Thursday, February 26, 2009

Top Three

Top Three Things I Miss about Australia:

1. The beach, ocean and sunshine. I know the beach isn't for everyone, but I'm one of those lucky ones who love it, and miss it, although the Tetons are a pretty decent trade-off--plus, it has been pretty sunny since we returned. 

2.  The toilets. Seriously. American toilets suck. They are SOO full of water and prove to be totally inefficient in comparison to the water-saving, half-flush/full-flush toilets in OZ. I was (and still am) shocked every time I flush the toilet and watch what a struggle it is for all the contents of the toilet to make it down. Come on North America, where is the innovation coupled with environmental consciousness at?!!

3. The red and green "engaged" and "vacant" gadgets found on every public toilet everywhere. The are good ideas in airplanes, why not restrooms? Plus, girls, how many of you have ever walked into a public restroom and had to bend down to check for feet under the stalls to see if any were open? Never had to do it once in OZ, once I was back, first bathroom I went to in the airport had me swinging my head up-side down to see which stalls where available. I miss not having to do that.  

Top Three Things I DON'T miss about Australia:

1. I hate to say it, but the accent. It really grated on the wrong nerve, especially by the end. Don't get me wrong, I still quite enjoy much of the vernacular (I do miss getting to use the word massive whenever I want to...), but the tone and sound of the accent, not my favorite....
 
2. The spiders. Especially because so many of them are so very poisonous, yuck. I will be OK though if I never see another Huntsman for quite sometime (they are maybe an average size of an outspread human hand...). 

3. The Syndey public transit system. I know, it's public transit, which is such a good thing, but we spent so much time and money just getting from necessary point A to point B, that we can't help but be a little tinsy bitter. Plus, the way it is organized, one has to go all the way into the city center to head back in a different direction (no east west routes). I was grateful it was there, but don't miss feeding the system time and money one tiny bit.

2 comments:

Paxton said...

you forgot to add that your coolest friend is not in the australian outback...:-)
(yeah, that's me in case you were wondering!)
sorry i haven't called or anything, still missing your number, so if you could text it, or call later today like 5:00 my time, i will be free then :-) welcome home mrs.!

big_smartmouth said...

g'day! i'm naomis friend and i was just blog hopping and i saw your post, so i HAAAD to comment. i ADORE australia!! and i totally agree w/ you about the toilets. when i saw the half flush/full flush in my friends house down there, i thought,"genius!!"
but, i disagree about the accents. i'm a sucker for them and the australian accent is, by far, my favorite!