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Living overseas

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Original poster

Im curious - what do foreigners living here NOT get about Australia?

142 replies

eidsvold · 11/10/2006 11:38

just following on from not get about UK thread - curious to see Aus from another perspective.

Dh finds the idea of picking an ordinary child's name and then imagining the wackiest spelling you can just so your child can be different.

OP posts:
Original poster
eidsvold · 15/10/2006 22:17

yeh hannahsaunt - early shop closing only cause you were in the country here in Bris - lat night until 9 week nights and open sat and sun.

Not a big enough market for amazon but book stores aplenty here in Bris - so perhaps no need for online book sales.

OP posts:
Original poster
eidsvold · 15/10/2006 22:18

again we don't pay bank charges as we had our mortage with the same bank. There are some accounts that have a monthly fee that covers everything - usually small fee.

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hannahsaunt · 16/10/2006 07:31

Bloss - we were in North QLD - much of our Oz experience was because we weren't in a big city.

We did have 4 bookshops but 3 of them were small Angus & Robertson's and once you've been to one... The 4th was a fabulous (but small) independent one which stocked Green & Black chocolate (thankfully). Library was v v good though with fab children's activities.

Other things we didn't get - how you get by with such slow broadband! And no BBC World Service! And more adverts than programmes! And why ice cream doesn't come in cones ... until we realised that it melted in 2.5 seconds and needed to be in a cup to contain it

bloss · 16/10/2006 21:41

Message withdrawn

liath · 16/10/2006 21:54

Why do lots of people go barefoot?

No proper parmesan or salami etc.

Horrendous adverts - with the notable exception of the Toyota Hillux "bugger" advert, which was a work of genius.

I really miss living there, though. I miss the fantastic fresh fruit, the work to live rather than live to work ethos, the weather (except the rainy season, and the cyclone was a bummer) the lifestyle.

welliemum · 16/10/2006 21:55

at this thread.

Am in NZ but so much is relevant. It took me AGES to work out wtf people meant by "Manchester" .

What does "carpark" mean in Aus by the way? To me, it means an area with lots of spaces for cars.... in NZ it means just one space.

So when people stood in front of a huge multistory garage and said "I couldn't find a carpark" I thought they were a bit odd...

hannahsaunt · 17/10/2006 08:02

Liath - were you in north QLD too? Cyclone was quite scary for a while.

at carparks - we had a similar thing - they were called parks in Townsville - v odd! Parks have toys and sand and things - not cars...

mymama · 17/10/2006 08:16

liath - people go barefoot because they can!! V clean place to live.

Do have proper parmeson and salami - buy it from deli every week.

newspapers are wrapped in plastic in case it rains (not likely).

postboxes are at end of driveway not the street. people on properties have them if mail is not delivered to their area ie slightly rural.

call my ds a spunkrat everyday because he is.

never have done and never will feed my kids or any others devon and anything remotely similar.

carpark is the whole carpark and a single carpark.

bloss · 17/10/2006 09:46

Message withdrawn

liath · 17/10/2006 15:46

Yes, considerably less dogsh*t to tread in ! I wouldn't fancy going barefoot on the smeared pavements of Edinburgh.

Hannahsaunt - I was in Townsville too! It was cyclone Tessi in 2000, a direct hit but it wasn't a terribly strong cyclone luckily. Had a fab year there - loads of happy weekends on Magnetic Island.

I think my main issue with parmesan etc was that all I could get was "proudly Australian made" rather than imported Italian stuff! Perhaps looking in Woolworths was a mistake .

CountessDracula · 17/10/2006 15:54

not read whole thread but the things I found odd were

sweets being called lollies
all the men seemed very interested in cars and motorbikes zzzzzzzz
everyone drank rum
cigarettes in packs of 25 and 30

CountessDracula · 17/10/2006 15:55

Also the idents on tv that go on for hours and hours about how marvellous a particular channel is

suzywong · 17/10/2006 15:57

Burt Feckin Newton

Scares the Bejeezus out of me

SCARErenity · 17/10/2006 16:41

mymama - spunkrat just sounds so ..... rude, but then again we have different definitions for the word 'root' too, and even 10+ years later I still smirk when people use it innocently here (UK)

threebob · 17/10/2006 19:14

No dry ham to be seen anywhere.

superloopy · 17/10/2006 21:44

Your are kidding me...... Burt Newton is still on TV?? He must be 138 years old!! Has he been preserved, embalmed or mummified??

TheDaVinciCod · 17/10/2006 21:45

er is it wet ham
YUK

Original poster
eidsvold · 17/10/2006 22:30

Bert Newton scares me too

rum seems to have become a country thing - first time I had ever seen beer with rum chasers!!!

my dh is not your typical aussie - guess neither are my db's - they are more into srufing and things like that. But dh is a pom so we'll forgive him - he is more into football.

CD - you can get cigs in packs of 40 now!!

laughs at spunkrat....

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welliemum · 17/10/2006 23:12

Yes! Why can you not get nice Parma ham (or reasonable facsimile thereof) in the supermarket in NZ? I used to have a major prosciutto habit, so this is most distressing.

dd1 (born in NZ) loves Vegemite, whereas I'd rather have my head nailed to the floor than eat a Vegemite sandwich - but she'll probably grow up thinking Marmite is just as disgusting, so that's fair enough.

kokeshi · 18/10/2006 00:05

Aaaaaah Burt Newton, that's the one I was talking about way down the thread! Looks like he's been tangoed. Uh huh, made me cringe that Good Morning Australia.

I first noticed people going barefoot in Westfield shopping mall, as I was pondering the man in the Santa suit in his grotto on a 40 degree day in late December. I think it was the whole scene that got me!

mymama · 18/10/2006 01:38

I think we need to distinguish between the "bogans" and the true blue aussies.

bogans:

walk barefoot in Westfield
serve up devon,cheerios or similar
ditto brightly coloured fizzy drinks
drink rum
pie floaters
spell "normal" names differently
say "spunkrat", sheila, missus etc
talk about cars and bikes - go to the speedway

I don't do any of those things except for call my gorgeous ds1 a spunkrat (he thinks it is hilarious). I guess we all have a little bit of "bogan" in us. Oh, and thongs go with everything don't they???

arfishymeau · 18/10/2006 01:54

What on earth is a spunkrat?

Ahh. Geddit about cotton. This is also why I learned the hard way about raspberries - I threw about 3 punnets into my basket at the supermarket, just like I would in Sainsburys and had to have oxygen at the checkout because it cost $30!!!

After querying this with the natives I was told that it's becasue they don't grow here very well. Because of the amazing plants and flowers and glorious sunshine I tend to assume it's a haven for all plants.

Also had a confusing moment with blackberries at the weekend. They were mulberries.

AND YES! Burt Newton! What happened to his head?

But conversely, Rove is very pleasing on the eye.

Ah yes. Routing. I have to use the word 'routing' at work a lot, in an IT context. I pronounce it 'rooting' and have continued to because none of the men at work bothered to tell me that I was being rude.

welliemum · 18/10/2006 02:23

Am now sweating - is "root' rude in NZ too???

I am perfectly capable of talking about rooting around in my handbag, kitchen cupboard etc

Is the whole of NZ laughing at me? Eek!

threebob · 18/10/2006 02:25

Raspberries grow well here in NZ, but it's a lychee free zone. I had a major lychee habit in the UK.

threebob · 18/10/2006 02:25

I don't think root is rude here.