Moving to Austrailia, is there anything i should know?

[FortheLegion]

I'm moving to Melbourne Australia to live there for 6 months because of my mom's work
Is there anything i should know about living in Australia?
(I currently live in the United States)

* Melbourne isn't all that warm.
* If you are leaving built-up areas, take at least 4 litres of water with you at all times.
* Don't put your hand into anything that you can't see the inside of.
* February + outside for long periods = no.
* Don't fuck with the snakes. Assume they are all deadly. Most are.
* Know your spiders. You will meet them. http://www.spiders.com.au/
* We drink more than you. Challenge this fact at your peril.
* Saying that you are Canadian may get you out of trouble in potentially violent situations with strangers.
* Nobody drinks Fosters, also try to avoid VB. Other beers vary in quality, most of my friends drink and recommend Coopers Pale Ale.
* Pings to your home country are terrible. Assuming a good connection, expect 200 to the west coast of the USA on a good day, getting up to 400 as you go further east across the US. Forget gaming with your buddies at home unless you like Mafia Wars, Civilisation or other turn-based games. Turn-based games are really popular here partly for this reason.
* We eat our native animals because they taste good and are healthy. Kangaroo meat is exceptional and you'll struggle to go back to beef afterward.
* Possums and other native wildlife are cute but they can really hurt you. Keep your distance.
* Don't get drawn into a "Fords vs Holdens" debate. One-eyed douchebags on both sides of that can of worms.
* Don't try to imitate an Australian accent unless you're with GOOD friends.
* We do use "mate" and "g'day" but you won't hear Paul Hoganisms such as "strewth", "sheila" etc unless you are with very strange people. Most other Australian slang is a bit more obscure than this so just learn as you go and don't be afraid to ask because it's safer than assuming.
* Familiarity with the basic rules of Australian Rules Football and cricket will go a long way to befriending sport-appreciating friends.
* Don't assume any plant is edible. Just because it's got berries on it doesn't mean shit. And stay away from mushrooms unless you know what you're doing.
* If you are going to buy computer games, guitars, etc do so before you leave the USA.
* In Melbourne, Mafia killings are no big thing. Just go about your business.
* A "thong" is not what you think it is. Expressing a desire to see someone wear this article of clothing may have unforseen consequences.

Oh, and you might as well benefit from my music industry knowledge and experience:

* Since you're going to Melbourne, be aware that this is Australia's "rock and roll town" where bands go to try and get noticed by labels. If you go out and see bands, expect lots of posing, preening and extremely vacuous music across the board by musicians taking themselves way too seriously. This applies to all genres - the mainstream music is horrible and the non-mainstream stuff is even worse. Avoid, avoid, avoid. Do see bands from other Australian cities when they tour, however - the rest of the country hasn't been polluted with the pretentiousness that exudes from the Melbourne music scene yet.
* Because it's darker, dirtier and colder than other Australian cities, Melbourne attracts goths. Those black-clad people you see running around the city are actually harmless and often disarmingly friendly, but under no circumstances call a goth an emo.
* Jazz = no.
* There is a little bit of crossover between music lovers and sport lovers in Melbourne - but not much. Don't talk sport with musicians or music fans unless you know beforehand that this is safe conversational territory.

Hope that helps. Happy travels.

That is a very comprehensive list, I bet it will be very helpful

 

[Corporal Bill]

We've got some mighty fine water down here in Melbourne. Trust me.

Oh, and the food is a lot different from the US, or so I hear (never been to the States personally). Don't worry, nothing as drastic as kangaroo for breakfast... only vegemite.

Nice men at work refrence

 

[captaincabbage]

swearing in public is illegal.... bitches. (i thought that was relevant)

Wha? lol since when? It really isn't, it's just frowned upon, just like everywhere else. Fuck no that's not fuckin' rele-fucking-vent ya fucked-fucking-fuck-fucker. Your move, logic.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/7403159/qld-cops-to-issue-public-nuisance-fines/

Meh, that's only in Queensland and it definitely won't stick. Australia is a nation of chilled out people with a lot of casual swearing, so I really doubt it'll last too long.

 

[captaincabbage]

Don't pay attention to the people who have no idea how our country works, telling you how our country works. They're full of shit and just going off how "OMG OPPRESSIVE" we are based on what they've read on this site. Yes, gaming is expensive. Yes, we have no R18+ rating. Yes, our internet is shit. That's about it. If you live in a city, wildlife won't really be a problem, apart from a few spiders and probably magpies (a few cuts at worst).

The only legitimate games that were banned were:
Left 4 Dead 2, which was edited.
Manhunt.
50 Cent: Bulletproof.
Postal 2.
Silent Hill: Homecoming.

Yeah, Fallout 3 got edited a bit, but it's not that big a deal.

Even games like AVP2010 were let through at MA15+ with no changes. That's right, our 15 year old kids can buy your R18+ games.

Anyway, moving on. Vegemite, if you have it, have it in very small quantities. That stuff is strong.

swearing in public is illegal.... bitches. (i thought that was relevant)

Wha? lol since when? It really isn't, it's just frowned upon, just like everywhere else. Fuck no that's not fuckin' rele-fucking-vent ya fucked-fucking-fuck-fucker. Your move, logic.

Hell, public swearing isn't even that frowned upon. I've had police swear commonly in conversation. And the occasional 'shit' '*****' or 'bastard' is fine. The only words that may raise an eyebrow are 'fuck' and '****'. That's only around people you aren't familiar with.

DING DING DING!! FInally we have a fucking winner! XD

Good on ya man, you've pretty much just layed everything out right.

 

[asam92]

Yeah, spiders are dangerous, but you wont see any Snakes in Melbourne thankfully.
The games are priced at around $90-$100 USD, I just buy from Asia or UK as they seem to be the cheapest options.
Thankfully the SA Attorney General Michael Atkinson is now out of the SA seat and hopefully soon the rules will be changed, but like I said buy online, its alot cheaper anyway.
In Winter Melbourne can get as low as 8 during the day, and Summer about 36-38 celcius, so it is quite a dramatic change.
Most people are friendly, you should be able to go up to pretty much anyone and ask for directions, as long as you dont look/dress very suspiciosly.
If you wanna have a good Beer while your here never mention Forsters as you can't find it anywhere (tastes terrible anyway), ask for a Tooheys Extra Dry, its always a safe bet.
And like alot of people have said pronounce the name 'Mel-Bun' thats about as close as you can get, there is a very subtle R but hardly.

 

[me.vicky]

look out for the drop bears. and cone shells. and noahs. and expect to pay for packets of tomato sauce (ketchup) at fast food places.

What about the Hoop Snakes ?

I KNEW I'd forgotten something!

 

[Wardnath]

But maybe they were trying to please the Americans. I dunno.

This is the most likely explanation.

We don't have an R18+ rating in games and our country's run by morons.

Not like we even need it anyway.

 

[ottenni]

Ok here are a few good pointers.

- we drive on the left
- we use the metric system
- Collingwood sucks
- Don't walk in tall grass on a hot day
- Don't stick your hands where you cant see (spiders and such)
- In Melbourne it will get much hotter for a while then most people have pointed out, expect a few days in the 40's. And if you are not directly in the city organise a fire plan.
- Collingwood sucks.
- The government really isn't that bad and wont bother you ever, except for centrelink. They are evil.
- cone shells are reay, and very very dangerous.
- ford sucks, but Holden.
- Also soccer is for pansies, real men prefer AFL or Rugby (thats a joke, sort off).

EDIT. Also we have a very active user group, and when i say active i mean we meet up allot. So if you are in Melbourne keep your eye out.

 

[shadow741]

Yahtzee lives there, I have no further statements.

 

[Stuntcrab]

I think there are giant spiders there

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

I'm moving to Melbourne Australia to live there for 6 months because of my mom's work
Is there anything i should know about living in Australia?
(I currently live in the United States)

My friend (also an American) moved to AUS 2 years ago and these are some of the things he told me he has said:

-You will not get Australian humor right away (this is what he said)

If you see an animal, any animal... run. They all want to kill you, especially drop bears.

According to my friend "Drop Bears" are the funniest thing in AUS.

I.E.

Spoiler: Drop Bears

-Everyone is really laid back
-College starts at 11th grade and then University after 12th
-You have to get different license plates when learning to drive. "L" plates
-Your internet will be very slow and downloads will be a pain
-Games are very expensive
-You USA consoles will NOT work in AUS
-More people have PS3 than 360's
-It never rains as much as you want it to

and that is all I can remember him telling me.

Oh yea one more thing! If you see someone with a Fanny Pack, don't use the word "fanny" it has a different meaning in AUS than it does in the States.

Hope this helps.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

[
An incredibly outdated attitude to game censorship and their effect on people, internet censorship, and stuff like searching people upon entering the country just in case for explicit content (porn) on their laptops - the reason for which is apparently to combat child porn.

Last time I checked you were supposed to have evidence before you did stuff like that.

So? Last time I checked there are people smuggling illicit materials into Australia .. if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about. And it was one outspoken politician against video game violence. Not the entire government. If video game laws get in the way of your purchasing a game, you just buy it online from Britain (of which are cheaper even with postage and generally get games the same date or slightly earlier).

We also have RBTs (police conducted random breath tests) for drivers whereby a police officer is allowed to test any driver on a public road to see if they had been been drinking prior to driving. No evidence (or even strong indication of drink driving) necessary.

Despite it the Australian government is far less draconian than the US or most European nations so I find it rich when Americans accuse the Australian government of mistreating it's populace.

Until we have metal detectors in High Schools, the death penalty and our government allows predatory land equity loanings I think the Australian government is quite personable and human in comparison.

Given the time I've spent having my belongings searched in customs in general, I don't think I'd be any more annoyed that they wanted to search my laptop. Last time I had to empty every bag I owned for inspection. Coming into the US. In my US Army uniform.

 

[MelodyMan]

It's hot, there's a lot of poisonous animals and the government hates people who play games.

That's all i can think of at the moment.

You mean one Attorney General who dislikes games and who is not going to be Attorney General for too much longer.

Yes. Perhaps once he finally steps down and leaves the country/continent of Australia will finally have the gaming peace they deserve.

Yes, but I hear the South Australians cop it the worst with the rating system. I live in Queensland, so the main thing I worry about is surviving every Summer through the humidity. Though in saying that, I prefer the humidity to the blistering cold that is Melbourne -_- 15 degrees compared to 6.5 degrees tonight And a nice 20 degrees tomorrow.

Is that Celsius?

We don't use Fahrenheit at all. Everything is in Celsius. 20 is a nice day in winter. 30 is a nice day in summer. 40 is a hot day in summer.

Add humidity to that 30 degrees celcius and it is no longer nice

thats why i hate summer in Queensland.
the ones in WA were so much more enjoyable.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

snip

Laby is a Syd-narb, I'm from Newcastle but there close to each other. Just a train ride away.

 

[Gaming King]

You need to know that it's gonna suck and that lolicon is illegal there. If you're into that. No judgments one way or the other here, just giving you that tidbit.

 

[Keepitclean]

swearing in public is illegal.... bitches. (i thought that was relevant)

That was a proposed new law and only for Queensland. I don't think it passed and it only counts if you get caught, no one is gonna dob you in.

 

[Keepitclean]

I'm moving to Melbourne Australia to live there for 6 months because of my mom's work
Is there anything i should know about living in Australia?
(I currently live in the United States)

My friend (also an American) moved to AUS 2 years ago and these are some of the things he told me he has said:

-You will not get Australian humor right away (this is what he said)

If you see an animal, any animal... run. They all want to kill you, especially drop bears.

According to my friend "Drop Bears" are the funniest thing in AUS.

I.E.

Spoiler: Drop Bears

-Everyone is really laid back
-College starts at 11th grade and then University after 12th
-You have to get different license plates when learning to drive. "L" plates
-Your internet will be very slow and downloads will be a pain
-Games are very expensive
-You USA consoles will NOT work in AUS
-More people have PS3 than 360's
-It never rains as much as you want it to

and that is all I can remember him telling me.

Oh yea one more thing! If you see someone with a Fanny Pack, don't use the word "fanny" it has a different meaning in AUS than it does in the States.

Hope this helps.

I'll elaborate a bit on these.

-College starts at 11th grade and then University after 12th

That 'Colledge' is called TAFE, you can start it whenever.

You have to get different license plates when learning to drive. "L" plates

They aren't different license plates, they are little signs. You put one on the front of the car and one on the back. After you get your driver's license you will have 'P' plates. The amount of time you have them for varies from state to state.

-More people have PS3 than 360's

I'm pretty sure this is wrong. I only know like 3 people that have PS3s and well over fifty that have 360s.

Oh yea one more thing! If you see someone with a Fanny Pack, don't use the word "fanny" it has a different meaning in AUS than it does in the States.

In Australia 'fanny' means vagina but no one over the age of about 8 uses the term 'fanny'.

 

[Sarkule]

4. This at least held for me, but you might be surprised by just how much like a stereotypical Australian/Steve Irwin everyone talks (minus "crikey"). Seriously, everyone always said "g'day mate" to my whole tour group. But maybe they were trying to please the Americans. I dunno.

All I can think of.

Most of us don't talk like that, I mean, there is the occasional "g'day mate"
But they were probably just doing it to please you :3