is a clown building some magical wall in the States or a Prime Minster in Australia who enjoys eating onions with the skin on – you become much more mindful of worldly political affairs and LOL more than ever.
CHEESE BOARD GALORE
Though a good old cheese platter is regularly loved back in the states, I do not believe they can compete with the quantity of the boards enjoyed here. I probably consume a cheese board at least 2 times a week, sometimes even TWICE a day! Could this be because of the large amount of social wines that are consumed here daily? Perhaps…..
But obviously a nice glass of wine accompanied by some creamy brie is a must have on any Aussie day.
THE NOT SO ITSY BITSY SPIDERS
OHHH SPIDERS.. Everyone’s favorite crawling buddy and trust me, Australia has plenty of these friends to hang out with. When you first arrive you will be scared shitless, but after awhile you do get better at handling spiders the size of cheeseburgers hanging from the walls at any given time. You actually kind of forget about them? It is only when you can no longer find that spider the size of a cheeseburger that was on your wall that you burn your sheets and check for flights back to America.
TAP TAP
GOODBYE AUTO-CORRECT
In Australia instead of using American English they use more of a British English. Favourite, colour.. mum – all those words that got my spelling all mixed up 2 years ago now roll naturally off my fingers like swiping left on Tinder. They go from this totally looks wrong – to getting accustomed to – to next nature. Say goodbye to auto correct as your brain has now officially adjusted!
THE NEW EXOTIC
When I first moved to Australia, nothing made my pants drop quicker than the sexy exotic accent of the Aussie man. The Australian accent to an America women is unusual, alluring and just straight up sexy! Sadly, that accent eventually develops into the everyday norm, making the response to that accent become practically nonexistent .Ironically instead, the sounds of a good American boy starts taking the lead for once in your life.
MACCA’S
McDonald’s? Erm.. what the heck is that?
Ohhhhhh you mean Macca’s!
As usual, the odds of Aussies pronouncing the full word of anything is slim to none. Thus causing the term McDonald’s to slowly disappear and instead Macca’s becomes embedded in your brain as the actual name of the food chain. Regardless, it doesn’t matter what you call it – Mcdonald’s, Macca’s, Mickey D’s – It’s all just the same definition of “crap” pronounced differently .
THE NEW GANG
In the beginning making a group of friends can take a slow start. But give it some time and you should finally have a good solid stable of friends you can call family. After 2 years, the amount of contact you have with friends back home diminishes even more as you now have full blown life here down under. The overwhelming feeling of living a “double life” can be constant and heavy at times- but that’s a whole different post 🙂
NO WORK FRIDAY
As mentioned in my first go around, the work culture here is quite different than that of the states. More relaxed, chilled and overall more enjoyable. But when you throw in the fact that the whole country doesn’t really work on Fridays, it’s like throwing icing on the cake. Doesn’t matter what industry you work in, the odds of you leaving around 4pm or getting the office drinks started at 3pm are highly likely. Fridays are social workdays, causing not so much a dent into your emails but more of a dent into decreased liver functioning.
HUMIDITY SUCKS
Do you enjoy sweating for absolutely no reason? Aw great, well welcome to the land irregular humidity. Minus probably the exceptions of Louisiana, Texas and Florida, Australia’s humidity can be off the charts compared to America. Definitely not as bad as tropical countries obviously, but man oh man is sleeping naked necessary many nights. Especially if you are like half of Sydney who does not have adequate air conditioning. Sleeping naked in the cool living room usually helps with a humid night. Unless you have roommates, then.. yea, don’t.
INTERNATIONAL DATING
The dating scene in Australia also takes a bit of time to get accustomed to. The majority of the guys who hit on me/I find on Tinder etc, are always expats. The British in particular are out of control in volume, luckily for them their accents are yummy. It is more rare to date an Aussie than a non-Aussie, so you get use to international men being a norm in your dating life. Life could be worse though, right? 😉
Well there you have it, even more ways your life changes living here after 2 years! And I am sure each additional year will bring even more along the way. Luckily for me, I enjoy embracing these changes and love Australia for keeping my life forever evolving.
<3 Michelle
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Email me personally at hotmessgoestoozblog@gmail.com
Read the original here:
An American Down Under: 20 Ways Your Life Changes When You Move to Australia
If you enjoyed this you may also like:
Getting Ready to Travel??? 11 Things you Must Consider Before Picking Your Travel Buddies!
Making Friends Living Abroad: The Problems, The Struggles, and my (Attempted) Solutions
Or read on my personal adventures, dating, and travel by reviewing all posts
Copyright © 2016 Michelle Thibeault
Reblogged this on TaraLekatana.
Ha! When I was reading about the accent of Aussies, I thought you said ‘scent’ and at that moment I agreed that it was exotic for sure. Seems that there and here in New Zealand deodorant is NOTHING like it is in the U.S. Our isles span about 50 feet of floor space. This side of the world? About 10 inches of shelf space. Men think Lynx body spray is the same as deodorant and most women’s deodorants are ROLL ON’S!! YUCK. Add in that heat and humidity and you get around some tradies, forget it…completely disgusting. Nobody seems to bat an eye over it there though. Funny how American’s are so anti B.O. (hey, I’m not complaining!). I bring back deodorant from the states and keep it stocked!
Interesting stuff, Michelle! Always love reading your updates. The daughter of a friend of ours married an Aussie and lives near Melbourne – the heat, humidity and spiders are often mentioned. She’s been there over 3 yrs.
Glad you’re enjoying life there. Margie
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I am an Aussie living in Florence, Italy. I have been away from Oz for over 18 years. I really love you posts they make me laugh so much about Aussie life and how we are so out of this world – x x
I love reading your blogs. Thanks for sharing! Miss you.
Your blogs are the bees-knees girlfriend! I thoroughly enjoy!