35 Ways to Know You’re “Down Under” and Not in America Anymore

You go to the mall to do your banking, dry cleaning, doctor’s appointments, grocery shopping and more! When it’s time for a physical, you go to surgery (the doctor’s office). If you need an operation, it will take place in a theatre (operating room). You have to learn how to spell again: tire=tyre, color=colour, organize=organise, pediatrician=paediatrician, etc. You send your children to school wearing sloppy joes, instead of them eating them (sloppy joe is a sweatshirt). Everyone is driving on the left side of the road with the steering wheel on the right. You don’t go through an intersection but instead go around a roundabout.  You order “chips” and get “French Fries.” You order “lemonade” and get a “Sprite.” You wipe your mouth off with a serviette instead of a napkin. You break for “tea” at least twice a day. You have ice cream on your hot cakes (pancakes) for brekkie (breakfast). McDonald’s serve beetroot (beets) on their burgers. A happy meal choice at McDonald’s is a hot cheese and tomato sandwich. When it’s time to flush the toilet, you have a choice of two different types of flushes. You don’t go to the hospital, you go to hospital. Driving in the country, you might hit a kangaroo crossing the road, not a deer. No matter what social class you’re in, you probably hang your clothes outside on a clothesline. You may have beans on toast for breakfast. You like to eat snags on the barbie (sausages on the barbeque grill). All children wear uniforms to school (public and private schools). Schoolchildren are required to wear hats to school and have them on during recess and physical education. You don’t have to tip a waiter or waitress. You carry a lot of $1 and $2 coins in your pocket as change. You cannot put outgoing mail in your mailbox. You must take it to the post office to be mailed. No flags on our boxes here. The postman delivers your mail on a postie bike (a moped). It’s a warm day when it 30 degrees outside (Celsius, that is). You can go 110 on the highway legally (110 kilometres per hour). A trip to the city could easily involve taking a car to the train to the bus to the ferry. You probably live within an hour or so of the beach (most Aussies do). You probably have a neighbour from another country (Asia, Philippines, China, the Middle East, Vietnam, England, New Zealand. One-third of all Australians are immigrants). You put a dummy in your baby’s mouth to calm him down (a pacifier). Your baby sleeps in a cot (crib) and wear nappies (diapers). Birds head “North” for the winter (it is warmer as you travel North). Christmas is in the hottest season of the year (our summer)!!

Web Editor - Don Tarvin
Updated 18 Jul 2008