Before I left for Australia, I thought that it was going to be almost the exact same as America just in a different location. When I arrived, I was really shocked at how different the two countries are. Not only do Australian's drive on the other side of the road and use a different currency, there are also a lot of other cultural differences. One thing that has really stood out to me, that I don't think many of my other classmates have noticed is people do not say excuse me when they are trying to move around you. Also, Australian slang is very hard to understand, thankfully we were given a cheat sheet.
Coming to Australia has really humbled me, and has made me realize how good I actually have it in America. Air conditioning is not a rare thing in America and seems to be in Australia. I have also noticed how the customer service here in Australia is lacking. Before I came, I remember people saying that Australians are not workaholics like Americans are and I now understand what they meant. In America I can go to almost any store or restaurant any day of the week, but here a lot of stores and cafes will close early on the week days and not even open on the weekend. I think this is probably the biggest difference that I have noticed so far. I feel like people in America value their jobs and their work more than they do in Australia. I now have a whole new respect for places in America that are open 7 days a week.
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