Cultural observations from Day 1

Thursday was a long day after the flight, but I made it through the jet lag with only one nap and nine hours of sleep in the evening (ah, the life).

My host and I began the day with a walking tour of Newtown, the neighborhood I'm staying in. I tried an iconic sausage roll for lunch. We then drove about 10 minutes to the coast to go to the beach, which is fascinating as I can't think of many large US cities where you can get to the beach that quickly right next to the urban area.

The Rocks at Maroubra Beach

Australia is a wonderful place because to be frank, I have never learned much about it. There are five states- and Sydney is in New South Wales. All day was full of questions, conversation & observations. Here are some gut reactions on what immediately stood out.

1) Driving on the other side of the road
Australians drive on the left side of the road with driver's seats on the right side of a vehicle. Sydney is a big driving city, and I have walked to the wrong side of the car pretty much every time we get in it. Goal for the end of the week: learning how to walk to the left side.

Driving on the right side of the car!

2) People actually wait at crosswalks
I'm not sure if it's the urban culture, NY lifestyle or impatience in me, but I can't remember the last time I waited for a crosswalk to say the walk sign to cross the street.

3) International credit cards are obvious
Australian banking is something generally pretty commended, because despite the expensive culture, the country is pretty high tech in this space. My host and colleagues laughed when they heard Venmo was a newer concept, as Australian banking apps have allowed this type of fee-less transfer for years. Credit cards are all tap-able (I do not yet have that set up), so cashiers laugh when they have to use the chip card. They also recently got rid of the need to sign receipts, except for international cards which still require this. Therefore, every time I pay for something, they know I'm from the US since it requires me to sign the receipt.

4) Currency differences
Not so surprising in international travel, everything here is measured in liters, meters, Celsius, etc. If translating the time weren't enough, let's see how much I can learn on these conversions!

5) Gambling culture
"What is Tab?" I asked. "Is it a bank where I can exchange money?"
"No, it's a place to gamble. They are everywhere."
Apparently, gambling is a strong part of Australian culture- with an entire day off of work for Melbourne's horse races and a regular gambling atmosphere. There are still regulations on casinos, but Tab is a local chain for much more casual gambling.

6) Music & bars scene
Flume is the most popular artist here right now, who I have heard of in NY from a concert as well as his popular radio song, Never Be Like You. One of the first artists I heard others talking about here to spark the music conversation was "DMA," who they compare to Oasis as a popular male rock band. DMA's cover of Cher's Believe (a favorite of mine) was named one of the best songs of 2016, playing regularly on the radio. One person we met with complained that artists no longer are able to establish themselves in the late night scene in Sydney since bars stop serving alcohol at 1:30 am, which the culture is not taking well. I've heard it called the "overregulation" of Sydney, with a general sense of frustration the past few years that the city is placing rules attempting to adjust culture. Another example is $30 boxes of cigarettes: an attempt to make them so expensive, it could end smoking.

7) Water at restaurants

There are rules in Sydney requiring the offering of tap water to everyone, so every restaurant has kids sippy cups and jugs of water in a refrigerator for you to grab yourself upon entering. Tourist Katie did not realize the jugs are in a refrigerator, and accidentally went up to another table and took their water (I wish this was a joke). 

8) Limited chain restaurants, tons of bakeries

Chains are pretty limited here, but the popular ones seem to be KFC and Ben & Jerry's. Of all things. Bakeries on the other hand are everywhere, and I can't wait to try all the baked goods *heart emoji eyes*

9) International food

Indonesian, Mongolian, Chinese, Thai, if you have heard of it, that type of food exists here. And everyone loves it. I'm curious to see how many different types of ethnic food I'll try while here.

10) Slang and humor
Besides hearing regular phrases like "keen on" and "reckon," shortened slang such as "brekkie" for breakfast sounds common so far. "Uni" is short for university / college, "physio" = physical therapy, the list continues. People are also incredibly welcoming, saying 'love' and 'doll' frequently despite how well you know them. In most conversations about humor and comedy so far, I have to acknowledge that I do not understand what's going on 80% of the time, but the notion of watching late night comedy & viral videos or Buzzfeed articles does not get old (i.e. sneans).