I'm moving to the USA from Australia. What are some useful tips I could use, on culture or just changes in general?

froderick · 11 months

Try not to use the word "cunt". Although here in Australia it is purely contextual and can be positive or negative, used for a man or woman, in America it has only negative connotations. Many consider it to be the vilest swear word there currently is, that is how visceral a reaction many people seem to have to it. I'd link to the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" clip where Larry David casually uses it and gets his hide tanned for it, but I can't find it at the moment.

theyneversaidwibble · 11 months

Drive on the right

arcticblue12 · 11 months

Rubbers = condoms not erasers Thongs = skimpy underwear not flip flops.

Its funny though if you want to confuse the hell out of people :P.

ReinNacht · 11 months

Your chances of dying from bugs or wildlife are much slimmer. Spiders, for instance, are rarely bigger than one's palm.

Bmandoh · 11 months

peanut butter and jelly is a thing here

ski_king3 · 11 months

May not be helpful in terms of culture, but squirrels. Every Australian I've ever known to come to the US was scared shitless by squirrels. They're like your kangaroos, but way less awesome.

Manler · 11 months

Stock up on condoms because you are about to pull so much pussy/dick on accent alone.

VictoryVino · 11 months

There is no ready supply of Doner Kebab in most places. Good luck.

Wholesaletrash · 11 months

Don't call black people niggers.

kalarax · 11 months

Gday mate, fellow Aussie here who moved to the us at the end of last year. Im assuming you are in college based off the scholarship thing so ill tell you what I can since we are the same age range.

Firstly, you will be asked a fuckton of stupid and repetitve questions about Australia and your accent. You will run into people who will want to hang around you purely for your accent. Be warned. Chicks love it though!

A few words are different. Call a bin a trash can and soft drink is a soda or pop (depending on where you are living). Cheers does not mean thank you here, it means celebrate. I got weird looks for a while. Most importantly, capsicum = bell peppers/peppers. You will literally get 'what the fuck are capsicum?' if you try asking for it. (thanks NoesHowe2Spel for this)

Different places will have different lingo. I live in sf so I constantly hear hella this and hella that. It gets old fast.

I almost forgot, thongs are not those things on your feet. Those are called flipflops here. Don't go asking for thongs because people will think you are looking for g-strings, bloody oath, that could be super awkward.

You won't be able to buy booze here mate, 21 is the age. Unless you are 21, then ignore this part. If your at college i doubt that would be an issue anyway.

Welcome to the greatest variety of food at the cheapest prices you'll ever see. Non of that wheatbix anymore, you'll have 2 full isles of cereal.

I gotta jump off my train now so hopefully others can pitch in but a final word of advice. You will not be prepared for the black population, especially if its the ghetto type. This again depends on where you are moving too.

Have fun, you're going to fucking love it here mate.

Edit: not a racist, living in a tiny Aussie town you will not have encountered much of the black population.

Piercerejr · 11 months

Watch Crocodile Dundee. Should answer any questions.

themooseiscool · 11 months

Knifey spoony is not a game that we play here.

kidweapon · 11 months

As an Australian who went on holidays to America last year the whole concept of tipping really frustrated me and it would be handy for you to get an idea of it now before heading in. I was told that a standard tip would be 2x tax but you'll need an American to clarify that. Also, their tax isn't apart of the marketed price. Unlike GST being apart of the ticketed price here you'll need to take into consideration that you'll be adding the state tax for an item. So that means when you dine out at a resturant you'll be effectively paying 30% extra than what you see on the menu.

SkippyRodriguez · 11 months

Where in the US? That's kind like me going "I'm moving to Europe, what should I know?" It's a huge place, what's acceptable in New York may not be acceptable in Cleveland.

CargoCulture · 11 months

(Aussie ex-pat here; in US since '04)

tl;dr: America and Americans are awesome, except for the doucherockets. You'll pull lots of tail, and you won't want to go back home because America is a fucking amazing place and does a great job of highlighting Australia's (significant) flaws.

You'll learn pretty rapidly that the reputation that Americans have in Australia for being loud, arrogant, ignorant, rude fuckbags is true, but for a very, very small portion of the population. In my experience, Americans are the nicest people I've ever met. Think about it this way: loud = assertive. Arrogant = confident. Ignorant = (well, no excuse for that one).

You will experience things that will blow your mind. Supermarkets have entire aisles for things that normally would only be a small section in Australia (soft drinks/soda, cereal, chips, etc). There are hundreds of channels on TV. Everything is current (ie, doesn't have the three-month cultural lag that Australia experiences). You'll feel much more connected in terms of the culture that the US exports (and you'll experience so much more of it.)

If you stay here after your scholarship is up (and trust me, it'll be very hard to go back to Australia -- I haven't) and you don't stay in touch with other Aussies, you'll lose your accent. My Australian family thinks I sound American, while my co-workers don't realize I'm Australian).

If you like Vegemite and Aussie lollies/candy, they are fuck-hard to find here. Insanely expensive. Don't drink shit beer like Pabst, Budweiser, Coors, or any of that swill. America is home to the microbrewing revolution. Make good use of it.

You will get so many questions about whether you ride kangaroos to school you will want to punch someone. Also, you'll be asked if your family are all criminals, and you will be asked to "say something Australian" about once a day. You'll also hear things like "a dingo ate my baby" and "is Australia like Crocodile Dundee" or "so you knew Steve Irwin, right?" all the freaking time.

You'll learn to understand and love American football, ice hockey, and baseball (basketball, not so much unless you liked it in Australia). I've found the biggest fans of American sports are the ones introduced to them as adults.

You'll also realize how casually racist Australia is (especially rural Australia, where I imagine you're from and where I'm from also). I didn't notice until my (American) wife pointed it out to me. You'll also see how Americans work like fucking dogs compared to Aussies. There's so much more, but that's the short version.

And as people have said, condoms. You'll need 'em.

jamesey10 · 11 months

Here in the USA, Tuesday's are genital inspection days. Just so you don't delay the process and piss off all your neighbors, promptly appear at your front door at 8:00am with your genitals out. This will allow the inspectors to do their inspecting quickly, and move on. Sometimes they run a little late, so just wait in the inspection position until they arrive.

You don't want to know what the penalty is for missing this.

wonkizzle · 11 months

Prepare yourself for a bunch of elbow nudged "Shrimp on the barbie" comments. We Americans cant seem to resist. I blame Jim Carrey.

[deleted] · 11 months

Many of us actually believe "Fosters is Australian for beer." The rest of us are very sorry.

The_Kenosha_Kid · 11 months

The difference between states/regions in the US is very different. It's much much easier to talk about the culture of, say, the Pacific Northwest vs. "The Bible Belt" vs. New England for example. So like everyone else is saying it matters a ton where in the US you're moving to.

But one general feature of US culture seems to be the obsession with "what do they think about America?" Be prepared for a lot of questions about that.

Oh, and if you're a guy the girls should love you. Everyone here seems to love accents and it's pretty much agreed that Australia has one of the coolest.

John_Walker · 11 months

Pro tip: If you come across Samuel L. Jackson you have to try to get him to say motherfucker.

extant1 · 11 months

Just put the knife down and everything will be ok, nothings trying to kill you now.

DingoScallion · 11 months

Start liking burritos. Love them.

Edit- Also get some endurance. Chester French taught me that.

ronearc · 11 months

Really hard to answer this without knowing where you're moving too in the USA. The cultures vary considerably from one place to another.

raziphel · 11 months

Don't call people cunts.
The drinking age is 21, not 18.
There's religion everywhere, especially in the bible belt.
~~Most~~Many houses have guns. If you make friends with gun owners, they'll likely take you to the range to shoot ~~them~~ said guns. You should do this.
Things are usually cheaper here (unless you're in a major city)
If you're the least bit attractive, your accent will make you more attractive. I'd suggest working out before you come over, just in case.
Feel free to make shit up about punching sharks or meeting Steve Irwin.
Don't fuck up your scholarships or sign up for a million credit cards.
Tipping. If you sit down to eat and there's a server, you tip ~15% (more for better service). Coffee shops or bars (ie places where making your drink takes skill) are $1+/drink.

edited for semantics and clarity.

I almost forgot: just because you listen to hip-hop and live in a shitty part of town does NOT mean you know anything about black culture or life in the ghetto unless you yourself are black. You are not, cannot, be a part of that culture, period. Do not try to argue or fight it- you will look like a fool. Also, African (or Aborigine) black is not American black. Don't compare them.
Enjoy the extremely wide variety of food, especially the local cuisine (which is likely some variant of BBQ).

crimsonandred88 · 11 months

Don't fly Oceanic airlines. You could end up crashing 1000 miles off course on an island where freaky shit happens. The story will be good for the first few years, but after that...man.

Mick_Paulcartney · 11 months

Because crime is so bad, you will be raped and murdered repeatedly by morbidly obese creationists while they shoot guns and fail to find America on a map. Afterwards, they will give you a Fosters because you are Australian. That will be the worst part.

jessajuhanabi · 11 months

Hi! I did the opposite about four years ago so hopefully I can point out some differences I noticed.

I guess the main thing is the price differences. People have mainly covered the tax thing in the comments but most fail to mention the actual prices of things. Compared to here, things are so fucking cheap. I actually still buy most of my clothing from the US, as its cheaper to buy and ship it than just buy it here. Yes, minimum wage is lower because of it, and if you get a waitressing job, be prepared to be paid mostly in tips.

I can't answer much about the weather as I don't know which part of AUS/USA you're moving from/to. I moved from Michigan to Melbourne and as far as weather goes, it's actually pretty similar. Winter is a lot more mild here, but the weather is just as unpredictable. If you want to PM me where you're going I can try to explain more about the region.

Again, I can't say much without knowing where you're going but I don't think you're in for a huge city shock unless you go to somewhere large like NY or Chicago. Most cities still aren't as big as melbourne, or the ones you would see in Europe. Even Detroit is tiny compared to Melbourne or Sydney.

Also, don't expect a lot of people to know your accent from English accents. A lot of Americans are REALLY bad at that for some reason.

Good luck and if you have any other questions, feel free to PM me. :)

Edit: Americans also tend to be a lot more conservative in public. For example, a recent Lynx "Wash your balls" commercial would be met with a lot more resistance when shown in America. We were very shocked when we saw penises on television not blurred out for the first time. :P So I guess just expect more censorship on the radio/tv as well!

Trapped_in_Reddit · 11 months

Talk to any woman you want. Your accent is a panty-dropper.

stylinghead · 11 months

we all wear hawaiian shirts and drink kool aid. all the time.

Rocky7072 · 11 months

Use the term, "fair shake of the ol' sauce bottle"

RichRedundantRich · 11 months

If you ever start missing home, go to Outback Steakhouse for authentic Australian cuisine.

B2Dirty · 11 months

Learn to punt and join an America Football team. That is, of course, if you played footy back home. You will be a great place kicker.

WorstAnswerPossible · 11 months

Americans enjoy constructive criticism about their politics/customs.

bobconsole · 11 months

Fellow Australian with US experience. Tipping sucks but deal with it. The service in the US is much better than Oz. It is easy to find yourself in a place where it is hard to get (by Oz standards) good food. Hard to find real fresh food that you're probably used to. And smuggle lots of vegemite in the plastic tubes. Americans are great party goers. Learn from them. The Australian accent is indeed a wonderful social tool to wield. Things are cheaper in general in the US. Americans are much more polite in public than you're used to. They also get offended easily by the Australian humour. In Australia we don't have political correctness issues with fried chicken. It is hard to watch AFL. The coffee in much of the US is ordinary by Oz standards.

Oh yeah, religion in the US is way way bigger than home. Strangers would come up to me (Especially in New Orleans and in Florida, not so much Chicago or San Francisco for me) and start talking about Jesus! There are even religious TV shows shown here!

MellowCarp · 11 months

Aussies do very well here throughout the states in general. Just take it slow and have a good time.

BumptiousQ · 11 months

Throw all your slang out. And a jumper is called a hoodie.

marqueA2 · 11 months

Be sure to change the polarity on your shoes so you won't fly off the surface of the Earth!

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