What suprised you about Australia when you finally got here?

[arfishy]

I always considered myself well-travelled and well-informed.

Inexplicably I was shocked when I arrived in Australia and saw hills .

What surprised you?

I know what you mean. Going the other way, when I moved from Australia to the UK I was agog at the deciduous trees.

I am from here but when I moved back after 10yrs away I had forgotten/surprised how friendly and chatty Aussies are...

I think I spent too long in London.

not about coming back but when this city girl went out to Longreach - I could not believe how big the sky was ( cause we have hills where I live and out there it was just so flat - sky was so big and blue!)

Superloopy - Aussies are friendly but hard to befriend.
Soo like the Brits.
All those high front yard fences, weird or what?

Bizarre trees; it's taken ages for me to get used to the seasons. Getting there though. the smell after rain is fabulous.

What totally TOTALLY shit losers they are at sport, especially when it's against the English. Unbelievable.

Chronic lack of confidence.

Superloopy - Aussies are friendly but hard to befriend.
Soo like the Brits.
All those high front yard fences, weird or what?

Bizarre trees; it's taken ages for me to get used to the seasons. Getting there though. the smell after rain is fabulous.

What totally TOTALLY shit losers they are at sport, especially when it's against the English. Unbelievable.

Chronic lack of confidence.

high front yard fence - we have one of those - 6 foot timber. We also have a child with sn who will wonder and we live on a busy road - would take nothing for her to be under the wheels of a car SO 6foot timber fence for us.

I'm Australian and have to agree with the bad loser comment, I find it quite funny after living away for 11yrs, I love it when we do win but find it aumusing when others lose the plot when we don't
I think a lot of houses here have decent sized front yards, so if they are fenced in, they are useful when you have small children, otherwise it's a waste of space.
I also forgot how chatty Australians can be, found the customer service had gone downhill a bit in 11yrs though but that probably goes with increase in population I guess.

don't you find the sun and starkness too much and long for rnglidh grey skies sometines

i emant muted greyness

I was amazed at the gambling culture. You don't see that in Neighbours do you?

And how sport is integrated into daily life here. I even watch the Footy Show. I would never do that in England.

And 'Manchester' and how all the stores have sales so often.

And the RSLs and Sports Clubs that are just giant drinking/gambling meccas under the guise of a sports club.

And how friendly Aussies are, it took me ages to shake off my London persona.

Arfishy - those constant sales. Hmmmm.

In the UK, to qualify as sale the article has to be available at the originally cited price before "sale' could be attached to it. Consumer protection is not as strong in OZ as the UK, so I wonder what "sales" mean in Godzone.

The Footy Show - that Sam Newman's an arse, cancer or no.

Gumnut Art. That surprised me.

Bizarre 1950s school uniforms worn with utter seriousness by well-formed 18 year-old lads. Cooo.

Oh yes! DD's lovely old fashioned school uniform and the fact that all schools have their own backpack.

Sam Newman? Which one is he? [obviously not paying THAT much attention]

Are you on our Aussie Roll-call list wishfort? [need to keep the numbers up emoticon]

can honestly say i have never watched the footy show!

nope - do not miss grey skies - felt so depressed through the UK winters after growing up in Aus.

Driving for hours down the Princes Highway and seeing no other cars

Blood on the pavement on a Sunday morning outside bars (in the 'burbs, and it was 14 years ago) ditto casual racism

How much damn sky there was, and how many stars you can see at night in the Outback (makes the UK feel very claustraphobic, even after this length of time)

How much I wanted to stay

the first thing that ever got me was going inot coles ... getting to teh checkout and being asked how are you today? ... so used to tescos's.. have you got your club card that i answered no instinctively .... was given a very odd look at that point and vowed never to approach the same till again!

oh but chloe did they ask if you had flybuys?!?!

And did they ask to search your bag on the way out?

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COD - manchester is linen - but I think from memory the term arose cause that is where the Aussie cotton went to be made into linen and then returned and flogged off to aussies at huge prices. I am sure it was on a thread on mnet at one point in time.

sunny delight - that is my bugbear - they never check when I am by myself BUT if I have a nappy bag I am automatically a shop lifter and need to be searched thoroughly as does my buggy/pram. However interestingly enough have never been asked to show my bags when exiting shops like Myer, DJ's and other upmarket shops.

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