Angela Killian

I’ve been residing in Surfers Paradise, Australia for nearly 2 weeks now. From the instant I stepped off the pane, I loved it here. Australia is what I imagine the United States was like in the 1950’s, but with more modern conveniences.

Many establishments close at 5 or 6pm and most places you would need to go on the weekends are closed i.e. real estate offices, banks, post offices. I suppose people run errands on their lunch breaks around here?

Some places charge a 10-15% surcharge on public holidays. I assume that is to offset the extra cost of labor on those days. Room service at hotels has an itemized delivery charge and some convenience stores charge 1.5% for using a credit card. Can’t they just include it in the total price? Sometimes I just want what I want and I’d like to know the total price of obtaining it.

I’ve had to Google how to use every appliance in the house including the washing machine, microwave, stovetop and oven which would make any self-identified housewife feel insecure. Americans are the only idiots who can’t grasp the concept of Celsius and the metric system so I expected 30 degrees to be cold and I can’t visualize what 500ml of milk looks like. I’m trying to relearn everything and not compare liters to cups. I also went from managing 2,000 calories to 8,700 kilojoules. Luckily, the sugar, carbs and protein contents are still shown in grams.

Alcohol of any type isn’t available in the grocery stores so there are bottle shops scattered throughout town where you can buy liquor, beer and wine. Beer is $3 – $10 AUD in the bottle shop and comparably priced at the bar.

A liter of Jack is $50 AUD and decent wine seems to be in the $15 – $20 AUD range, but let’s get real – I’ll happily drink the $5 AUD bottle.  I find it odd that bars and restaurants are able to charge basically the same price for drinks that the store charges. Bottle of wine at the shop = $20. Same bottle of wine at a restaurant= $25. Bar tenders are pedantic when it comes to pouring and measuring liquor shots. Some liquor licenses don’t allow bars to serve straight shots because of the notion that liquor causes bar fights.

There’s a problem in Australia called “the coward’s punch”. The coward’s punch is the action of someone punching someone else in the back of the head. There have been several cases of this on the news and some people actually die from it. Apparently Aussies like to bar fight.

Another social problem is “bullying” and I’m not talking about playground or cyber bullying. In the workplace if you are given corrective feedback or constructive criticism, you could accuse the person of bullying you.

The clothing sizes here are different from the USA. I went from wearing a 4-6 to an 8-10 which is devastating to any self-conscious female. The bright side is that I went from wanting to lose 5 pounds to wanting to lose only 2 kilos! It’s not all negative in the world of vanity. If you’re obsessed with your weight, try weighing yourself in kilos! I can never seem to remember that instead of being 5’9, I’m 175cm. I also no longer wear a size 8 shoe. Now I wear a size 39-40.

Aside from feeling a bit lost and learning the Aussie culture, Surfers Paradise is amazing. It’s been an adjustment, but I’m relishing the lost in translation feeling.

My favorite feature of Surfers Paradise is the G-Link tram. It’s never full and comes every 15 minutes most days/times.

My goal is to avoid having my own motorized transportation because there are buses and trams readily available. People also ride bicycles and skateboards around town. Joe gave me a skateboarding lesson and I did pretty good considering I haven’t been on a skateboard since…ever. I’ll probably opt for a girl bicycle with a basket.

The nearest grocery store is called Coles and it’s about a 20 minute walk from my condo. Coles conveniently allows people to take the grocery carts anywhere in town so long as you call the number for cart pick-up. The only problem is that the carts role sideways like those pesky Ikea carts that everyone hates. Needless to say, the 20 minute walk back to my condo with a week’s worth of groceries is pretty arduous. In fact, I wear my gym clothes and shoes for the pilgrimage. In all reality, I wear my gym clothes all the time anyways because I am an unemployed housewife. Plus, I’m more likely to work out if I’m already in the proper attire, right?

Drip coffee machines are on the pricy side, so I opted for a $10 AUD French press. Although I worked at Starbucks for 4+ years and understand that French presses are IN FACT better than drip machines, I’ve never really used one at home because they’re kind of inconvenient. You have to boil the water, then let it steep, then plunge. THEN you have to clean out the French press. However, I must admit that I feel so international using my French press each morning. AND I don’t have to buy coffee filters anymore! Why move somewhere new if you’re going to do everything exactly the same as you would where you’re from?

The fridge in my condo doesn’t have an ice maker so I have been stock piling a bowl using ice trays. I haven’t used ice trays in ages and it’s entirely too time consuming, but bags of ice are $4 AUD each. I probably won’t ever use the ice because I’d rather hoard it. That’s who I am deep inside – a dooms day prepper. Yet, I also throw things and clothes away incessantly. Just don’t be touching my TP or ice reserves.

I have been successful in only buying Aussie-made products thus far. Not only are import prices gouged, but the products are also not as good as the locally made stuff anyways. It’s always fun to try new products and I love buying local. Australia has so many natural resources and there really hasn’t been any need for imports in my household yet.

Rent in Australia is paid per week and utilities are paid per quarter which I find odd and also scary. Our rent is $500 AUD per week, which seems to be pretty normal for the area considering we have an ocean view. We haven’t received a utility bill yet so hopefully it’s not a shock after 3 months. However, because our condo is on the beach, we haven’t been using the AC very much. I leave the windows and balcony open all day and the sea breeze is more than enough to cool off the house. It’s actually a bit cold at night!

So far, all the locals have been super friendly and nice. I just belittle myself and say, “Help! I’m a stupid American!” People love it and it works like a charm every time, no matter what country you’re in.