What should an American know about Australia to feel happy and at home there & not suffer from culture shock?

Question

I am a 33 y/o woman who is moving from the USA to Griffith, New South Wales, Australia. I have lived in small, medium, and large towns here in the USA, and I have traveled quite a bit and been exposed to various cultures. I have, however, never been to Australia, and I only know one person from there (but not very well).

What cultural details or other aspects of Australia (especially the area to which I'm moving) should I be familiar with before I go? I tend to get homesick and somewhat depressed when I'm stressed out in a new country, so I just want to make my transition as smooth as possible. Thank you so much for any advice you can offer! :-)

Answer 1

Here is a URL for the Griffith municipal web site. Looks like they are short of water but have eased restrictions a little. There is also a Wikipedia entry and a lot of other stuff on the net.

http://www.griffith.nsw.gov.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffith,_New_South_Wales

With a population of 25,000 it will have some reasonable facilities. It is a big Italian area with lots of fruit growing under irrigation. Looks like it could be hot in summer, fairly cool in winter.

Australians use the metric system, we changed over decades ago, so everything is in kilograms, kilometres, metres etc. You might already be used to that.

Money is dollars and cents. The Australian dollar is worth about 80cents US but it changes all the time. Our biggest note is $100 (greenish), then $50 (yellow) $20 (red), $10 (blue) $5 (purple). The bigger the value, the bigger the note. While all new dollar notes are plastic, you may just find a few paper ones still around. Coins are $1, about the size of a dime but golden - bronze colour, $2, smaller but thicker, 50c, large with lots of flat sides and silver colour, 20 cents is round and silver, 10c is smaller and silver and 5c is the smallest and silver. We used to have 2c and 1c coins in a coppery metal but they have been withdrawn.

We use Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Diner's Club and a few others in about that order of popularity. There are some large banks that operate Australia wide, eg Westpac, Commonwealth, ANZ, National.

There are also a lot of local based "building societies" that mostly do home mortgages and savings accounts. You will find a lot of automatic teller machines for your routine stuff and you can bank online.

Wages and salaries are usually paid direct into a bank account. Income tax is deducted from each pay, so you don't have to pay a big tax bill at the end of the financial year.
You might even get something back. The other main tax is Goods & Services Tax which is 10% on everything but fresh food. Prices quoted in stores (we usually call them "shops") include this tax. There is no variation in sales taxes from state to state except when buying cars or houses.

We drive on the left and gasoline is called petrol. It is more expensive than in the USA but cheaper than in many other places. Cars might be a bit older on average than you see in the US, they are more expensive here and the dry climate means they can last longer. Size wise our larger cars are much the same.

What is called "hamburger" in the USA is called "mince" here. Big supermarkets here might offer beef, lamb and pork mince. We have slightly different meat cuts.

Australian hamburgers, even at McDonalds come with more salad vegetables than in the USA. Typically you will get lettuce, onion, tomato, maybe a slice of beetroot.

Australian standard beers are stronger than some US brews but there is also a "light" option with lower alcohol. Gambling is legal in all Australian states and you will find clubs in Griffith with lots of slot machines. Don't get sucked in, you can do your pay real quick.

You will find Roman Catholic, Anglican (Episcopalian), Uniting (mostly Methodist), Salvation Army, Baptist, probably AOG and some other churches operating there. Australians are not big church goers.

You will find Australians are generally a fairly friendly bunch. Make a point of saying hello to your neighbours as soon as you get settled in if they look OK.

All domestic power supplies in Australia are 240Volts 50hz so it is best not to bring much in the way of big appliances with you. Dual voltage shavers and things like laptop and cell phone chargers may be OK if they are marked as 100-250V, but hair dryers and curling wands will be no good. You will need an adapter for the plugs and sockets for these. Portable battery operated radios are OK too. Switches are "down" for "on". We call cell phones "mobile" phones or just mobiles. You phone may be OK, check with your supplier, but you will probably need an Australian SIM card. DVDs will not work unless you get a de-regionalised player.

http://www.kropla.com/

Australia is about to go fully digital in TV so best not to buy an secondhand analog TV unless you get a converter box.

People who have lived for a while in the USA say things are basically very similar. A few people will try you out on the slang. This isn't the slang as much as seeing if you have a sense of humour. Beware, some slang like "cobber" etc is so obsolete that people will look at you funny if you use it.

We spell things differently too.

Answer 2

As a 33 y/o women who lives on the central coast of NSW and having just returned from visiting the states 2 weeks ago I can offer the following advise. The food is different, it was the main thing I struggled with. I stayed with family in New Jersey and visited NY and found that people in general where very familiar to here. The language (slang) barriers are definatley present but in most cases amusing. I would have to say that I would feel comfortable living in the states and feel that as long as you are used to the country small town kind of lifestyle you should be ok. Griffith is definatly not a small town, but it is going to provide you with a lot of the typical aussie lifestyles. It is not like going to live in Sydney. You will get homesick for sure, I did and I knew that I was coming home. You just need to make the best of the situation and be open to change. Good luck

Answer 3

I moved to Australia 24 years ago from England and I would never go back, but you will be homesick for a while especially if you are on your own, the things I found most irritating was not knowing where to buy certain things, but you soon get used to your new surroundings. If you want to make friends, look in the free local papers for clubs and groups that like the same type of things that you do, like maybe Car Clubs, or Gardening or Scrap-booking stuff like that, or go to the meetup website and find like minded people that way.
And as previously mentioned, don't forget that we drive on the opposite side of the road here, (shouldn't be a problem for you, as the volume of traffic is usually lighter than in the states).
Good Luck, I hope you settle in really well.

Answer 4

I've never been to Australia, but I know a few Aussies. I've spent time in Indonesia before and I learned a few things about being in a different culture and place. Well you won't have the same extremes since you are going to another western country. Learn as much as you can about Australia and where you're going. Treat people with respect and you will enjoy it there. Sure you will be homesick, but you might find you like it there more than being in the U.S.

Answer 5

Really i don't think you will have a great deal of culture shock going to Griffith.You will find the people there very friendly.I have been to Griffith and i did like the people there.You may find the pace of life a bit slower than what you are used to but go with the flow.I amAustralian but living in China.That's a culture shck.

Answer 6

my family live in Griffith,its a nice town friendly people.....lots of Italians there and they are lovely people
long way from anything though
has a very good hospital,lots of wineries.
i understand about being homesick,I'm living in Canada and all my family is in Australia but you just have to make the most of it and try not to stress yourself.

good luck

Answer 7

One simple rule - If you can't work out what is going on someone is probably making a joke. Life in Australia does not come with canned laughter. For the funniest Australians, acknowledging, in any way, that what they are saying is intended to be funny indicates failure. We DO NOT laugh at our own jokes.

Answer 8

You shouldnt notice too much of a difference. The food in Australia is a little different to food in the US because we have more of an Asian influence, but for the most part, this will mean nothing more than it tastes/looks slightly different, but not enough to worry about. One thing to remember about eating at restaraunts is: Dont tip. Unless you're in a really flash place in the city, you dont tip. Australian hostpitality staff get paid a good wage and DONT need tips to survive (I know because I did it for a few years.) If you tip, be prepared for a confused reaction at best, or at worst, be prepared for the person you've tipped to take offense because they may assume that you think they're so poor they need charity.

Being an American, and moving somewhere like western NSW, you will attract some attention with your accent. Be ready for people to ask heaps of questions about where you're from and how you're enjoying Australia. (It's probably best to say you love it, even if you dont, as some Aussies dont take kindly to people from other countries criticising our country, EVEN when it might be a valid complaint.) But, for the most part, I think you will find that most Australians will try and be as helpful as possible because we like to impress foriegners.

Further to this though, you need to be ready to be questioned about your government and things like the war in Iraq. While statisically, most Australians disagree with the war, it's again, probably best to just change the subject. As a general rule, politics and religion is only discussed between very close friends.

The Australian sense of humour is important to know about as well. As someone else mentioned, most Australians try and deliver jokes or sarcastic comments with a deadpan, serious expression/tone of voice and it can be very, very hard for foriegners (not so much the Brits, but especially Canadians & Americans) to tell when we're joking. This is something that will take some getting used to, but just remember 99% of the time - unless the person is a really rude - if someone says something to you which you think is a bit nasty, they're probably just "taking the p.iss" (Having a joke) and it's nothing to be offended about. (In fact, since most Australians only "take the p.iss" out of people they like to their face, consider it a compliment.

Finally: Sport. Sport is what most Australians are interested in. Strangers meeting for the first time will often talk about the latest football results or cricket scores as a way of breaking the ice. As an American, you wont be expected to know anything about our games, but just remember that it is a huge part of the Australian psyche, and taking an interest (or pretending to take an interest) is a good way of showing that you're interested in our culture. You will find that asking an Australian you're not super close friends with questions about their religious or political beliefs will be met with short, disinterested answers, but asking them about the rules to Australian Rules Football, or Cricket or Rugby will normally get an enthusiastic response.

Answer 9

i had a friend who came from the US to australia to live for 6 months. one of the biggest things i notice with her was that a lot of the time people joked around with her being sarcastic she did't pick it up and often got offended. you just have to realise that as a whole australians are very sarcastic and we will be mean to you in a joking way. if you can tell when we are joking and don't get offended then you will be fine!

Answer 10

I think most Americans in general show off their nationality ......I think if you are humble you should be ok, what Australians do not like is that kind of attitute....never say this was better in USA or we in USA have this or that...if you live in Australia...try to forget where you come from.....