Bells Overseas: 14 Aussie vs 'Merica

Stereotypes aside...
we often get lots of questions about the differences, these are the answers to the most common ones we get, beyond the "no, not everything will kill you there."
Which makes us ask heaps of questions.
"Heaps" is my favourite Aussie word by the way. Yes, I spelled 'favourite' correct. As my computer has assimilated in this country - to serve us better. *cheeky grin*

Basic Differences.
(Adapted from this article.)

The seasons are opposite. People don't generally ask about this but are surprised to recall it for the first time since school. I will save posting about how hot Australia is for another post...
Well, this one is obvious, Aussies drive on a different side of the road than the States. I have yet to try it, but Matt is certainly comfortable. Cuz, uh, manual drive issues.
New drivers on the road have to have an extra square plate displayed on the back of the car. It has a P or L on it depending on how long you have been driving. --- So when a car comes flying up the road and cuts you off you can blame it on their provisional driving skills.
Aussies very rarely dry their clothes in a dryer. Everything is air dried. It’s a pain when it’s raining but makes so much sense when it’s nice out. Think of all the electricity saved.
Now if I can find a better way to get all the fuzzies off my clothes, that I am used to a dryer doing.
There’s a definite sensitivity towards water usage here. So hand-washing dishes and short showers are at times emphasised. Oh! - and the toilets here have two flushing buttons. One is a half flush and the other is full flush. I think you can figure out which is for which.
Also! Here is the answer to "Do Aussie toilets flush the other way?"
Salvation Army, and a decent number of charity shops! The main way we have furnished our apartment has been Gumtree. Which is similar to Craigslist. 50$ for two large couches! Uh yeas-thank-you.
Spelling/pronunciation of words and slang. Words are spelled here as they do in England. For instance, honors vs. honours.
Abbreviations Aussies use. They like to shorten a word and put an 'o' or 'ie' at the end of it. To list a few: Salvo (salvation army), pressie (presents), Chrissie (Christmas), Maccas (Mc Donalds), Sunnies (sunglasses), uni (university) and so on and so on.
Aussies use their cutlery different from Americans.
Most keep the knife and fork in their hands all the time, rarely putting it down. It’s a polite way to eat your food, but this is a difficult thing to change if you try.. so I gave up a long time ago, cause... why?
Usually, the food is of high quality when you eat out....although you do pay for it. So, uh, we just don't. We don't have many reasons to do that. (Instead, we do a super cheap brekky at IKEA, oddly enough.)
Generally, the cost of living is more expensive here, but with things we have learned over the years to just live way more frugal, or just be thankful for the current currency exchange. And pray it stays decent.
Baseball is nowhere to be found, it’s all about the cricket on that front. BUT Matt has fully gotten into Aussie Rules Football. Nope, it's not Soccer, and it's not Rugby... While still following his American Football when and where he can. That's my man, versatile, and multi-cultural...
The bugs are insane. They are either massive like the huntsman spider (of which I personally have not ever seen), or painful like the bull ants. I don’t think I have ever been bitten so many times by mossies (mosquitoes). Or seen so many cockroaches on the street...
The birds here are more exotic – and make funny noises. All fine and good until you hear the squawking of kookaburras at 4 in the morning.

Rainbow Lorikeet
On the Animal front, we exchanged squirrels, chipmunks, racoons, skunks, deer, blue jays and robins for... kookaburras, kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, lorikeets, wombats, and cockatoos.

Basic Similarities are:

Australian Basic TV = American Basic TV.
A large majority of the shows and sitcoms are American, with exception to the local news. Scratch that - I can even catch the American today show here in Australia. Between following the local news online, and the National news that is presented by the Associated Press... We keep up-to-date pretty well.
Australian films = American films. Generally, we have no problem keeping tabs on what is going back in the States here.

Many American restaurants and shops are here. I can get Subway, McDonalds, KFC, and Burger King (called Hungry Jacks here, because the name was taken ).
The weekends are the big nights out. So like we have districts of our cities that shut down and others that wake up - Australia is the same way. Perth, in particular, shuts down earlier than most American cities I know.. So get we get groceries, and errands done early if we can.
Families are especially important here. People love to get together and have barbeques with the family on the weekends, and for holidays. AND like most coastal cities in the US, beach hangouts included. (That one is for you mum, in Florida.)
In YWAM we tend to do this at a park a lot because there are so many of us. Which makes for a good time.

Bonus | Foods

Australia is a mix of influences from Europe, and South East Asia... So in most dishes, and menus you see that coming through and making a taste all its own.

Tim Tams: These rectangular chocolate crispy biscuits with filling in between and all covered in icing. For some foreigners they are addictive. Pretty similar to a good Girl Scout cookie.
Gingerbeer: One of my favourite things... Real ginger, with a hint of lime,.. and definitely sweet enough to keep a serving to a small bottle, and a rare occasion.
Solo: A lemon soft-drink like you have never tasted. Super tangy.
Vegemite/Promite: Legendary Aussie food. Only occasionally do I eat this.. but not a bad brekkie (breakfast).
Pavlova: Delicious meringue cake with a sugar coating and fruit on top. Sweet as.
Lamington Cakes: These small chocolaty, rectangular cakes covered in coconut shavings. Yum!
Crunchie Bars and Violent Crumble Bars: Honeycomb covered in chocolate.
Iced Coffee: In most places, you can buy coffee flavoured milk in any convenience store.
Backyard Oranges, Lemons and Limes in our Neighborhood.. on back yard trees! Yes. I know you can get them in California, and Florida, but its super new to me. WE LOVE IT.
Meat pies and sausage rolls: Whoever thought of combining pastry and meat was a genius. It would definitely be a Frat-house food if eaten in the US.
Mi Goreng Instant Noodles -- Yup. The Aussie cousin of those American Instant noodles for those random lazy days when you run outta food at home. There are 4 packets of Asian seasoning that come with it.. so they are actually a nice change to the American ones. Matt likes them. But I'm not much of a fan.

Obviously, I can only speak from my own experiences which will always be limited no matter how many years we spend here...
*ah-ahem* Like, uh,... the time I just didn't pay attention that lavender grew here in the spring. Granted there have been some pretty dry seasons, but God knows, I only started paying attention to flowers recently, when taking photos for my mum this time around. Who knew Australia had lavender? I certainly didn't. *note* These revelations can either make you feel like everything is always fresh and new all the time or you're just really stupid for never noticing before. I get a bit of both all the time. It's quite humbling.

There are so many moments when living here things seem so similar to living in the States... But between the culture of YWAM, and layers of Perth culture and Aussie differences here... We are daily reminded and awed that we have been able to make a home here.

Fun links:
American and Australian Relations -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93United_States_relations

Americans try Aussie snacks... (with no context of 'how' to eat Vegemite by the way..)