10 Things I've learned in a week in Oz

1. The weather is fantastic and most of the people are incredible friendly
2. The food is mostly free of preservatives, growth hormones, and artificial anything
3. Light switches are up for off, and down for on (and Crispy or seared is the translation for fried or grilled, respectively)
4. Australian TV is anywhere from a day to a decade behind America (but advertisements are few and far between; swearing is ok; brief nudity is acceptable; but ratings on shows such as Law and Order claim to contain nudity but do not)
5. Australian money is worth more than American right now dollar for dollar
6. Phone numbers can be any length from 6-11 digits without hyphens and double or triple digit repeats are said as so (eg. 611555 would be read as "six double one triple five")
7. It is hard to change habits of looking left, right, left, when crossing intersections when drivers are on the left side of the road
8. Australia was not hit by the recession like America. Unemployment is low, the dollar is strong, real estate is booming, and people are renting apartments as if they contain bars of gold (we would love to find a place that isn't already leased by the time we call the real estate agent)
9. Jet lag has taken a toll not only on our sleep schedules, but on our eating habits too. We are all feeling the urge to eat at all times and I cannot stay up past 10pm or sleep in past 7am.
10. Things are not as expensive as you hear from people who have visited. It is not $17 for subway, but it is $7 for a footlong. If you shop around, it is relatively priced to any American city for most goods.