Manchester

We had a colleague of D's around for dinner last night. He's been out here for about a month or so, and was chatting about the kind of things that have struck him as different or weird. It was funny to hear the sorts of things that about eighteen months ago I was also discovering. Although let's be honest - if you are from the UK then Perth has to be just about the easiest place on the planet to move to. Lots of things are very familiar. The city is already full of Brits (about 100,000 of them). No language to learn, no different side of the road to drive on. Many recognisable brands in shops, recycled old UK tv programmes and a population who all seem to have misspent their youth during OEs in London and who still view the UK as a second home. Many things are like the UK used to be, and with much better weather, so it's not exactly a hardship posting requiring major cultural adjustment. Instead it tends to be the little tweaky things that surprise you. Here's a handful off the top of my head:

Manchester. To the uninitiated, a city in the northwest of England. In Australia, it means bedlinen. I kept seeing signs to Manchester in David Jones and thinking no, Manchester really can't be on the second floor. Last time I went, I'm sure I took the M6.

Government advertising authorisations. At the end of various public-information-type adverts on TV and in the cinema, a hastily narrated sign showing the Australian crest flickers up saying "Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra. Spoken by J Brown". Like we need to know, or care.

Initiatives which make their UK equivalents seem positively redolent with taste and sophistication. E.g. "Dob In A Burglar Week". Need I say more?

Banks. More to come on this. Australian Banks are an absolute disgrace. FirstDirect, PLEEASE come to Australia. I miss you more than I miss my family.

There's much more in a similar vein, but I couldn't possibly risk being called a Whingeing Pom just yet. So next up, some of the really good stuff about being down under.