Some habits are just universal. Tipping, looking left when crossing the street, and using a tumble dryer. But Australia is a place where things get flipped upside down and get done differently from the rest of the world. Upon stepping into its shores, be ready to let go some of the manners, quirkiness, and fixations you formed, especially if you’re from the west.
Here are eight habits you will eventually loose in the Land Down Under.
Driving on the right side
If you are from the United States, Switzerland, Dubai, or basically 65 percent of the countries with right-hand traffic, then you are used to rolling on left-hand driven wheels. Australia, just like most of former British colonies and island nations (Oz is both), drives on the left. Making a switch can be initially challenging, as you are a slave to you “keep right” instinct.
But you know what’s more challenging? Crossing the street. If you are from a right-hand traffic country, you are pre-disposed to looking at your left when crossing. In Australia, you should be looking to the right. Most newly landed expats tend to look on both directions. It might make them looked confused, but at least they avoided getting rammed by a car.
Carrying only credit cards
They say credit cards is the new cash. But not in Australia. Cash is still king here. Some stores also accept plastics (MasterCard and Visa mostly), but there should be a minimum of $10 for total expenses. Majority of them accept cash only, especially the small retailers, smaller hotels or guesthouses. The same is also true for most restaurants, cafes, pubs, fitness clubs, and taxi companies. It is more convenient for bar tenders, waiters, and taxi drivers (swiping cards takes more times than just accepting cash), and it saves you from spiraling down to crippling credit card debt. Win-win, if you’ll ask us.
Relying on clothes dryer
Back at home, 90% of households will have an electric clothes dryer sitting next to their washing machines. You just pack in your wet clothes, push a button or two, and have them drained while you continue watching Netflix. Like a stove or a refrigerator, a clothes dryer is a necessity. You can’t really imagine life without it.
In Australia, you will realize that imagination, where drying clothes takes more effort and zero electricity. You see, the country has a sub-tropical climate, receiving more sunshine than most western nations. Draining clothes here is as easy as hanging your soaked accouterments outside and let the sun and wind do the job. This practice became so ingrained in Australian life that the hills hoist, a rotary fixture that does this job, is considered one of the country’s most recognisable icons.
Indulging on so many fast food restaurants
You know the drill. You got hungry after some beer party, you go outside, and choose among 20 kinds of fast food restaurants occupying a single city block. You name it: McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Tim Hortons, Burger King, Wendy’s, Carl’s Jr., Arby’s, and other dives that serve greasy, deed-fried, artery-clogging meals.
In the Land Down Under, you have to make do with just three or four of these, and they are few and far in between. The gaps are filled with restaurants with a diverse range of cuisines such as sushi, kebabs, salads, roasts and vegan foods. Here, you will be forced to eat healthy, or better, cook you own meals, since it is cheaper by a mile. Not much McDonalds to run into here.
Taking loose change for granted
Prices are mostly rounded off in Australia. Seriously, it’s very rare to see something marked as $39.43, therefore getting rid of the need for cent coin values (pennies, quarters, etc.), although 5, 10, 20 and 50-cent coins are still in circulation. The one and two dollar-coins are the ones you can’t throw away. So if you are in a habit of leaving loose change stuck between couch covers, under the sofa, or on the kitchen counter (especially if you are an American), you will lose a LOT in Australia.
Over the weeks, these loose dollar change can pile up enough to buy you a meal, a case of beer, or even as gas money. So start keeping the change, you know, for a change.
Buying bottled water
For more than half of the world, especially in under-developed and still developing countries, tap water is good only for washing the dishes and food preparation. Consuming them can lead to bouts of diarrhea, cholera, hepatitis A, typhoid, and hosts of other diseases. So your best is to buy a water purifier or bottle water.
Once you get in the Lucky Country, there’s no need to buy bottled water anymore. Tap water here is potable and completely safe to drink. It saves you time, money, and effort from shopping for bottled H20 from the store, it helps the environment by eliminating tons of plastic bottles each year.and has multiple benefits compared to drinking bottled water.
Tipping huge amounts
In the United States, Canada, or UAE, there’s a tip for everything. And this hikes up to 20% of the bill. The bus boy carried your luggage? Drop him 20 bucks. Had your lunch at a diner? Leave the waitress the 10 dollar change. This system of gratuity has become a way for waiters, servers, and helpers earn their money, so it’s understandable that it is being enforced.
Australia, on the other hand, regards the stratospheric amounts of tipping as unnecessary, since minimum wage here is fairly high. In fact, it’s the highest in the world. Tipping used to be non-existent here, but since American tourists took a swing the land and enforced the practice, it has become part of an optional protocol.
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