Over the past couple of months I have had the pleasure of working with a number of Royal Australian Navy families relocating to Jacksonville, FL. Several of these families had arrived in the United States just a few days before we went out looking at homes so they were still identifying and processing the differences between the American and Australian cultures. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with them about their observations both serious and light-hearted and here are just a few of the things I learned:
- Squirrels: There are no squirrels in Australia so the Aussie children took special delight seeing squirrels dart across yards and up into trees. The children would squeal with delight whenever they saw one and ask their parents to take a picture. I suspect I would do the same if I were in their country and saw kangaroos hopping about.
- Guns: Several of the Aussie moms told me that they are fearful of living in Florida since citizens are permitted to carry concealed weapons and assault weapons are readily available in the US. They had two fears in particular: that an armed intruder would enter their home while the family was there defenseless and that a gunfight would break out in a public place and the family would be caught in the crosshairs. In the Australian state they came from, only police officers and firefighters were legally permitted to carry weapons and there is also a federal law banning certain weapons. This blog is not the place to debate gun control but it was clear to me that several of the families that I worked with felt safer with their country's gun laws than ours.
- Pride in Children: As we viewed available homes one of the moms told me how much she liked seeing how American families display photos of their children, awards and trophies won by them and their artwork throughout the home. She said that while Australian families of course love their children and are proud of them, they do not display symbols of that pride in their homes the way that Americans do.
- Dogs: "Why do the dogs all live inside?" I heard this over and over again. The families were particularly perplexed by this on warm, sunny days when we were in homes with fenced yards and the dogs would be inside, either curled up on a sofa or bed or in a crate. It seems that all of the dogs they know in Australia are outdoor dogs who live comfortably in doghouses, even in urban and suburban areas.
- "Crikey that's a lot of power points for one room!" In addition to their delightful accents, I enjoyed hearing the words the Australians used. Their country's British influence mixed with their own colloquialisms as they talked about things such as having "an esky in the boot of the hired car with fruits and icy poles for the kids." Oh, and those power points? Here we call them electrical outlets
I spent a great deal of time helping these families from Oz find homes and was constantly learning from and amused by them. Now if only I could find a way to immerse myself in their culture for a month or two. Hmmm, I think I hear a beach chair and a Victoria Bitter calling my name all the way from Australia...
Comments (14)Subscribe to CommentsComment