Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Just a Little Different

Life in Australia isn’t drastically different from that in the U.S. However there are small differences that occasionally leave me amused and sometimes puzzled.

Toilets
The initial trip to an Aussie loo (toilet) leaves most American’s a bit confused. The country of Australia has never had enough water and that becomes apparent the first time you have to decide if your recent activity requires a big flush or a small flush.




Outlets
All electrical outlets in Australia have an on/off switch. The U.S. is only recently starting to talk about the trickle of electricity drawn by devices that are turned off but still plugged in. The Aussie’s figured that out decades ago and put a switch on every plug. It’s a good idea, but can be a bit daunting to new comers when they plug in an appliance (hair dryer, iron, vacuum, ect.) and flip on the machine and nothing happens.

Stop Signs
When a road or street ends at a T intersection, there is seldom, if ever, a stop sign. If your road ends, it’s your responsibility to merge into on-coming traffic. You have to love Aussie logic – if the road ends you should stop.

Celsius Ovens
Operating the oven here requires a cheat sheet for temperature conversions, plus I have to subtract 25 degrees because it’s a convection oven and turn the pan every 15 to 20 minutes to prevent burning on the front side of the pan.

Other helpful hints for living down under- When you drive on the right side of the road, slow traffic must keep to the left. If you want a cookie, ask for a biscuit and if you want a biscuit, ask for a scone. If you want ketchup, ask for tomato sauce, if you need tomato sauce ask tomato puree. Burgers always come with pickled beets and a fried egg and the local adult store is the only place in Alice that sells Crisco.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paula,

I love reading this blog, it is interesting to learn about the differences between the U.S and the rest of the world. It proves to be an eye opening experience for everyone. Thanks for brightening up my day.

T

Anonymous said...

Please update us on how and why you found the Crisco??

Graham S

Walk with me said...

Believe it or not Graham- the Crisco supplier was discussed at spy spouse orientation. I have been to “Horny Devils” to purchase Crisco. I conned Dave into accompanying me on the trip (I didn’t have to ask twice!) and was relieved to discover that although they sell “power tools”, most of the merchandise isn’t any seedier than a “Spencer’s” store in U.S. shopping malls.

Anonymous said...

So Paula, does your crisco come in a squeeze tube or can you purchase a can full like you can at an American grocery store?

kb

Walk with me said...

Crisco comes in the small (approx 1 lb) cans and cost $12. I bought one can for making pie crusts and left wondering – “surely there are cheaper lubricating substances available!”