51 Shocking Truths About Australian Life

51 Shocking Truths About Australian Life

No one really warns you about moving to Australia. I mean, you get the usual stuff like don’t fight a kangaroo, wear sunscreen, be polite to everyone, but no one tells you that leaving your fly screen open on your window is an awful idea or that ordering an ice latte can upset a lot of people. And to be honest, moving here has been one of the best decisions of my life and one of the hardest. So here’s my honest quick fire list of 51 things that no one tells you about moving to Australia. let’s get into it hey mate welcome back if you’re new here i’m sam a british actor and runner documenting my journey of rebuilding my life here in australia now it’s important i say that not every single thing on this list will apply to all states in australia or all people who live in australia this is just my experience having lived here for over a year now in brisbane queensland and being married to an aussie so let’s get started with number one rent is displayed weekly not monthly this was very confusing for me coming from the uk you wouldn’t have thought it would be right it’s been so ingrained to me living in the uk that the prices are displayed monthly on the real estate websites that yeah when i saw weekly i was like oh blimey this these places are very cheap aren’t they number two is how you going is not a deep question it’s not the same sentiment where in the uk if someone goes how are you mate and you give them your life story how you going has the same vibe as you’re right which is what we would say in the uk you can just be like yeah i’m good how are you number three there is a high chance you’ll get swooped by a magpie a lot of lovely aussies have commented on some of my previous videos and have said basically if you befriend the magpies they will be very pleasant to you going forward generally only magpies swoop people that have wronged them but in my experience this just isn’t true for example my wife when she was in high school in brisbane she’d be walking back from school back home and she would get swooped by the same magpie every single afternoon she hadn’t done anything wrong to it you know what business would she have with a magpie so someone else could have upset that magpie and it might take it out on you even though they’re quite intelligent it’s nothing personal though number four is sort out your finances as soon as possible i decided to use my uk debit card for the majority of my first year living here i still knew that i was probably losing like micro amounts of money for each purchase i made and also if there’s a problem with your uk or home country card and you need to get a new one replaced or anything well you’re kind of screwed in australia because you’re about as far away as you could be from everywhere in the world so just get an aussie spending card as soon as possible they’ll make your life so much easier number five the sun here isn’t just hot it’s deadly i’m not saying that as a joke either australia has some of the highest counts of melanoma in australia you’re not as protected by the ozone layer as you would be in say somewhere like the uk where it’s very frequent that we only get a high of uv one or two each day i didn’t know much about the uv scale before coming here but basically anything above four isn’t great to be out and if you do go outdoors when it’s above four put the sunscreen on put your sunglasses on try and cover your body with proper clothes as best as you can and also try to track that uv i’ve got a little dial on my apple watch that you can put in it’s really easy but yeah protect yourself from the sun because you can get burnt even on a cloudy day number six thongs means flip-flops please don’t get these things confused number seven coffee culture is intense but there’s a good reason for it the coffee here is the best in the world it sounds very bragging me talking about all the places i’ve traveled to i’m not trying to come across that way i’ve visited spain italy france belgium bulgaria quite a few states in the usa japan i lived there for two years and still the coffee in australia is unmatched most aussies will never know how good their coffee is until they’ve left the country and tried coffee in a different one and yes i think it’s better than the italian coffee and by the way if you also agree with me then hit that like button number eight no it’s not always hot in australia this is a huge misconception that i think has been rammed down our throats by hollywood but a lot of australia can actually be quite mild and quite cool i like many people thought oh even in the winter all of australia is always hot and sunny and beautiful but the further south you go which you know geographically makes a lot of sense the colder it gets i mean you’ve got the australian alps here you’ve got tasmania these places get snow it can be bitterly cold it can be absolutely freezing so unless you’re just going to live in queensland in the summer don’t forget to pack a few winter clothes as well mate can either be a friendly term or a mild threat it all depends on the tone of voice that an aussie says mate and trust me you’ll know number 10 yes things are generally cheaper here not the property the property is through the roof right now but when it comes to petrol eating out technology purchases at retail shops entertainment it is so much cheaper than the uk and i’ve saved a lot of money that’s just my personal experience number 11 the birds here will make you feel like you’re in jurassic park and they start early so if you’re waking up at 4am to the screechiest of screeches then that’s why number 12 don’t be shocked if you see bare feet in queensland especially in the shops and especially at the survey number 13 winter is cold here even in the hot states even in the hot parts of australia i’ve had to put a jumper on many a time not as many as the uk though thankfully aussie slang is top tier you’ll start using it ironically and then you start using it unironically and you slowly feel the pull of australians turning you in to one of them and you’ll secretly love it number 15 public transport outside of big cities is wishful thinking if you’re in a rural town don’t expect the bus to be coming every two minutes no you might have to hunker down in the local pub and hey that’s not too much of a bad thing number 16 you’ll start saying onya without even realizing it onya is basically like yeah good on you mate but also you say it when someone’s done something stupid someone’s being an idiot you go yeah on you but it’s perfect for saying under your breath as well number 17 when it comes to supermarkets coles and walworths they dominate the scene but aldi that’s the real hero and that’s where you’re gonna find the best prices number 18 customer service here is chill and i’m sorry australians to fall into that stereotype of our aussies are so chill of course that is just a generalization but customer service here in my experience has been absolutely brilliant apart from this doctor i called once and they were really passive aggressive to me but honestly it doesn’t matter because the warmth and the kindness from aussies in general completely makes up for that also quick one i noticed that over 98 of you who regularly watch these videos aren’t yet subscribed so feel free to go hit that subscribe button if you’re enjoying this helps me to keep them coming let’s get right back to it number 19 everyone when i say everyone people without kids or who do late night shift work generally eat at 6 p.m aussies they eat early here i don’t know why it’s just the vibe i think it’s because a lot of places shut early and there’s a very big early morning culture so yeah don’t be surprised if when you’re meeting up with mates you’re going out for dinner at around 6 p.m number 20 a lot of australians are very patriotic to bunnings however there’s a lot of aussies who hate bunnings as well but in my experience most aussies i’ve met in queensland they absolutely love the place and they love the sausage sizzle number 21 they’re a drive-through liquor stores crazy that is crazy and my british brain can’t quite make sense of that because i’d like to think people who are buying the alcohol in the drive-through they’re not just cracking it open and you know chugging it while they’re driving but it’s just putting together two completely opposite things driving and drinking it’s the thought of is that encouraging drink driving i don’t know it’s just the theory anyway if you like optimizing your life and convenience there’s a drive-through bottle those brilliant number 22 tim tams just are better than penguins the biscuit not the animal people in queensland barbecue on christmas day it’s true they’ll be wearing their thongs they’ll be jumping in the pool and they’ll still have a roast dinner amazing by the way if you’ve been enjoying any of this i actually write a free weekly newsletter it’s only a three minute read i talk about a bit of self-improvement bit of running bit of life here in australia i’ll leave that in the first link in the description below number 24 everything closes early apart from night clubs but even then people have told me they close early so don’t expect to eat out late just eat a banana go to sleep wake up at 5 00 am because the coffee shop will definitely be open number five don’t touch the animals it’s common sense no you cannot hold that koala right it’s got chlamydia it’s not very nice but also stds aside most of the animals especially the mammals if you try and hold them in australia they might kill you that’s not a joke number 26 don’t touch the plant i spoke about in a previous video the gimpy gimpy plant basically has these tiny silica needles in it that inject venom into you and the pain can last for years awful apparently a guy went to the toilet and used it as toilet paper and apparently he was very upset about that i can imagine so yeah just don’t touch the plant number 27 slip slop slap if you don’t know what that means google it right now now i do just want to say if you are coming to live here homesickness will definitely sneak up on you and it’s when you least expect it the first few months it’ll be like a party it’ll be like roast into goggles everything’s perfect and then out of nowhere you’ll start missing your mum’s roast dinner or going to your local pub back in the uk and your friends and your family i should have said those two things first really shouldn’t i and the thing is like six months into living here i started to get a lot of homesickness but in the same way that you move on a bit they move on too and don’t be afraid of that obviously those loved ones they’ll always love you they’ll always be there for you but they maybe won’t nag you as much to come home or make you feel bad about not being home and things like that because they know that you’re also building a new home somewhere else and they know you’ll come visit if i’m being really honest with you guys my wife maddie and i we originally came here to do sort of six months in australia six months in the uk and try and make that work but like we’re in our 20s we’re both performers money doesn’t grow on trees for us so the cost of doing that is very difficult so you do just have to sort maybe you can only do one trip back home every year and if that sounds a little bit scary to you and you are thinking of moving to australia just bear that in mind because it’s not as easy as everyone makes it out to be number 28 every town has a big something especially food related you know big pineapple a big apple a big banana i’ve actually been to that one funnily enough number 29 the shop kmart is elite tier retailing and it will absolutely change your life you’ll never look back at buying a stool like the chair not a physical problem the same again because at kmart they’re only five dollars and you’re like wow i could buy four of them and still have ten dollars left number 30 yes aussies do abbreviate a lot arvo devo servo chukkas chokkas there’s a lot number 31 you’ll need a car outside of the major cities honestly i’d recommend having a car within the major cities unless you’re living in like cbd of melbourne or sydney or brisbane other than that i would definitely have a car because it does just make your aussie experience a bit easier and surely you want to come here to get out into nature you’re going to need a car for that public transport can be great but it’s not always reliable number 32 sport afl especially is a very big deal here so with your mates pick what team you are going to support hopefully it’s their team otherwise it’s going to be very awkward when you go to a game together and yeah you’ll have a great time number 33 getting a visa can be confusing yes but it is absolutely essential trust me if you don’t get your visa sorted don’t book any travel because they’re not going to let you in number 34 the healthcare system here is absolutely brilliant once you figure it out and it was a little bit of a task for me as a foreigner but as soon as i’ve got that you have access to bulk billing gps which means your healthcare will be free i actually don’t have one in my area sadly but. But with the GP I go to, I do get a rebate. So I do get almost like half of the GP fee back, which is nice. Number 35, possums are one of the cutest animals I’ve seen here. They’re always running around on the like telephone and electricity wires here in Brisbane. But they’re a bit noisy. And sometimes you’ll just hear one fall onto your roof, the poor thing. they’re usually okay number 36 don’t litter right it’s not that source of country don’t do it everyone here will think you’re a massive number 37 the nature here is absolutely stunning and absolutely terrifying remember what i was saying about the animals and plants earlier and not touching them well you will see things here that will that you’ve never seen before that will blow your mind and at the same time will absolutely petrify you if you do go into the outback make sure you go with a guide it is not for the faint of heart number 38 kangaroos are absolutely majestic and they’re also massive traffic hazards especially when you leave the city they can be they wreck some people’s cars sometimes and i’ve heard from a lot of aussies now that they don’t always love kangaroos but still be kind to them number 39 pants means trousers not underwear this took me a while actually to adjust to as a brit but thankfully my wife you know she she trained me well number 40 vegemite is spread in a thin layer not a really thick i mean some people like it really thick but i just think that’s a little bit rogue number 41 walk on the left of the path you make everyone’s life easier people generally walk on the left of the footpath so just don’t be that person that walks on the right it’s so annoying number 42 homesickness hits the absolute hardest six to eight months of living here number 43 spiders and snakes aren’t everywhere at all times that’s definitely a hollywood myth but when they are there they’re there at the worst times and in the worst places and that’s all i’ll say number 44 you can talk about your home country but don’t brag about it aussies they really don’t like tall poppies they really don’t like people saying oh look at me i’m so much better than you but aussies are very open-minded and they would love to hear about your experiences back in your home country that’s why i think people watch my videos number 45 the work-life balance here genuinely is better obviously this isn’t for all people there’s going to be some dodgy corporate companies here that are working people to the absolute bone but generally in my experience and with my australian relatives and friends here a lot of them feel like they’ve got a really good work-life balance and that’s just not a regular thing you see in the uk number 46 australia will teach you to slow down a bit more and you’ll secretly like it number 47 don’t be a tall poppy in the sense of don’t go around bragging and don’t have this air about you like you’re better than other people no humble yourself but you can still do cool stuff just don’t go around boasting about it all the time you know be humble be modest number 48 the sea is ridiculously dangerous again this isn’t a joke when you go to the beach you have to swim between the flags that have been set up by the the official lifeguards for that beach if you swim outside of those flags there’s a high chance you could get taken by the rip which is a very strong sea current basically and you know if you haven’t already researched how to swim and deal with a rip then please go watch a video on that it could absolutely save your life but not to mention there are some very dangerous sea creatures in the sea and no i’m not just talking about sharks but there’s things like box jellyfishes which can be very venomous and very painful and even deadly number 49 making friends here is just as hard as anywhere just because it’s australia and there’s aussies here doesn’t make it easier so just get out there make the effort with other people join clubs and groups and societies and stuff and you’ll be making friends in no time number 50 your accent will become a conversation starter and also a punch line and that’s absolutely okay because if aussies are having banter with you especially about you and your accent and where you come from and things like that it actually means they love you and they want to be your mate so don’t worry and please don’t take offense to it and finally number 51 yes you can start over here and actually be happy a lot of people will tell you oh it’s a 24 hour flight away you’re in the middle of nowhere it’s too hot it’s too dangerous it’s too this but actually australia is the best country i’ve ever lived in and if you treat it with respect and love and care you will get the exact same thing back not just from the people but from the country itself it is a really good place to grow now if any of this was helpful to you you probably want to know what those 10 weird little rules are that you’ll break without even knowing it so if that’s the case go watch this video here right now and i will see you in the next one thanks so much for watching to the end bye

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Moving to Australia or just curious? Here’s an honest, quick-fire list of things no one tells you until you get here…

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