America vs. Australia – as a New York yankee in Ozzieland, these are some differences I’ve noticed between America and Australia:
1. No EFTPOS signs at shops. EFTPOS = electronic fund transfer at point of sale, which is a long way of saying credit cards / debit cards.
2. Superfunds. You’ll see advertisements of superfunds all over the place. These are the Australian equivalent of 401k retirement savings – though in Australia, they are mandatory!
3. Driving: yes, Australia drives on the left hand side of the street.
4. Health care: if you need to see a doctor, you go in for a 10-15 minute consultation, and are charged $70+. If you were living in Australia, you’d have Medicare (mandatory), so you’d then get a refund sent to you, bringing down the cost of your doctor’s visit to ~$30.
5. Tax & tip: taxes are already included in all prices, and tipping is inappropriate.
6. Currency: The smallest bill is $5, with there being $2, $1, $0.50, $0.20,$0.10, and $0.05 coins. $1 and $2 coins are golden. Interestingly, Queen Elizabeth II is on all the coins, and as you look at coins minted in the past, you can see how she has gotten older with time.
7. In the US, we have pharmacies. In Australia, we have chemists. And just like in the states, they are everywhere.
8: Australia, like basically the rest of the world, uses the metric system. So, kilograms instead of pounds, kilometers instead of miles, and kilojoules instead of calories.
9: In Australia, Hungry Jacks is Burger King – apparently due to a trademark dispute!
10: TBD