So, I have moved to Australia from the US and married my love. This is the good part.
I’ve been here a few months this time and it’s lovely, I really like Sydney, but…(didn’t you know there was a but coming?)
It’s sort of like I’ve dropped my American self into an alternate universe. A place where everything is almost right, and things are pretty much the same, but subtly different enough to really screw you up if you’re not careful.
For example, I know - intellectually, mind you - that the traffic goes the opposite way. (The wrong way, I used to say, but my arm got sore and I kept having to say “owie!” when my lovely SO smacked me in a playful manner for saying that, so I stopped. Now it goes the opposite way.) But I still look the way I was taught to look in kindergarden, and so am usually a hairsbreadth away from being run over. We think we look both ways when we cross the street, but really we don’t. Now I have to check for which way the parked cars are pointed, and look according to that, unless I’m in the CBD (another weirdness, that’s downtown in my head) and there’s still helpfully painted for idiots like me little signs at streetcorners that say “look left” or “look right”. And we won’t discuss the fact that I utterly refuse to sit in the front seat of cars and taxis, because the whole feeling of turning into oncoming (in my mind) traffic freaks me out badly. We won’t talk about that, because my SO and my friends here talk about it enough. And they think it’s funny.
In another attack of surreality, the grocery store looks almost the same - but it’s not. Eggs are out of the refrigerator. For weeks I thought they were waiting to be put in a refrigerator, but no, they just sit there. Biscuits are scones, cookies are biscuits, and crackers are for Christmas. I wanted cilantro, and had to do a Googling to find out it’s coriander. Cheese isn’t orange! It’s more of the “dropped into an alternate universe” syndrome. Until I groked to the fact that a pound is roughly half a kilo, I bought enough meat to feed the third world.
In other surreality moments, I’ve been flummoxed by the fact that the light switch is on the other side of the door - and it’s on and off positions are reversed. You can bring wine to the restaurant with you, and most people don’t tip. (That’s odd on two levels, and strangely satisfying - I feel like I’m getting away with “sneaking” wine into a restaurant and not leaving a 15% tip.) There’s more than one flusher on most toilets (and idiot me had to ask why :rolleyes: )
There’s no Cherrios. Anywhere. (And believe me, I’ve been over half of Sydney looking!) Or grape jelly. Or cinnamon candy. No Tootsie Rolls. How is one expected to survive without these necessities? (Though when I point out to my SO that there’s no Jarra coffee or Vegemite in the US, he swears he’s nevereverever going!)
I went to the CBD to find a frame for a cross-stich I’d done for a friend. It occurred to me that if I were dropped into any mid-size or larger American city, I’d still have no problem finding one. Just look for any one of two or three chain-type craft stores, and viola, frame to be had. Another alternate universe moment - Sydney reminds me of a cross between Chicago and San Francisco, but there’s no familiar things like that. I can find the mall, but still have no idea where to go from there. (Frame was found, but only after I located a friend who works in the CBD and cried for help. ;))
The music for the Channel 9 News is the same as the music for one of the major (I forget which - NBC, I think) television news reports in the US. But then there’s no Dan Rather. There’s 60 Minutes, but no Andy Rooney. I’ve had voting explained to me at least 50 times now - not that I’m allowed to vote here just being a PR, but I’d still like to understand the process. As you might guess, I don’t understand it all all. (Me: Liberal is conservative? Huh?)
We went to see Daredevil, and I laughed at the Sanford and Son reference. I was the only one that did. And had to explain it after. (Helpfully, Steptoe and Son was shown here…) I didn’t grow up with The Goodies, though, and so being told it was “sleepy bobos time” got my SO the usual Blank Stare of Misunderstanding. And nevermind that my friend casually announced she was cold and going to put on her skivvies! Another Blank Stare of Misunderstanding, with an :eek:. Fortunately, they aren’t underwear here.
I now live in a place where you see Really REALLY Big Bats All The Time, and where the fairies in children’s stories wear gumnut leaves (the ones in Newtown just have blue hair :D). Spiders are the size of dinner plates. It’s winter when it should be summer. And all the stars are in the wrong places at night.
All that said, I really and truly do like it here. I told Graceguy that if he’d lived in Japan or something, it might actually have been easier - since I would have expected everything to be utterly and totally different from what I’m used to seeing. And it’s getting better. I can now confidently find most of the stuff I want in Woolies and not have to call for help from the cheese aisle. So that’s a plus.
Anybody else been dropped into an alternate universe country?
Grace
No seriously, yes, jam. Jelly is Jello.