I’m living in another country. But Australia does belong with the developed countries like the USA and countries in western Europe. So what exactly is different apart from the fact that the language spoken is different? Here are some differences i noticed between the Netherlands and Australia:
1) At the supermarket (no matter which one), you are greeted friendly and the cassiere even sorts out your shopping items in plastic bags for you. They also take your keycard (pinpas) and swipe it themselves for you.
2) Pin transactions are similar with a 4 digit pin code but you have the opportunity to select which account you want to use. That’s savings for me.
3) Always when waiting in line, wait until you are called. It’s ‘rude’ to step up when you think the person before you is done and walks away.
4) Cycling on the road is allowed but the roads are not build for cyclists. Cycling on the sidewalk where pedestrians walk is much more common and apparently also allowed. There are some bicycle tracks in Canberra. In Australia people drive on the left side of the road.
5) You must wear a bike helmet by law or face a fine up to $50
6) There are few custards (vla) and yoghurts and a smaller selection of brand cheeses or you have to pay a lot for little.
I’ll add some more things later on.
It is actually quite amazing: driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road doesn’t really make any difference. I think the most dangerous part of it is when you are walking (especially the first month), because you expect the cars to come from all different places but the right one! When out of the city, on the “highway’s” driving is easy, because you are safest to drive in the middle, so you can anticipate crossing kangoeroe’s better (as long as the roads are not too busy with traffic of course, though in WA traffic jams is an unknown word, don’t know about Canberra and surroundings?)
Oh, you get used to driving (or in my case riding) on the left side of the road. Even roundabouts arent really a problem because you are guided onto the roundabout in the correct direction. I still have the urge to hop in on the drivers side of the car though whereas I indended to get in the car on the passengers side. =)
Nice list Robert. How is driving on the ‘wrong’ side for you?