Adjusting to a New Way of Life

When it comes to leaving your native country for the other side of the globe, there can't be an easier place for an American to adjust to than Australia. There is no language barrier, the weather is great, people are friendly, the economy is great, and so on and so on. In addition, American influences and culture are everywhere. Most of the music, movies, and television shows are American, and a McDonald's, KFC, and Starbucks are never far away. I can't say that I'm thrilled to see American culture everywhere, but at times it can certainly be comforting. Like when you discover a Krispy Kreme store, or that McDonald's sells soft serve ice cream cones for $0.50, or that you can actually get drip coffee from Starbucks. To give some context to my previous statment, I must explain coffee in Australia. For the most part, there is no such thing as brewed coffee here, and coffee shops only offer espresso based drinks, most of which we had never heard of. As I approached the counter for the first time, I was about as comfortable as i would be ordering lunch from the soup nazi. Having no idea what to order I randomly selected the flat white. It was either that or a short black, long black, macchiato, or some other kind that was equally unfamiliar. Over the next week, we ordered and shared every possible type of coffee to find the one we liked best. After much experimentaion, I was finally releived to find my drink of choice, the long black.

Aside from figuring out what coffee to order, our adjustment in Australia has been fairly easy, and it has been easy to blend in. For the most part, no one seems to mind or even notice that we're not Australian. So much for being exotic. However, thanks to the subtleties of the Aussie culture, there have been numerous occassions in which my status as an immigrant has been more than apparent. I have selected a couple of my favorite "looking like a complete ass" moments for your reading pleasure.

Arriving in Australia, I wasted no time acting like a foreigner. Our rental car company was located a few blocks from the airport, and they picked us up upon arrival. Oddly, there is no official pick up area at the Sydney Airport, so the driver met us on foot and led us back to the vehicle in the Car Park (Parking Garage). Excited to set out into a new continent, I proudly reached the car first (it's quite an accomplishment to walk faster than Blake). Approaching the car, I decided to sit in the front seat, and I stood in front of the door waiting for the driver to unlock the car. The driver walked right up beside me, and I was quite surprised that he was about to open the door for me. I remember thinking, "wow, these Australians really are nice." However, instead of opening my door, he gave me a funny look and said, "excuse me." During this brief moment of confusion, I happened to look down only to realize I was on the wrong side of the car, trying to get in on the drivers side*. Smooth. While Blake laughed, and the driver deliberated on whether or not to rent a car to someone who can't even find the passenger seat, I slowly made my way to the other side of the car.

* Australians drive on the opposite side of the street, and the location of the steering wheel is reversed.

In addition to my episode at the airport, the automobile has managed to make me look like a half-wit on numerous other occassions. Generally due to the reversal of everything in the car. For example, it took me at least three days to stop turning on my windshield wipers every time I prepared to make a turn. I still consistently walk to the wrong side of the car when driving somewhere. I, of course, try to play it off by opening the door for Blake, but she's not buying it. She knows it's stupidity, not chivalry. On the rare occasion that I'm not driving, I without fail try to put my foot on the non-existent brake pedal as I get in the passenger seat. Can't help it. Old habit. The only thing, and surely the most important, that is not reversed in the Australian car is the gas and brake pedals. The gas is on the right, the brake on the left. If not for this, I would probably not be fit to drive.

After nearly a week of driving, I was comfortable, even confident, with driving in Australia. One afternoon while driving, I became quite irritated at a stop sign. A woman waiting to turn had stopped in the middle to give me a prolongued nasty look. I stared back, and contemplated using a certain hand signal. That was until I noticed I was sitting in the wrong lane, totally blocking her from turning. Upon this discovery, I quickly sped away lucky to have not caused an accident.

As I'm writing this, I'm realizing the majority of my biggest blunders are behind the wheel. However, there have also been several other minor incidents during the adjustment period: handing people the wrong amounts of money, tipping people that don't ever get tipped, accidentally stealing coffee and groceries in the same day (another story all together), nearly stepping in front of traffic, etc... We have certainly had our fair share of comical mishaps since arriving Down Under, but on the whole, we have assimilated quite well and are feeling more and more at home every day.