Friday, January 12, 2018

Driving Lessons

I have now driven in 3 countries. The U.S. (of course) Canada, and now Australia. Canada almost doesn't count as a separate country as it is just like driving in the States except with that kilometer thing.  My Aussie husband has driven in lots more countries, Italy being his "favorite". He says that any non-Italian who drives there has to be crazy as there are so many unwritten rules of the road.
As he was born in Australia and learned to drive here, he has become my driving instructor. Australia being it's own land mass can make up whatever rules it wants to for driving, so they drive on the left (British) side of the road. In Melbourne there are all sorts of rules about how to drive with trams, as they use the same lanes as cars and the tracks run down the middle of the streets. They have stops every other block it seems, and you are not allowed to pass them while they are letting passengers on or off. Your only chance is to pull up next to them at an intersection and beat them out of the gate when the light turns green. I love the tram system, when I am riding on one. Driving behind one? Not so much. 
Back to my instruction. My husband, not wanting to add to his grey hair suggests that Sunday mornings would be a good time for me to get behind the wheel and work on my driving skills. Not too much traffic, and people aren't quite in as much of a hurry to get places, he says. Sounds good to me! So we set off, following streets that are near and familiar to me. My confidence building, I head for a main street with a tram line. Of course I time it perfectly and turn in right after a tram has passed. What should have been a quick 10 minute drive now stretches into an eternity, with me anxiously looking for an opportunity to pass the tram, and my husband sweating in the passenger seat, praying that the tram does not make any stops for the next 10 kilometers. Fortunately for all involved we arrived at the road that goes to our place, I turn left off the tram line, and my husband can breathe again. Strangely, he has not suggested another driving lesson for me...

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

More Language Confusion

So I moved from the United States to Australia. Easy, right? Both countries speak English! I won't have any problem understanding them, or them understanding me. Piece of cake? Not exactly...
They speak English, yes, but have a whole lot of different words for things and that confuses me daily.
Am I walking on the sidewalk? NO! It is a footpath. Do I put gas in my car? Of course not - it is petrol. Post, not Mail. Splash back, not back splash in the kitchen. A pie is most often savory and filled with meat, not something you get with a scoop of ice cream at the end of your meal. A Hotel is not a place you can get a room for the night, it is a pub. Actually it is like a Sports Bar, as they all have a million TV screens showing different races you can bet on, and often rows of slot machines or "Pokies". However they also have Chicken Parma specials with which you get platters of food bigger than your head for very reasonable prices, so I can overlook the other things... 
And my favorite? Cotton balls are called "cotton wool".  I think they are confused, as it cannot be cotton and wool at the same time.


And don't even get me started on the spelling differences! Harbour. Colour. Authorise. My spellcheck goes crazy every time I try to type anything. It is going to take some time to assimilate.