Australia

My heart longs to be in Australia. I’ve temporarily moved to Portland until I get my visa. I really like Portland . . if there were one place in the US I would live, it would be PDX. However, I miss everything about Australia – the beaches, the camaraderie, the values (family and friendship over work), the laid back lifestyle, the food, EVERYTHING. Being in Oz just feels like your in a corner of the world that is unspoiled and isolated, and leading a simpler life than you would in the US. I will be in Oz as soon as I can.

I’ll share what I’ve learned from spending time in Sydney. Here are the differences between Oz and the US:

1) When you get take out or fast food, you get 1 napkin down under. In the US, you get a pile of napkins enough for a whole family.
2) Recyclable shopping bags are very trendy down under. Even when you’re just walking around Sydney, you’ll see people carrying their stuff in the green Coles bag. I go to Whole Foods here in the States and I hardly see anyone bringing their own bag (and Coles is just a regular grocery store, while Whole Foods is of course organic).
3) Healthy Fast Food – Oz has a lot more of it. In fact, even before the whole organic food craze, Aussies have always been into healthy food. BTW, they don’t feed their kids pizzas and junk food in school.
3) Forget about the comparisons to California. Sydney is easy going, while California is a Rat Race.
4) Petrol is $1.50 Australian dollars per LITRE.
5) You can go to Manly beach in the middle of the week and find throngs of people hanging out!
6) “Drink driving”, speeding, and cellphone use while driving are all taken seriously in Australia.
7) The Lifestyle. Oh, the lifestyle. Life in Oz is much more balanced than America, with Quality time (with friends and family) outside work being more readily available and encouraged.

I’m believe in the “leaving a small footprint” lifestyle, so I love that about Oz. And the #1, #2, & #4 differences are a microcosm of why the US uses so much of the world’s resources.

Quite a pleasant surprise. I’m from the States, and visiting Australia is like being in a time warp. Old fashioned values, social graces, they all still exist in Oz. Whenever I’m in Sydney traffic, I’m always amazed that everyone waves to each other. All of the kids still wear uniforms to school, and the ones that live on your street know your name. In other words, the social structure in Oz is alive and well. I think one of the biggest things about Oz is the laid back attitude. You can go at your own pace. Quality time with friends and family is one of the most important aspects of the Oz lifestyle – they call it “Catching up”, a term that’s almost non-existent here in the States.