Australia VS America: The Weather

AUSTRALIA
- Only two seasons which don’t really have much of a difference
- Summer is incredibly hot and humid. You sweat whether you are doing something or nothing.
- Summer is for the beach! Australians LOVE the beach. When I lived in Australia, I went to the beach weekly and would get so tanned. Now I am a white snowman L
- You HAVE to have aircon, otherwise you will die
- Winter can get pretty cold but it will rarely fall below 0C/30F.
- You could probably get away with wearing flip flops(thongs) year round
- In winter, it NEVER snows. Most people in Australia have never seen snow. I didn’t see it till I was 18 years old.
- The weather does change depending on where you are in Australia. The desert obviously is incredibly hot, more so than Brisbane. Therefore, no one lives in the middle of Australia.

- Bush fires are very common during summer. I remember driving to Sydney each year and there was also bush fires and you would wait for hours to get through. We had a bush fire at the end of our street and the fire fighters had to back burn a lot of trees. It was a fun time because all us kids would go down the end of the street and watch the fire.
- Brisbane does not have daylight savings. During the summer, it gets light early and dark late. There are not drastic differences thought between summer and winter.
- The weather also affects Christmas. Instead of having a white Christmas, Australia has a hot Christmas. We swim and stay in the air con because it gets very hot in December.


AMERICA
- There are 4 distinct seasons in America.
- In Utah, we have daylight savings.

- Spring is when all the plants start to grow and there are so many beautiful vibrant colors.
- I love going to my aunty Elaine’s house because she is an amazing gardener and her yard is always beautiful during the spring/summer.
- The above photo is close to my house. It is on BYU campus, near the apartments.

- Summer is very dry heat. I personally hate it and would have humidity any day
- Everyone looks forward to summer because you can play outside and are not home bound
- In summer, it does not get dark until 9pm.

- Autumn (Fall) is beautiful. All the leaves turn orange, red or yellow and begin to fall of the trees. People begin to wear sweaters and boots.
- We eat a lot of pumpkin because it is the only time of the year that they sell pumpkin which is the weirdest thing.

- Winter is SNOW! You stay inside most of the time because it is way too cold to venture out. People go sledding, skiing, and snowboarding. I still have not done this because im too scared I will hurt myself.
- If you do not have a garage, your car stays out in the snow. When you wake up in the morning, your car is full of snow/ice and you have to scrap it off. Every car needs to be equipped with a snow scrapper otherwise you would never get anywhere in the snow.
- Sometimes when I open my car in the snow, it freezes and I cant shut the door because it wont latch.
- In winter, it starts getting dark around 5pm and is totally dark around 6.

Schools & Education

There is a big difference when it comes to Schools in both Australia and America. I studied a year of elementary education in Australia, but when I came to America, I decided to change my major because of all the differences.

For starters, the set up of American education is as follows (approximately):

Elementary School: Grades 1-6

Middle School: Grades 7-9

High School: Grades 10-12

Australia education is as follows:

Prep: Preschool

Primary School: Grades 1-7

High School: Grades 8-12

In American college, each year has a different name. These names can also be used in highschool:

Freshman

Sophomore

Junior

Senior

The physical set up of the school is also completely different. America’s schools are usually one big building and they have corridors connecting the classrooms and lockers everywhere. Australians would refer to this as ‘the school in the movies.’

Australian schools are wide open. They take up a large space of area and in order to get from one class to the other, you have to walk outside. The reason for the difference is probably because of weather.

American schools do have cafeterias for the students. You pay a couple dollars per meal but children are allowed to bring their own food. The only thing like this in Australia is a Tuckshop or Canteen. Children though, do not eat at the Tuckshop/Canteen everyday. I personally would rarely eat there, only on special occasions. When I did eat there, I would have to stand in line for ages and I would pay when I reached the counter. When I was in school, they would serve hotdogs, meat pies, iceblocks, candy, chico rolls etc.

Another difference is the grading of students. In America, a large percentage of the students are straight A students or strive to be straight A students. It is just like the movies where parents would describe their children as straight A students. It is quite different in Australia. Students are graded on the bell graph. Only a few students have top grades, majority in the middle and then a few failing students. I was mad when I came to BYU because you need a 3.6GPA out of a 4.0GPA. In Australia, you are rated on a 7.0 GPA and I was on a 5.2GPA. Once BYU transferred my grades I fell on a 3.1GPA, which meant they could not accept me. I thought it was quite unfair because I had what was considered as a good GPA in Australia, but in America it is a poor GPA. ARGH-this still makes me mad. Straight A students in Australia are considered nerds who are CONSTANTLY doing homework and have no social life.

There is no such thing as a Cheerleader in Australia. To us, that is so American. This could be attributed to the lack of sport programs in schools. College basketball and football are incredibly popular in America and are even broadcasted on ESPN! There is really nothing like this in Australia. There is no college sporting teams or anything sport-like. Therefore, there is no school pride when compared to America. In Provo, every weekend students are going to the basketball court or football field to watch BYU compete with another college from around the nation. For example, one of BYU’s biggest games of the year is when the verse UofU (University of Utah). Everyone wears blue and white to support BYU and the stadium is always packed out. I compare it with State of Origin in Australia- except in America they are two college teams.

Another thing I noticed in America is a larger percentage of high school students go to college. You are looked down upon when you drop out of high school. In Australia, when I was in grade 10, students got the choice or ‘earning or learning.’ My class dropped in half because most of them found work so they didn’t have to attend high school anymore. Even when I graduated high school, not all my class was going on to attend college. It is definitely not as common for a person to have a university degree in Australia. What is even more surprising in America is that there are a large percentage of students that go on to get a masters degree after the graduated university. I believe this is due to the lack of employment once they finish school. It is very hard to find a job, especially in Utah so people have no option but to go back to school and get a Masters degree. I personally like the Australian system better. People can still strive and make A LOT of money even if they didn’t finish high school or attend college. For example, my dad never graduated high school but makes a great living as an electrical engineer. In America you would HAVE to attend university in order to get into that line of work.

A major difference is that in Australia there is a uniform for each school. In America though, it is free dress everyday! A comment I heard the most in Australia is that they like the uniform because it minimizes extra bullying. A students dress can tell a lot about a person. For example: their socio-economic background and their dress style (slutty, punkish, gay etc.). This idea is definitely true, but I would have preferred to wear free dress everyday! There are a couple photos of my primary school and high school uniform, above.


Another difference I thought of, is when you begin to attend college in America, you have to take generals for at least a year or two before you can start your major. This does not make sense to me because I thought that was why you go to high school to take general subjects before you attend college/university. I don't want to pay money for a class called American Heritage if I am not planning on becoming a historian. Or take a science class if I want to be a musician. I like the Australian university system because you take specific and related classes to your major for 4 whole years. I feel you are more prepared to begin work once you graduate and this may result in less people continuing to a Masters degree. In America though, most students have to continue schooling because their degree was technically only two years long.

I hope you enjoyed this blog! I always wanted to attend school in America. When I watched it on TV it looked so different! Leave comments if you have any other differences that I didn’t mention. xxxx

Accents and Words

I think the number one difference between Australia & America is the accent. It is the first thing someone notices and it automatically starts conversation about where you are from. My accent is the only thing that attracts questions from everyone. When I am at work, and someone asks me about where I am from, I get comfortable on my chair because I know this is going to be a long conversation.

Since I have been in America, I have also realized that there are different Australian accents and different American accents. In America there is a ‘South’ accent, ‘Jersey’ accent, ‘East’ accent and what I refer to as the ‘Normal’ accent. It is exactly the same in Australia, just not as noticeable to the Australian people. When an American is talking to 2 Australians, they can tell the differences between the accents. There are only two types of accents in Australia. The ‘thick’ Australian accent like Steve Irwin and what I refer to as the ‘Normal’ accent. I personally believe that I have a normal accent.

Another difference that is closely tied to accents is words. I could not believe the amount of differences within the words we speak to each other. I have had so many blank stares from so many people because they don’t understand certain words I say. Some Americans just go along with what I am saying and pretend like they do understand. Others though, will remember that word and try to use it in a sentence in the future. (Of course to me, it sounds normal. But of coarse they are waiting for you to laugh and recognize they said an ‘Australian’ word. That really annoys me, actually. I AM NOT GOING TO LAUGH AT YOU WHEN YOU SAY AN AUSTRALIAN WORD, LIKE G’DAY, BECAUSE IT ALL SOUNDS NORMAL TO ME!)

So I have come up with a list of words that are not understood by each culture and then a list of words that sound differently when each accent says it.

Words Pronounced Differently

- '.‘'..er’ (eg. Water, heater, cancer, here etc.)

- Inquiry

- Hyundai

- No

- Tomato

- Mum/Mom

- Letter ‘z’

- Banana

- Law, Call

- Class

Totally Different Words

AUSTRALIA AMERICA

- Pram Stroller

- Nappy Diaper

- Trolley Cart

- Chuck a Whinge Throw a Tantrum

- Wagger Skips school

- Ute An Australia Truck

- Esky Cooler

- Biscuits Cookies/Crackers

- Bludge Not do work

- Capsicum Bell Pepper

- Rockmelon Cantelope

- Fortnight two weeks

- A week Friday Not this Friday but next Friday

- Petrol Gas

- Mobile Phone Cell Phone

- Mince Ground Beef

- Chips Fries

- Boot Trunk

- Hood Bonnet

- Type of Apartment Condo/Condominium

- Ten cents Dime

- Twenty Five cents Quarter

- Five Cents Nickle

- One Cent Penny

- Pharmacy Drugstore

- Barbie BBQ

- Torch Flashlight

- Rubbish Bin Garbage Can

- Hobo Homeless Person

- Dummy Pacifier

- Garage Sale Yard Sale

- Tomato Sauce Ketchup

- Ice Block Popsicle

- Toilet Restroom/Bathroom

- 2 terms Semester

- Footpath Sidewalk

- Singlet Undergarment

- Stockings Leggings

- Holiday Vacation

- Postcode Zipcode

- Autumn Fall

- Brackets Parenthesis

- Fairy Floss Cotton Candy

- Serviette Napkin

- Cutlery Silverware

- Arvo Afternoon

- Flat Apartment

- Bitumen Asphalt

- Prawns Shrimp

- Cool Neat

- Grid Iron American Football

- Lift Elevator

- Mozzy Mosquito

- Newsagency Newsstand

- Primary School Elementary School

- University College

- Rubber Eraser

- Shopping Centre Mall

- Thongs Flip Flops

- Togs Swimmers

- Jam Jelly

- Soft drinks Soda, Pop

The spelling of words is also very interesting. When I write a paper, I have to make sure I am using the correct spelling. For example:

AMERICA AUSTRALIA

Organization Organisation

Check Cheque

Learned Learnt

Aluminum Aluminium

Color Colour

Mom Mum

Favorite Favourite

Center Centre

Dialog Dialogue

Please leave comments on other words that I have missed. When you have a chance to talk to someone from America/Australia, test out the words. It is always fun to find other words that are said differently etc.

This has been such a fun blog post to do! If you have any suggestions on differences between Australia & America, please let me know! Keep a look out for the next blog post. xxx

Introduction

Hello! My name is Lauren Del Valle. I was born in Redcliffe, Australia in 1991 and lived in Brisbane till I was 18. Since I was 16, I always had an urge to travel to America, for about a year, to experience the life my mum had as she was born in Las Vegas, USA. Finally at age 18 I moved to Provo, Utah to live the Brigham Young University (BYU) life. After a month of being in the USA, I met Francisco (Pako) Del Valle who I ended up marrying 14 months later. We are currently living in Provo and plan to one day move to Australia.

At least once a day, I get asked a question about my accent/Australia. Questions include: 'What nationality are you?' 'Why did you move to America?' 'Where is your accent from?' 'Are girls cutter in Australia?' 'How much are the tickets to Australia?' 'Did you know my brothers, roommates, dads, exwifes, brother who served an LDS mission in Australia?' And the questions go on and on.....

The question I get asked the most, from people in American & Australia, is what are the biggest differences between both countries. This question requires an answer that would take a whole day to explain. Recently, this has made me want to create a blog so I can explain to the world the many differences! I am gonna give it ago.

Hopefully this blog will let people feel like they are in Australia/America. Maybe if I show this blog to my future children, they will have no need to leave me and travel half way around the world to experience a different country. (Sorry mum!)

Get ready people! This is going to be a journey for both you and me!