G'day Mates! Since I've been in Australia, I've had shrimp on the barbie every night, Foster's (Australian for Beer), rode kangaroos instead of buses, and cuddled up next to my koala bear every night. Hmmm, wait a second, none of that is true (but I wish the kangaroo part was).


Despite the lack of roo-portation, Australia has been wonderful to me. It's winter here in Sydney, but when I say winter, I'm not sure I really mean it. True, the ocean is freaking cold, but there are still surfers in it, and people on the beach, and bright sun shining. It's the kind of winter I love.

Now, some people might think that the differences between Aus and the US are small since both are English speaking countires. Let me tell you this: when Burger King Changes it's name to Hungry Jacks (for reasons I haven't figured out yet), you have to admit there are big differences.

But let me recount three small differences I have taken note of.

• Toilets. Not the toilets themselves, but the flush buttons. In place of one flush, there are two...I believe that one is a half flush and the other's a whole big flush, or perhaps the half flush is equivalent to a urnial flush, but I haven't asked anyone about it for sure. Either way it seems like pretty solid water conservation.


• Sports Uniforms. In the US I've sometimes marveled at how basketball players keep their shorts on, they're so long and they sag so much, it seems inevitable that some player is going to be panced. Here I have no such fears. Athletes (Rugby, Australian Football, etc) wear much shorter shorts, shorts that are reminicent of 1970s basketball uniforms.


• Traffic patterns. It's not so much the automoblie traffic that throws me off -- I am prepared to look right and then left to avoid being hit by cars, and I have no intention of getting behind the wheel of a car. Instead, it's the pedestrian traffic that throws me off. I haven't figured out a way to have another pedestrian "drive" for me. And so, when I pass another walker on the street, I attempt to give way by swerving to the right. The problem is that pedestrian traffic follows much the same rules as auto traffic, and I swerve right, right into people. Crud.


• Birds. Instead of big ravens to hassle you, here there are cocatoos. Oh, how sweet, how pretty. No. No. No. These birds get agressive too. Sure, they look prettier than many other birds, but you know what? When there's a large, wild bird flying at my head I don't really care what it looks like. These ladies found out the hard way.