Cultural Differences

So in my time down here I have made some cultural discoveries that have been quite interesting that I figured I'd pass along for your amusement or just pure enlightenment.

1. Sports are a much more family oriented event here. The typical male bonding 30 packs, tailgating pre- and post-game hardly exist and you can get a ticket to a game for 20 dollars and sit field side showing up 15 min. before game. I do wish someone from the states was here to try and help me change this as bringing beers to seats is nearly non-existent, heckling fellow fans is nonchalant at best and excessive consumption is a mere fantasy.

2. Saying "Cheers" is the equivalent of saying thank you, a social drink, you're welcome, and a few other meanings I haven't even caught on to yet but will get back to you.

3. Pregaming seems to be an undiscovered art. Most people just seem to show up at bars and get going. Although I do suppose they have time to pace themselves since bars are open til 6 am or later. Perhaps I just haven't met the right crowd yet but beers are also ridiculously expensive and 30 racks dont exist most beers are in bottles and a 24 pack costs at least $35. So perhaps this is why but it also increases wine consumption which isn't a bad thing because a decent bottle from local wineries can be bought from anywhere from $8-$17.

4. I'll also mention that although the bars are open until 6 or later I have yet to accomplish the feat of staying out till such a time. I'm a sprinter not a marathon runner I think we all know that.

5. There sports teams are a lot harder to follow especially when you don't know anything about the game. They have 10 "home" teams for the AFL in Melbourne so deciding who to cheer for is pretty tough when the teams that have the coolest uniforms suck. They scarcely know anything about American Sports and right now gametrack is the only thing keeping me in line with the Celts, B's and Sox.

I am trying to learn Aussie Rules Football and had practice for the Rec team I joined yesterday. I was sucking wind about 10 seconds in and didn't stop until the end but we'll see how I do picking up this foolish sport.

6. Australians think that Americans are nicer then fellow Australians. And I thought the other way around not quite sure why that is. Perhaps people just like the accent and try to give off that friendlier vibe to the new ppl rather then a fellow countrymen who knows?

7. Apparently people find my over-excitement at simple things rather humorous. I had this lil apple crisp in a vanilla cake shell that was covered in sugar it was "phenomenal". Or so I thought and now I get made fun in the office as they find it atypical to describe foods with such flagrant adjectives. I've also been made fun of for using fantastic, ridiculous, and amazing. Apparently I use them a little overzealously.

8. A few misunderstandings are potato chips are called crisps. French Fries are chips. A pot is about 7 oz of beer. A pint is standard 16oz. Pitchers have the equivalent of 2.25 beers in them and are called jugs. Sausages = hotdogs. People spread butter on almost all their rolls or breads. Ketchup = tomato sauce (not too bad). Good on ya= good job, probably others too. No Worries= you're welcome. I'm sure I'll pick up more those are just a few.

9. Guys who dress and look like tools get HOT girls here too. I guess thats a cultural similarity.

10. This place overall is like being in the mid to late 90s. They have a bunch of big phone companies that everyone seems to complain about, they have a bunch of diff. internet providers and none of them have merged or offer packaged deals and they all suck and are just discovering Broadband as it took me almost a month and a half to get that. For my first month I was using a Dial-up service to log into internet.

Awesome side effect is music in clubs still will feature hits like I'm Blue...Wannabe...and What is Love?

Well thats all I've got for now. I'm sure I'll have more before too long.